Patterns of tangram geometric shapes for preschoolers. Tangram: patterns and figures
The educational puzzle game “Tangram” is an interesting activity for both children and adults. You can introduce children to it for the first time at 3-4 years old. The game has no upper age limit. Perhaps you yourself will enjoy racking your brains with the ingenious Tangram figures. This is a game that develops children's combinatorial abilities, imagination, attention and the ability to act according to instructions. In addition, “Tangram” will also become a finger exerciser for kids.
The player’s task in the educational game “Tangram” is to put together figures from puzzle pieces so that, firstly, all parts of the puzzle are used, and, secondly, the parts do not overlap each other. The figures can be turned over as desired, placed with either side up. That, in fact, are all the rules.
For children of different ages and developmental tasks in the game “Tangram” should be different.
Tasks of the educational game "Tangram" for children 3-6 years old
For children 3-4 years old, a rather difficult task will be to apply tangram figures to a ready-made sample (answer) of the puzzle. At the same time, children need to compare the size and shape of the figures, find the correct position, and accurately placing the figure on the basis of a hint is not as easy as it seems. Naturally, the figures on the card must exactly match the sizes of the toy figures.
The same tasks should be used with older children, starting to introduce them to this educational game. It is enough to give two or three such tasks and, if the child copes with them easily, you can move on to more complex tasks.
Tasks of the educational game "Tangram" for children 5-8 years old
Children of this age will be able to put together models from tangram figures next to the answer card. In this case, the card may not correspond to the actual dimensions of the tangram parts. As soon as the child can easily cope with such tasks, you can move on to the next stage.
Tasks of the educational game "Tangram" for children aged seven years and older.
Actually, this is where “Tangram” becomes a puzzle game. The child is asked to assemble the model, presenting only a card with the silhouette of the figure. At seven years old, children will be able to cope with such a task only if they have already played easier versions before.
Creative tasks for the educational game “Tangram”
When the children have already learned how to put together puzzle game figures, you can invite them to try to come up with their own task figures. If you are playing with adult children aged 10-12 years, then you should ask them to sketch such figures in two versions - in silhouette and with hint lines. You can ask a topic. For example, animals of Africa. And organize a competition for the most interesting figure. If the children are still small and cannot sketch the invented figures themselves, then sketch them yourself or take a photograph so that the idea does not disappear.
Making an educational game "Tangram"
Making a “Tangram” with your own hands is very easy. Take two sheets of colored cardboard and firmly glue them together. Then place under a press, dry and cut out a square. Traditionally, the size of the square for the Tangram game was 8x8 cm. But you can make it any size. Cut the square according to the diagram. 
Scheme for cutting a square for the educational puzzle game "Tangram"
In China and Europe in the 17th-19th centuries, this game was made of ivory or wood. It’s unlikely you have it lying around Ivory, but – it’s very possible. Kids will especially love this toy.
The history of the puzzle game "Tangram"
The history of the Tangram puzzle game is shrouded in mystery. The most widespread legend says that it was invented in China, 4000 years ago, by a certain deity named Tang - a myth invented and launched “to the people” by the American chess player Samuel Loyd. Lloyd was generally the inventor of a wide variety of puzzles. You are probably familiar with one of them. This is a puzzle game called "Tag".
Only one thing can be said for sure about the true history of the creation of the Tangram puzzle game - it was invented in China, most likely in the 18th century. At least the first book about this game was published in China in 1803. By the way, the Chinese do not have a game called “Tangram”; it is called Chi-Chao-Tyu, which translates as “a clever pattern of seven parts.” The puzzle game was brought to America by Chinese sailors. And from America it already came to Europe, where it received its name “Tangram” (“tan” is Chinese, “gram” is a letter).
Figures for the game tangram
Animal figures for the tangram game:
Ostrich tangram 
Tangram bird
Rooster tangram
Fox tangram
Tangram chicken
Goose tangram
Tangram dog
Tangram fish
Swan tangram
Tangram cat
Tangram hare
To develop a child’s thinking and imagination, you can use various means and ways, one of which is the tangram game. You can start working with such a fun and useful puzzle in preschool age. Children will be interested in making a house, fish or cat out of simple figures, and colorful diagrams will help them avoid making mistakes.
What it is?
