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How to Create Your Own Tangram Assignments

The tangram puzzle consists of a square cut into seven standard pieces: two large triangles, two small triangles, one medium-size triangle, a square and a parallelogram. You can arrange the pieces into many different patterns that represent abstract shapes or stylized objects like a cat or a boat. The goal of the puzzle is to create a given silhouette with all seven pieces without letting them overlap. With a little experimentation, you can create your own patterns for others to copy.

Things You'll Need

Pictures (optional)
Tangram puzzle

Instructions

- 1
  Look through some pictures in a magazine or photo album to get ideas. The designs you create with a tangram puzzle cannot be too detailed, so look for something that has a distinctive overall shape with few fine details.
- 2
  Arrange the pieces into a shape that suggests the image you want to replicate. You may need to experiment to get the best combination. After all, tangram puzzles are meant to be tricky. One approach is to use the biggest puzzle piece to cover the biggest area on the picture, then use the next biggest piece to cover the biggest uncovered area, and so on until you've used up all the pieces.
- 3
  Construct the final configuration on a piece of paper once you've created a combination that satisfies you. Trace around the pattern with a pencil, staying as close as possible to the edges of the shape. The resulting silhouette is a tangram assignment that you can share with others to see if they can figure out how to replicate your design.

Educational Toys