Ancient Chinese Puzzle Game “Tangram”

This material is suitable for both children and adults. Puzzle games are loved by children and adults alike because they are engaging, develop problem-solving and creative thinking skills, and don’t require special knowledge. Tangram is a timeless toy, the most famous puzzle. It enhances geometric intuition and can be incorporated into math lessons not only for elementary school but also for older children. The game offers children a wide space for creativity in a fun and engaging way. Tangram is a great travel companion, and a wooden version is an excellent choice, as wood is a durable, pleasant, and eco-friendly material.

The origins of the Tangram game are shrouded in many mysteries and legends. One legend tells of a broken tile. Over 4,000 years ago, a man dropped a porcelain tile, breaking it into seven pieces. Frustrated, he hurriedly tried to piece it back together but kept creating new, interesting shapes. The activity became so captivating that the square made up of seven geometric figures was later called the “Board of Wisdom.”

The Tangram puzzle comes in various forms. You can find wooden, paper, and plastic versions in stores, or you can make your own by cutting a square into seven pieces. The puzzle consists of seven flat shapes:

Two large triangles, two small triangles, one medium triangle, one square, and one parallelogram.

The goal is to arrange these geometric shapes in a specific way to create a more complex figure representing a person, animal, object, letter, or number. The rules are simple: all seven pieces must be used, the shapes cannot overlap, and the edges of the shapes must touch.

For example, assemble a cat from the given silhouette using all the Tangram pieces. Each child creates their unique version of a cat. When playing Tangram, children develop construction skills and thinking. They enjoy arranging shapes and using their imagination.

For mathematicians, this game is an endless source of geometric relationships. You can start playing Tangram from the age of three, and it’s an excellent finger-training game that develops fine motor skills. The game encourages the ability to combine, use imagination, and for younger children, it can be used as a mosaic, while older children can create silhouette figures.

Using Tangram, children are introduced to basic geometric shapes: squares, rhombuses, triangles. They learn to form new geometric figures from multiple shapes: two triangles form a parallelogram, and three triangles can create a trapezoid. By arranging the pieces differently, children discover new shapes.

While assembling shapes, the child learns to compare elements by shape, size, and area. Children with visual impairments explore the forms through tactile and motor means, moving them to create new figures. Playing Tangram provides intellectual pleasure.

Tangram’s applications can even be seen in furniture design. Furniture based on the Tangram principle is practical and convenient.