The puzzle itself came to us from ancient China, and the very fact that it is over a thousand years old suggests that it is fascinating and useful. The word, somewhat unusual for Russian speakers, translated from Chinese means “seven tablets of mastery.”
The essence of the game is simple: out of seven geometric shapes on the plane it is necessary to build something specified by the diagram. This could be a figurine of a person or animal, plants, some household items, toys, and older preschoolers can be asked to build numbers and letters.
The composition of the set is as follows:
- triangles (there are five of them) vary in size - two large and small, one medium;
- parallelogram;
- square.
Interestingly, if you add the elements in a certain sequence, you get a square. You can buy a ready-made puzzle, or even more interesting, make it yourself from thick cardboard, painted in different colors, – this will make it easier for the baby to navigate the diagrams.
Freedom of creativity is limited by two simple rules– one element cannot be superimposed on another, but all of them must be involved in the construction.
How to develop the most significant areas for a child in 20-30 minutes a day
- Three ready-made scenarios for comprehensive developmental classes in pdf format;
- Video recommendations on how to conduct complex games and how to create them yourself;
- A plan for creating such activities at home
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Brief history of the technique
Legend has it that a certain Chinese emperor began to use the tangram for the first time, who was very worried that his future heir did not show due interest in the learning process. Then the monarch called for help from three wise men - a mathematician, an artist and a philosopher, who together came up with the magic square. Thanks to it, you can perform a huge number of tasks. And the capricious prince finally began to study.
It is known that even Napoleon at one time was engaged in folding tangram figures.
About the benefits
Puzzle exercises are definitely beneficial for children preschool age, because in an unobtrusive form they develop useful skills:
- teach spatial thinking;
- form and consolidate the concepts of color and shape;
- improve attention and imagination;
- develop the ability to “read” an instruction diagram;
- learn to visually divide an entire object into parts;
- help the development of fine motor skills, since children fold the figures on the table using their fingers.
The goal of such training is to improve the child’s thinking. At the same time, the variety of schemes helps maintain interest.
Variety of tasks
Tangram for preschoolers is a fun and useful activity that can be started from the age of 4-5. First, the kids get acquainted with a new set, study its elements, find a triangle according to their parents’ instructions, and show which one is big and which one is small. Next, adults print out the diagram in full size, asking the little ones to put the elements on the drawing. These can be houses, animals, birds, fish, a Christmas tree, a man.
Gradually, the tasks become more complicated, children are offered a hint diagram, which in size may no longer correspond to the real “dimensions” of the figures, and a task to fold something, for example a bird.
Children, as a rule, also become interested in the fact that from a specific number of elements several varieties of birds can be added.
To prevent preschoolers from getting bored, you should come up with a plot - for example, write a fairy tale about animals who would like to live in a house. In order for each of them to occupy their own “room”, you need to assemble the beast from puzzle elements. Next, preschoolers are offered the following scheme:
They make a cat, a hare, a horse, a fish, a duck, a dog. We can “plant” a spruce next to the house to make it beautiful (its diagram is also presented above). Finally, a man built a dwelling for the menagerie - his figure is also on the diagram.
You shouldn’t torment your child with numerous collections of animals; for one lesson 2-3 are enough; the next day you can continue “populating”.
Cat lovers can be invited to compose these animals from puzzle elements according to the following schemes:
The setting is given something like this: today is cat day, let's try to collect as many as possible various types. Or another option: a cat came to visit us and told us a lot of new things about her relatives. Let's show her how we can collect cats.
Also very interesting are the houses, of which a huge variety can be made from tangram elements:
Together with the child, you should discuss what kind of house he would like to build, for example, for his pets, and then offer him to work. If something doesn’t work out, don’t be nervous and yell at your baby, such an attitude will only destroy his desire to understand the mysteries Chinese puzzle. It’s best to help, hold, praise for your efforts, then the result will come very soon.
When working with tangram, it is important to use a playful element, to come up with fairy tales and exciting stories. Otherwise, the baby will quickly get bored and will study through force. Therefore, it is better to tell him about the magic square, which, at the behest of the good sorceress, split into several fragments, from which literally anything can be created. But the sorceress needs an assistant, so the child is temporarily given miraculous power, and according to the magic book (drawings and diagrams) he will populate the fictional kingdom with various inhabitants, build houses, boats, Christmas trees, etc. there.
