The tangram is a Chinese puzzle made up of seven pieces with different geometric shapes. It is up to the player to combine the pieces and create figures.
Tangram is a way to exercise logical reasoning and creativity as a way to create more than 5000 possible figures.
The pieces that make up the tangram game are:
- 2 large triangles;
- 1 medium triangle;
- 2 small triangles;
- 1 square;
- 1 parallelogram.
Tangram to print
Below is an easy template to print, cut out and play with.
The History of Tangram
The origin of the game is not precisely known, but there are records in Chinese books from the 17th century. It is possible that the puzzle was taken to Europe in the 18th century where it became very popular.
Nowadays, it is widely used for knowledge of geometry. Its pieces have different areas and can be combined in thousands of ways.
The Legends of Tangram
Regarding the emergence of tangram, there are two main legends. In them, the tangram is accidentally conceived through a mirror broken into seven parts (seven tangram pieces).
One of the legends tells that a young Chinese man was going to travel around the world and received a mirror from his master so that he could record the trip.
Not knowing how he would make this record, he dropped the mirror, breaking it. In this way, he realized that the record would be made from the combination of the seven pieces.
Another legend states that Emperor Tan broke his square mirror into seven pieces. In an attempt to reassemble it, he realized that he could form many different figures. He was delighted with this challenge and decided to produce it as a game.
Tangram Figures
There are many possible combinations to compose figures. In the Tangram Encyclopedia written in China more than a hundred years ago, more than 1700 figures were catalogued.
Tangram figures refer to geometric shapes, animals, objects and human figures. It is up to the player to exercise creativity and logical reasoning to assemble the different possibilities.
Examples of Cats with Tangram
One of the favorite animals in tangram games is the cat. There are dozens of possible combinations for the formation of this animal.
Examples of people with Tangram
Other ways with Tangram
Interested? See too:
- Popular Games
- Geometric Shapes
ASTH, Rafael. Tangram: what it is, examples of figures and model to print.All Matter, [n.d.]. Available in: https://www.todamateria.com.br/tangram/. Access at:
See too
- Geometric Shapes
- 15 Popular Games That Teach and Kids Love
- What is Mosaic?
- Games and games
- Spatial Geometry
- Plane Geometry
- Cooperative games: what they are and examples
- Areas of Flat Figures
