This blog series is made possible by a grant from the Lilly Endowment, Inc.
A tangram puzzle is a type of puzzle that consists of 7 pieces that can be assembled into different shapes. Each piece of a tangram is made up of 5 triangles, a square, and a parallelogram. Tangrams are puzzles that encourage creative thinking and persistence. Some puzzle solutions are simple, but others require experimentation and patience.
Age Range: 5+
Cost: Free to $10
What You’ll Need:
• Scissors
• Construction paper
• Optional: Templates
• Optional: Ruler (Straight edge)
Directions
1. Cut Shapes
Create a large square on a sheet of construction paper. Then, cut out simple shapes like triangles, squares, and parallelograms from the large square. You can create a tangram with different shapes, sizes, or colors.
For a cleaner cut, download the optional template. If you can, you can print it out or trace it from a screen.
2. Solve Puzzles
With all the pieces, try to make different types of images with the shapes you have. You can start with a few simple animals like a fox, a fish, and a bird. This type of puzzle requires problem-solving and thinking outside the box. If it gets too overwhelming, we have a few images below that you can follow.
Persistence Moment: When a puzzle feels tricky, talk it out. Remind them that puzzles take a lot of time and effort. It’s okay if they don’t get it the first time. If the frustration is getting in the way, take a short break.
3. Challenges
Now that we understand how to create images, it’s time to try out some challenges.
Memory Challenge: Find a guide that has different combinations. Together with your child, study different types of images you can create with your shapes. Depending on your child’s age, select a specific number of combinations to study at a time. For example, if your child is younger, study 3-5 combinations at a time. Once you have studied different combinations, try to recreate them without a reference.
Time Challenge: You can start a time-based challenge by creating many different images in a specific amount of time. The goal is to create more images than the last try. To add to the challenge for older children, give them several combinations they need to complete and break them up into levels. For example, at level one, the child needs to complete 4 combinations in 1 minute. Level 2: Your child needs to complete 6 combinations, so on and so forth.
Why it Matters: Tangrams are a type of activity that shows a child that there are multiple ways to approach a puzzle. Endless possibilities encourage one to try again and discover new shapes. Tangram puzzles also deepen a child’s spatial reasoning, visual analysis, and pattern recognition skills.
