Description
The tangram pieces are made of plastic. 7 Pieces make one square. The tangram is an ancient Chinese puzzle consisting of a square divided into these seven geometric shapes. The plastic pieces are easy for young children to manipulate, and can be used for classwork or creative play. Some activity ideas are listed below.
Sorting: Children can sort the pieces by shape, number of sides or shapes with the same area. The pieces can also be sorted by colour. Making geometric shapes: Using some or all of the pieces, children can make larger forms of the tangram square, parallelogram, and triangle. They also can make other shapes such as rectangles, trapezoids, pentagons, and hexagons. Let children explore with the shapes.
Symmetry: Guide youngsters in discovering which tangram pieces are symmetrical. Using the tangrams at their desks, have them trace around each piece, cut it out, and then fold it to see if the two parts match. You may want to tell children that the fold line is called a line of symmetry. Children can fold their cutout pieces to find the number of symmetry lines for each shape. Symmetrical
Figures: Ask children to form symmetrical figures with their pieces. Have them trace around the figures, and then cut them out and fold the shape to check its symmetry. Kids can make other symmetrical shapes, and then share them with their peers.
Congruence: Congruent figures have the same size and shape. Ask children to look at a set of tangrams and find congruent shapes (small triangles; large triangles). Next, have them form a square using 1 large triangle, 1 medium triangle, and 2 small triangles. Then, ask them to find other pieces that will form congruent squares using other tangram pieces.
Ages 4+ years
What's in the box
35 x Coloured Tangram Shapes