How to Play Tangram Puzzle Math Games
A tangram is a set of seven pieces, or tans, that can be arranged to make a square or one of hundreds of other shapes. A teacher uses a pre-designed format (the tangrams are usually packaged with a few basic ideas), or assigns a puzzle she designed herself. Each set contains two small triangles, two large triangles, a medium-sized triangle, a square and a parallelogram. The puzzle was invented in China hundreds of years ago and remains a popular classroom mathematics manipulative as well as a fun pastime for children who like logic problems. There are very few rules to playing the game: You must use all seven pieces, they must lay flat and not overlap each other and the pieces must touch each other.
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Instructions
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Start out solving simple tangrams to get an idea of how pieces fit together. Some simple tangrams that you can solve include a pyramid, a square or a rectangle.
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Look at each tangram piece before you start to solve the puzzle. Does the piece look different when it is flipped over? Upside down? Rotated left or right? Studying the pieces will give you an idea of how they would fit together.
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Identify any sections the puzzle that fit an obvious shape. For example, you might have a square head or a large triangular skirt.
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Before you remove a piece and decide it has a particular place in the puzzle, make note of what other pieces can also be combined to make that shape. For example, two small triangles can make a square. If you get stuck, you can substitute in the other pieces without having to start from the beginning.
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Tips & Warnings
Use an online tangram tool to help you visualize rotations and placement (see Resources).
You must use all seven pieces of the tangram in your solution to have a valid answer.
