Directions to Create a Tangram
The tangram puzzle was originally invented by the Chinese. The first known tangram book was published in the early 1800s but, in all likelihood, the tangram puzzle existed long before that. When the Chinese opened their borders to trade with the West, the tangram came back with the Westerners. A tangram consists of seven pieces, and each puzzle challenges you to arrange these pieces into shapes of animals or figures.
Things You'll Need
- Scissors
- Thick paper, such as construction paper or card stock
- Ruler
- Writing implement
Instructions
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Creating the Tangrams
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1
Fold the top left corner of a piece of paper over on the paper so it forms a right triangle and the top edge is flush with the right edge. Cut off the excess rectangle at the bottom, and then open the initial fold to form a square.
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2
Fold the square in half, then in half again, forming a rectangle one-quarter the height of the square but the same width. Unfold the paper, then fold it in half twice again in the opposite direction to create 16 small squares. Number the top left square 1, then each square to the right 2, 3, and 4 respectively. Go to the next row; begin with 5 and continue to 8. Repeat this process for the next two rows.
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3
Draw a line from the bottom-left corner of square 5 to the top-right corner of square 2. Use a ruler to ensure straight lines. Draw a line from the bottom-left corner of square 13 to the top-right corner of square 4; this line should halve the square diagonally. Draw a line along the right edge of squares 5 and 9. Draw a line from the bottom-right corner of square 1 to the bottom-right corner of square 16. Draw a line from the top-left corner of square 3 to the bottom right of square 3.
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4
Carefully cut along the lines drawn. There should be two large triangles, one medium-sized triangle, two small triangles, a square, and a parallelogram. Use these seven shapes to complete tangram puzzles or to create your own variations of shapes and animals.
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1
References
Resources
- Photo Credit geisha réalisée avec les 7 pièces d"un tangram image by Unclesam from Fotolia.com