Tangram is a great mental workout that will help you have fun and reinforce useful skills. Among huge amount You can find patterns that will appeal to every preschooler.
Tangram game (Chinese: “seven boards of skill” Wikipedia) - a puzzle consisting of seven flat figures, which are folded in a certain way to obtain another, more complex figure (depicting a person, animal, household item, letter or number, etc.).
Both adults and children are now fascinated by puzzle games. Puzzle game - tangram helps to develop logical thinking, geometric intuition, stimulates various thought processes - comparison, generalization, sequencing, determination of relationships “whole” - “part”. All these skills are necessary for the full development of children’s brain activity.
This puzzle game is very easy to make. A square of 8 x 8 cm can be cut from various materials: cardboard, plastic. The square is cut into 7 parts. The result is 2 large, 1 medium and 2 small triangles, a square and a parallelogram. It is necessary that the parts are painted equally on both sides.
The figure that needs to be obtained is usually specified in the form of a silhouette or an external contour. When solving the puzzle, two conditions must be met: first, you must use all seven tangram shapes, and second, the shapes must not overlap each other.
For classes with young children, as a rule, diagrams are used to superimpose tangram figures. Here we want to tell you how we worked using the material .
Educational sheets with tangram patterns in this set are presented in 2 versions: color and outline. In addition, on each piece of paper there is a poem about a number and a task for fine motor skills- shading of the outline of the number. Also included in the set is a diagram of a multi-colored tangram for self-made with instructions.
Color schemes for activities with young children - from 2 years old. And since we are already 3.5 years old, we have printed out and used only tangram contour diagrams.
Schemes for tangrams for children
We used this tangram pattern, printed it on thick paper, folded and glued it, and then cut the tangram square into pieces.
To download this tangram pattern for yourself, just right-click on the picture and click “Save picture as.”
As a result, we got this double-sided colored tangram.
Schemes for tangrams for children
Then we started working with patterns for tangrams - numbers.
There is a piece of paper in front of the child, I read him a poem, then he begins to shade the outline of the number.
Schemes - numbers for tangrams for children
Schemes - numbers for tangrams for children
After the outline of the figure is ready, he begins to lay out the figure from the parts of the tangram.
Schemes - numbers for tangrams for children
Schemes - numbers for tangrams for children
Schemes - numbers for tangrams for children
Then we move on to the next number, read a poem about the number 1, shade the outline of the number and move on to the tangram.
Schemes - numbers for tangrams for children
Schemes - numbers for tangrams for children
Schemes - numbers for tangrams for children
Schemes - numbers for tangrams for children
Schemes - numbers for tangrams for children
Schemes - numbers for tangrams for children
Schemes - numbers for tangrams for children
So sequentially we laid out all the numbers from 0 to 9, and then moved on to the sheets of paper. 
This set of leaves also comes in 2 versions: color and outline, each leaf also has coloring and writing.
We chose 3 diagrams from the set: with a house, a rocket and an airplane, and the child laid them out from the details.
Schemes for tangrams for children
Schemes for tangrams for children
Schemes for tangrams for children
If you liked these leaflets - diagrams, then go to the site , there you will find many more useful educational materials for conducting activities with children at home, in kindergarten and early development schools.
And now a few more photos of how we laid out numbers from parts of the tangram. Good luck to you and your baby!
Schemes - numbers for tangrams for children
Schemes - numbers for tangrams for children
Schemes - numbers for tangrams for children
Schemes - numbers for tangrams for children
Schemes - numbers for tangrams for children
Schemes - numbers for tangrams for children
Schemes - numbers for tangrams for children
Schemes for tangrams for children
Schemes - numbers for tangrams for children
Schemes for tangrams for children
Schemes for tangrams for children
Tangram is a puzzle that consists of a square cut into 7 parts in a certain way. For preschoolers, tangram is a great lesson to prepare for school. And at the age of 5 - 6 years, children love to play. They are interested in picture puzzles.
The goal of the game is to assemble figures of people, animals, birds, numbers, objects from tangram parts...
Tangram game rules:
- The assembled figure must include all seven parts.
- The parts must not overlap each other.
- The parts must be adjacent to each other.
