Year 3 Teaching Resources
Explore printable worksheets, digital activities, games and more Year 3 resources, all aligned to the Australian curriculum! The teacher-created resources have all been designed with primary teachers and students in mind to meet the special needs of children as they transition into the middle years of their primary school education.
Carefully curated and thoroughly reviewed by the expert teachers of the Teach Starter team to ensure they're classroom-ready, our Year 3 resources can save you lesson planning time this school year with editable and differentiated options at the ready.
Teach Starter’s Year 3 resources utilise a vast array of resource types and have something for every learning area. Here's just a taste of what you'll find for your classroom!
- Spelling words and English worksheets
- Fractions activities and Maths worksheets
- Social and emotional learning activities
- Narrative writing stimuli
- Language conventions practice
- And so much more!
Are you new to teaching Year 3? Here's a look at what this year of primary school is all about!
What Is Year 3 in Australia?
Year 3 sits right in the middle of primary school for most students in Australia as the fourth year of compulsory education.
How Old Are Kids in Year 3?
The exact age of students will vary slightly by state (and birthday!), but most children in your Year 3 class will be 8 to 9 years old.
What Do Students Learn in Year 3?
Year 3 is a big one for Australian students. Many will sit the NAPLAN tests, and more than a few will hit double digits before the year is through. This is a big year for Maths between the introduction of more complex fractions and formal multiplication, as well as even more skill-building in other learning areas.
Exactly what they're expected to learn will depend to some degree on the state or territory where you are teaching, but here's a look at what your students can expect to encounter in the key areas of the curriculum!
English
Year 3 students continue to develop their reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills in their English lessons. Reading will involve more complex texts, including longer novels, non-fiction texts, and poetry.
Students will also be expected to analyse these texts more deeply, examining themes, character development, and literary techniques. Comprehension skill-building will require deeper analysis of texts and drawing inferences from what is read.
While Year 2 instruction focuses on basic writing skills such as sentence structure and punctuation, this older group of students will move toward more advanced writing skills such as paragraphing, using descriptive language, and organising ideas in a logical way.
Grammar and spelling will also become a greater focus this year, with an emphasis on understanding and applying more complex grammar rules and spelling patterns.
Maths
Fractions feature front and centre of the Year 3 Maths curriculum. Students will learn to identify, compare, and order unit fractions (those being fractions with a numerator of 1), as well as use them in simple problem-solving contexts.
We already alluded to this being a big year for multiplication, and is it ever! Year 3 students learn the basic multiplication facts — such as 2 x 2 = 4 and 3 x 3 = 9 — and they begin to use these facts to solve multiplication and division problems. They also learn to interpret and create simple multiplication and division problems.
Students will have the chance to build upon their understanding of measurement concepts from Year 2, including length, mass, and capacity. They'll learn to measure and estimate using standard units, plus how to compare and order measurements.
Maths students will expand their knowledge of 2D shapes this year, and they will begin to learn about three-dimensional shapes and their properties.
Place value is still a big part of maths, of course. Year 3 students expand their understanding of place value to include numbers up to 10,000, and they learn to read, write, and compare four-digit numbers. They also learn to use place value to solve addition and subtraction problems.
Science
Science instruction in Year 3 is more focused on building a deeper understanding of scientific concepts and their applications, as compared to Year 2. It also emphasises the development of scientific inquiry skills that will help kids become more proficient in conducting scientific investigations and communicating their findings.
Students in Year 3 learn to ask questions, plan and conduct investigations, collect and record data, and communicate their findings as part of their development of science inquiry skills. They spend a portion of the year learning about the characteristics of living things, including plants and animals. Year 3 students will have the chance to explore the life cycles of plants and animals, as well as learning about the needs of living things and their habitats.
While they're learning about things that live on Earth, they're also learning about the planet itself, exploring geological features such as rocks, soil, and minerals. They also explore heat energy and how it can be transferred from one object to another.
Last, but certainly not least, Year 3 students learn about the properties and states of matter, including solids and liquids (gasses are explored later on in primary school).
Humanities and Social Sciences
Building on the foundation set in Year 2, Year 3 HAAS lessons build a deeper understanding of historical events and concepts, as well as exploring the social and economic systems that underpin Australian society.
Students learn about the historical events, people, and places that have shaped Australia's history. They explore the concept of change and continuity over time and learn to use historical sources to investigate the past. Students also study significant cultural events celebrated in our country and how they contribute to Australia's diversity and identity.
Geography instruction will guide students as they learn about the physical and cultural characteristics of places and regions. They'll learn more about the representation of Australia as states and territories, and as Countries/Places of First Nations Australians. Students will also begin exploring Australia's neighbours such as New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, and Indonesia.
Civics instruction sees Year 3 students strengthening their understanding of what it means to live in a democratic society. They will draw upon their own personal experiences to examine why rules are important and to discuss how they can be active participants in the communities to which they belong.
Health and Physical Education
With their bodies rapidly changing, Year 3 students learn about the factors that influence their health and wellbeing, including the importance of good nutrition, hygiene, and sleep. They also learn about social and emotional health, including how to manage their feelings, develop positive relationships, and make safe and healthy choices.
