The Tangram Puzzle is a Chinese game that was created during the Song Dynasty (1127 – 1279 AD). It starts with a square that is dissected into 7 pieces. All Tangrams have the exact same shapes. To play the game, players are given a solid silhouette of a shape, and they must recreate the same shape using all 7 puzzle pieces without overlapping any of the pieces.
Wooden Tangram Puzzles can be purchased or you can make your own out of paper or felt. We are including a pattern to make your own puzzle and several shapes to get you started. There are books and entire websites devoted to Tangram Puzzle shapes if you are interested in doing more.
Materials for a Tangram Puzzle
- Purchase pre-made Tangram Puzzle or
- construction paper, card stock paper or felt
- Puzzle Pattern
- Puzzle Shapes
- Puzzle Solutions
To make the Tangram Puzzle from card stock
Load a piece of card stock into your printer and print the Puzzle Pattern. Cut out the shapes.
To make the Tangram Puzzle from construction paper or felt
Make a copy of the Puzzle Pattern. Use the pattern to cut out pieces of construction paper or felt. You can use the different colors indicated on the pattern or some people prefer their puzzle pieces to be the same color, usually a dark color.
How to Use the Tangram Puzzle
Make a copy of the Puzzle Shapes.
Using all 7 pieces, without overlapping any pieces, try to recreate each shape. There are many books and websites where you can find more Tangram Puzzles. Puzzles’ difficulty ranges from easy to very difficult. Start with the easy puzzles first!
If you get stuck on a puzzle, you can print the Puzzle Solutions.