Tangram diagram
(print possible in Word, download file by clicking on the picture with the mouse)
Tangram parts
This is the tangram itself; invented pictures are obtained from its parts. You can buy it, but you can easily make it yourself using the construction diagram. The drawing can be printed on colored paper on a printer or drawn yourself using a ruler. Cut out puzzle pieces from colored paper. Then, laying out the desired figure, glue it onto a thick sheet.
An example of a diagram of a dog - made by 1st grade students for a math and technology lesson.
The tangram game for children can be played at several levels of difficulty. It’s better to start with the simplest thing - lay out the figure according to the sample.
Scheme - rocket
This is how you can make a house out of a tangram.
At the second stage, you can invite children to lay out the figures in a continuous pattern.
And the third level, the most difficult: come up with your own figures that look like people, animals, birds. We offer pictures created by children.
Tangram pattern - fox
Hare and camel
Scheme - man
Figures - fish
Print the diagram of tangram animals.
(fox, cat, hare, camel, horse, dog)
Print the tangram numbers diagram
(Clicking on the image will download a Word document file in docx format, which can be printed using Word)
There are various legends about the appearance of the tangram. Here is one of them...
Almost two and a half thousand years ago, the middle-aged Emperor of China gave birth to a long-awaited son and heir. Years passed. The boy grew up healthy and smart beyond his years. One thing worried the old emperor: his son, the future ruler of a huge country, did not want to study. The boy found it more enjoyable to play with toys all day long.
The emperor called to him three wise men, one of whom was famous as a mathematician, another famous as an artist, and the third was a famous philosopher, and ordered them to come up with a game, by playing with which his son would comprehend the principles of mathematics, learn to look at the world through the gaze of an artist, I would become patient, like a true philosopher, and would understand that complex things are often made up of simple things.
Three wise men came up with "Shi-Chao-Tyu" - a square cut into seven parts.
Many shapes can be made from tangram parts. You can invite your child to make, for example, transport - a boat, an airplane, figures - fencers, a rooster, a pelican, a tree, a candle.
Tangram is a puzzle that consists of a square cut into 7 parts in a certain way. For preschoolers, tangram is a great lesson to prepare for school. And at the age of 5 - 6 years, children love to play. They are interested in picture puzzles.
The goal of the game is to assemble figures of people, animals, birds, numbers, objects from tangram parts...
Tangram game rules:
- The assembled figure must include all seven parts.
- The parts must not overlap each other.
- The parts must be adjacent to each other.
Tangram diagram
(print possible in Word, download file by clicking on the picture with the mouse)
Tangram parts
This is the tangram itself; invented pictures are obtained from its parts. You can buy it, but you can easily make it yourself using the construction diagram. The drawing can be printed on colored paper on a printer or drawn yourself using a ruler. Cut out puzzle pieces from colored paper. Then, laying out the desired figure, glue it onto a thick sheet.
An example of a diagram of a dog - made by 1st grade students for a math and technology lesson.
The tangram game for children can be played at several levels of difficulty. It’s better to start with the simplest thing - lay out the figure according to the sample.
Scheme - rocket
This is how you can make a house out of a tangram.
At the second stage, you can invite children to lay out the figures in a continuous pattern.
And the third level, the most difficult: come up with your own figures that look like people, animals, birds. We offer pictures created by children.
Tangram pattern - fox
Hare and camel
Scheme - man
Figures - fish
Print the diagram of tangram animals.
(fox, cat, hare, camel, horse, dog)
Print the tangram numbers diagram
(Clicking on the image will download a Word document file in docx format, which can be printed using Word)
There are various legends about the appearance of the tangram. Here is one of them...
Almost two and a half thousand years ago, the middle-aged Emperor of China gave birth to a long-awaited son and heir. Years passed. The boy grew up healthy and smart beyond his years. One thing worried the old emperor: his son, the future ruler of a huge country, did not want to study. The boy found it more enjoyable to play with toys all day long.
The emperor called to himself three wise men, one of whom was known as a mathematician, another became famous as an artist, and the third was a famous philosopher, and ordered them to come up with a game, by playing with which, his son would comprehend the principles of mathematics, learn to look at the world around him with the gaze of an artist , would become patient, like a true philosopher, and would understand that complex things are often made up of simple things.
Three wise men came up with "Shi-Chao-Tyu" - a square cut into seven parts.
Many shapes can be made from tangram parts. You can invite your child to make, for example, transport - a boat, an airplane, figures - fencers, a rooster, a pelican, a tree, a candle.