tangrams
Seven-piece dissection puzzles
Tangrams are a Chinese puzzle consisting of seven flat geometric pieces—five triangles, a square, and a parallelogram—that fit together to form a square.
The challenge is rearranging these pieces to create other shapes: animals, people, objects, letters.
The kids spent an hour making tangram animals.
The puzzle teaches spatial reasoning and geometry.
Three-sided plane figure
- squareRhombus with right angles
- parallelogramQuadrilateral with paired parallels
- polygonMultisided plane figure
- shapeExternal outline of something
dissection · congruent · arrangement · rotation · flip · transform · spatial · area
Puzzle demanding clever thought
- challengeTest of ability
- solutionAnswer or liquid mixture
- solvingFinding the answer
- piecesParts of something divided
assembly · fitting · arrangement · mental · problem · logic · manipulation · figure
Summary of key elements
- figureOutline or numeral
- shapeExternal outline of something
- formShape or document
- contourBounding line of shape
shadow · representation · image · picture · animal · person · object · recognizable
Anatomical cutting and examination
- puzzleChallenge testing ingenuity
- shapesExternal outlines of things
- ancientVery old indeed
- traditionalFollowing long-held customs
Asian · origin · historical · wisdom · ingenuity · cleverness · patience · meditation
Organized play or sport
pieces · play · recreation · family · children · educational · classroom · manipulative
triangle
Three-sided plane figure
- squareRhombus with right angles
- parallelogramQuadrilateral with paired parallels
- polygonMultisided plane figure
shape · dissection · congruent · arrangement · rotation · flip · transform · spatial · area · plane
brainteaser
Puzzle demanding clever thought
pieces · assembly · fitting · arrangement · mental · problem · logic · manipulation · figure · pattern
outline
Summary of key elements
contour · shadow · representation · image · picture · animal · person · object · recognizable · abstract
dissection
Anatomical cutting and examination
traditional · Asian · origin · historical · wisdom · ingenuity · cleverness · patience · meditation · philosophy
game
Organized play or sport
plastic · pieces · play · recreation · family · children · educational · classroom · manipulative · hands-on
- geometry gamescircle games, tessellation
- puzzlespuzzles, sudoku, jigsaw puzzle, puzzle cube, crossword
- puzzle gamessudoku, matching, jigsaw puzzle, tetris, tiles
- brain gamesbrainteasers, brain teasers, logic puzzles, puzzles, crossword puzzles
- learning toysalphabet blocks, building blocks, shape sorter, flashcards, magnetic letters
- play learningfree play, creative play, pretend play, imaginative play, dramatic play