Tangram Puzzles For Kids [Math]

Hi there. This post features tangram puzzles for kids. Although, these interactive puzzles is mostly for those in grade three to grade six older people can benefit from these puzzles as well.

Tangram puzzles fall under the geometry branch of mathematics.

A big part of this post was from a draft which ended up being incomplete. A tangrams workshop draft copy can be found here.

Sections

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• What Are Tangrams?
• Tangram Examples
• Ideas & Variations

What Are Tangrams?

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Tangram puzzles consist of seven shapes from a square. These seven shapes can be used to create various (two-dimensional) objects and figures. From the square, the seven shapes include a square, two large triangles, two small triangles, a medium size triangle and a parallelogram. These seven shapes can be used to form various objects, shapes and figures.

Tangram Pieces

You can buy tangram pieces from a toy store but I propose much cheaper solutions. This Youtube video shows how to make tangram pieces with a single sheet of paper and a pair of scissors. Another solution is using this printable tangram template from here.

Tangram Examples

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You can create all kinds of neat objects and figures from the tangram pieces.

Tangram House Source

Tangram Cat Source

Tangram Dish Set Source

Table & Furniture Examples

Tangram Furniture

Tangram Table

Tangram Sofa Source

Ideas & Variations

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The draft was originally for an after-school workshop but tangrams can be used for home use. Here are some ideas.

• Instead of plain white paper, you can use coloured/origami paper.

• The website https://www.tangram-channel.com/ is very helpful for puzzle ideas and solutions.

• Additional options include time attack, tangram numbers and tangram letters.

Tangram Numbers Source

• Tangrams can be done in pairs and in teams. A classroom project can involve a tangram zoo of tangram animals.

Tangram Animals

• Some harder puzzles require more than one set of tangram puzzles. These harder puzzles can be done with at least two people.

Tangram Lion Source

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Tangram puzzles are interactive and keeps the brain going. Some of the puzzles do take time to solve. I think one of the best ways to learn something is through trial and error and by discovery.