In Year 3, there are a number of different types of safety on tap in lessons, including road safety, water safety, and personal safety. They develop an understanding of risk and learn strategies for staying safe in different situations.
Year 3 students also learn about the importance of being active and informed citizens in their community. They learn about the benefits of volunteering and begin to develop an understanding of the responsibilities and rights of individuals in society.
The Arts
In Year 3, students develop more advanced skills in drawing, painting, and other visual arts techniques. This includes studying the elements of art — such as line, shape, colour, and texture — and beginning to use these to create more complex artworks.
In music class, these children are learning all about musical notation and how to read and write simple music, while drama instruction explores different forms of drama, including role-playing, improvisation, and scripted performance. Students get the chance to learn about the elements of drama, such as character, plot, and setting, and begin to use these to create their own dramatic works.
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Two Stars and a Wish Poster and Feedback Slips
A set of feedback cards and display poster for the classroom.
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Open-Ended Maths Problem Task Cards – Year 3 and 4
Challenge students with open-ended maths problems that build real-world reasoning and stretch your students’ thinking.
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Snakes and Ladders Game Board Template
Create a fun activity for any subject area with this black-and-white board game template.
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Handwriting Paper No Dotted Blue Line - Landscape
Use this Handwriting Paper to help students to write with their neatest handwriting.
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Handwriting Paper with Dotted Blue Line - Landscape
Use this Handwriting Paper to help students to write with their neatest handwriting.
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10-Step Algorithm Sequence Sheet - Middle Primary
A worksheet for students to use when writing an algorithm.
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Structure of a Narrative Escape Room - Lost the Plot
Teach the structure of a narrative with this engaging escape room game where students learn about the orientation, complication, climax and resolution by rebuilding a broken story.
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Fast Finisher Booklet - Middle Primary
54 pages of different activities for use in a Fast Finisher Booklet.
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Tessellation Colouring Sheets
A set of 5 black and white tessellation shape colouring sheets.
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Australia's Neighbouring Countries - Poster Pack
Familiarise your students with Australia’s neighbouring countries with a pack of detailed maps.
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Social Stories - Getting Ready for School
A social story to develop strategies and skills for getting ready for school.
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Money Task Cards - Multi-Step Word Problems
Practise solving money word problems with a printable set of multi-step word problem task cards.
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Greater/Less Than Crocodile Posters
Greater and less than can be easily confused, but Snappy uses visual representation to make it all so much clearer.
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Recycling Plastics Freeze Frame Activity
Illustrate the recycling process for plastics with a printable Recycling Plastics Freeze Frame Activity.
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Interactive Measuring the Temperature Game
Teach your young scientists how to read a thermometer with an engaging Measuring the Temperature Game.
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Fabulous Physicists Reading Comprehension Pack
Get to know Ingenhousz and Thompson, two physicists responsible for discovering conductors and insulators, with our Fabulous Physicists Reading Comprehension Worksheet Pack.
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2027 Goal Setting Worksheet
Inspire your students to reflect and set goals for the new year with a 2026 Goal Setting worksheet.
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International Dot Day Creativity Challenge - Upper Years
Get creative on International Dot Day with a creativity challenge worksheet for older students.
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Design and Technology Challenge Task Cards
A set of 15 design challenge tasks for students.
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Symphony of Stories Colouring Page
Use this music‑themed Book Week 2026 colouring page to give students a creative way to celebrate this year’s Symphony of Stories theme.
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Symphony of Stories – Book Week 2026 Word Search
Explore vocabulary related to the 2026 Book Week theme “Symphony of Stories” with a differentiated word search.
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Year 3 Estimating Time Activity — Detective Challenge Worksheet
Strengthen time estimation skills with a hands-on Time Detective Challenge.
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Weekly Group Rotations - Interactive PowerPoint
An Interactive PowerPoint to help organise classroom group rotations.
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Call-and-Response Classroom Attention Grabbers - Display Cards
Display and use a variety of call and response phrases in your classroom with our printable classroom attention getters.
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Yoga Poses for Kids - Posters for the Classroom
16 kid friendly yoga cards featuring poses to display and use in the classroom for daily gross motor and fitness activities.
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The Bean Game
A fun active game to play at any time.
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Subtraction Detectives – Subtraction Strategies Activity
Engage your class with this subtraction interactive detective activity.
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Time to 5 Minutes - Google Slides Game
Practise telling time to the nearest five minutes with an engaging Telling Time Mystery Picture Game!
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Year 3 Word Problems - Additive and Multiplicative Situations Worksheet Pack
Teach real world word problems with this engaging worksheet pack that helps students model additive, multiplicative and division situations.
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Addition Facts to 20 Strategy Posters
Reinforce addition facts to 20 with strategy posters that clearly teach mental strategies and build student confidence.
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Animal Fact File Template Pack
Use an Animal Fact File Template to introduce to your students to the informational researching and writing process.
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Hunting for Heat Sources Activity
Identify heat sources in the world around you with a printable Hunting for Heat Sources activity sheet.