Which square sizes are there?

1 inch, ½ inch, 1 cm, ¼ inch and 5 mm. On the two smallest grids every fifth line is a little darker, so squares are easy to count.

What is squared paper good for in primary school?

Lining up digits in column addition and subtraction, drawing arrays and area models, bar graphs, and pixel art.

Is the paper the right size when printed?

Yes, as long as you print at 100% scale (Actual size). Fit to page would shrink the squares a little.

Printable Graph Paper: 1 cm, 5 mm, ½ inch and ¼ inch Grids

Graph paper for maths

Children who write each digit in its own square line up ones, tens and hundreds without trying. Pair it with the addition and subtraction worksheets when regrouping starts.

CAPS links

Grade 3Investigates area by tiling and draws bar graphs from data.
Grades 4–6Draws 2-D shapes on grid paper.
Grade 5Learns column addition and subtraction, starting with an expanded column method.

CAPS introduces column addition and subtraction in Grade 5, beginning with an expanded method where each number is written out in hundreds, tens and ones. Squared paper keeps every place value in its own column while children learn it.

In Grade 3, children can shade squares to compare the areas of shapes, which is the tiling idea CAPS uses before any formula. For Grade 3 data handling, the same paper makes a quick bar graph: colour one square for each vote.

Summarised in our own words from the DBE’s CAPS for Mathematics, Foundation Phase and Intermediate Phase Grades 4–6 (2011).