Tangram applique of geometric shapes. Didactic game - puzzle for preschoolers. Tangram. Chinese tangram puzzle game: rules and history
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. In this case, children need to compare the size and shape of the figures, find correct position, and accurately placing a figure on a hint base 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 that you have ivory lying around, 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
Didactic game-Tangram puzzle
Tolstopyatova Iraida Anatolyevna, teacher at MADOU“The Sorceress”, Labytnangi, Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug.Purpose: This game introduces children to geometric shapes, teaches how to fold certain shapes, recommended for middle and older children preschool age, as well as for teachers and parents.
Didactic puzzle game "Tangram"
Target: Teach children to play puzzle games independently, to be able to lay out from a set geometric shapes, a variety of silhouettes.
Tasks: Develop children's spatial concepts, constructive thinking, logic, imagination, and intelligence.
Develop fine motor skills to prepare children for school.
Cultivate patience and perseverance.
Rules of the game: The following rules must be observed in the game:
1.When composing images, the entire set of parts is used as a whole.
2.The parts of the geometric constructor are attached to each other.
Does everyone know what a tangram is? This is one of the famous puzzles. She was born in China more than 3,000 years ago. From the 7 elements into which the square is divided, you can create a set various items and animal figures.
Draw a square like this on cardboard and divide it into parts. To begin, ask your child to put these pieces back together into a square. It is better if the child completes the task without looking at the drawing of the square. But if it doesn’t work out, then, of course, you can use the sample.
These figures are used to create a variety of silhouettes. It is easier for a child to do this using samples with drawn components. Outline patterns are more difficult to reproduce.
Real drawings of those objects, the silhouette image of which is created using a puzzle game, are very useful. In this case, it will be easier for the child to imagine the depicted object and, perhaps, create his own version. Such activities are useful in preparing children for school.
A ball of fluff -
Long ear.
Jumps deftly
Loves carrots (hare).
Cunning cheat -
Red head.
Lives in the forest
In the village, a fox steals chickens.
He sleeps in a den in winter
Under a huge pine tree.
And when spring comes,
Wakes up from sleep (bear).
Not a horseman, but with spurs.
It's winged, but doesn't fly well.
On lashes and fences
The rooster sings songs.
The girl can be laid out in another way.
The Christmas tree is laid out in different ways.
You can create pictures by first laying them out on the table and then gluing them onto paper.
To prevent the shapes from getting confused, I glued envelopes for them, and the geometric shapes were of different colors, so that it would be easier to arrange them in the envelopes.
Puzzle games are popular with both children and adults: they are exciting, develop intelligence and innovative thinking, raise self-esteem, and do not require special knowledge. In addition, such games are an excellent replacement electronic gadgets, which has captured the time and minds of modern people. Perhaps one of the most famous puzzles is the tangram - a square cut into seven parts. In today's article we will look at the main aspects associated with this exciting game: the history of the tangram, the rules of the game, the benefits for child development and ways to make a tangram yourself.
Chinese tangram puzzle game: rules and history
Tangram (from Chinese "seven planks of skill") consists of seven flat figures, or tans. They must be folded in a certain way to obtain a more complex figure depicting a person, animal, plant, object, number, letter, etc. The conditions of the game are to use all seven tangram pieces and there is no overlap between the pieces. You should start solving the puzzle by finding the location of the largest triangle.
Tangram is considered an ancient game that originated more than 4,000 years ago. According to legend, a porcelain tile fell out of one person’s hands and broke. It turned out 7 parts, and the upset person tried to quickly put them back into a single whole, but the result was the appearance various figures. The activity turned out to be very exciting, it later turned into a game and found many fans.
Another beautiful tale tells of the battle between the Thunder God and the Great Dragon. The Thunder God broke the sky into 7 pieces that fell to the ground. Black pieces absorbed the earth's light and all existing forms of objects. The dragon began to create various forms from “pieces of the sky” - animals, plants, humans.
However, despite the well-established idea of the tangram as a the oldest game, the earliest depiction of his figures in a Chinese book dates from 1813. Already at the beginning of the 19th century, thanks to the development of trade relations with China, this game became popular in Europe and America. The oldest example of a tangram was given to the son of an American shipowner in 1802; it is made of ivory and is kept in a silk case.
Fans of the game included, for example, Edgar Allan Poe and Lewis Carroll. The latter had a book in his library with 323 tasks for this puzzle.
How many figures are in a tangram and what are they?
The tangram consists of 7 parts obtained by cutting a square. What figures make up a tangram? These are 5 triangles (2 large, 1 medium and 2 small), a parallelogram and a square. From such a small number of parts you can get a huge variety of shapes - it is estimated that there are more than 7,000 options!
How to play tangram: rules
Tangram is a simple and simple game. Its rules are as follows:
- From the details of a tangram you need to put together an image of an animal, a person, an object, a letter, a number, a geometric figure;
- Assembled figure must include all 7 parts of the tangram;
- The parts must touch without overlapping each other;
- The addition of the figure begins with finding the location of the large triangle.
The benefits of the educational game tangram
Despite its apparent simplicity, tangram is an excellent educational tool. It is not for nothing that it is also called a split puzzle or a geometric constructor. By assembling various shapes from tangram parts, a child can learn a lot.
What tangram develops:
- perseverance (like any other puzzle, tangram takes time);
- attention, ability to concentrate on details;
- imagination - the child imagines final result and ways to achieve it;
- logical thinking, since the child creates a whole from parts and analyzes options;
- the ability to act according to the rules.
All these qualities and skills are important not only for learning, but also for life in general.
Tangram material: wooden, magnetic, cardboard, plastic
Tangram can be made of different materials. The simplest option that can be easily made at home is a cardboard tangram. But, as you understand, it is also the most fragile.
An excellent solution would be to purchase or make a wooden tangram at home. Long-lasting, durable and eco-friendly, it's sure to be passed down from today's kids to their own.
It is very convenient to play with a magnetic tangram: you can create figures on a special field, where they will not move anywhere or overlap each other. It is quite easy to make it at home from special foam and magnets or a special magnetic tape (soft magnet).
Plastic tangrams are quite strong and durable. You can also make them yourself.
How to make a tangram with your own hands?
Making a tangram with your own hands is not at all difficult. First decide on the material. At home, the easiest way is to make a cardboard, rubber (from porous rubber or foam) or magnetic tangram. You can also make a tangram from felt or an office folder made of hard plastic or very thick cardboard.
The diagram of any tangram looks like this:
The size of the tangram is at your discretion. It will certainly be convenient for a child to play with a puzzle with a square side of 10-12 cm.
Cut a square from the selected material and draw it in accordance with the diagram (you can use a template, or you can without it). First, divide the square diagonally in half into two large triangles. Find the center of the square and the midpoints of the sides of one of the large triangles. Divide the second large triangle in half, connecting the vertex of the right angle to the center of the square. Draw another large triangle using the obtained points using a square onto the remaining figures: a middle triangle, two small ones, a square and a parallelogram.
You can make all the puzzle pieces the same color, but it will be more interesting and beautiful to create a multi-colored, bright tangram. Cover the resulting parts (if they are non-colored or plain) on both sides with colored paper or film. If a child makes a tangram himself, if desired, he can color each detail with pencils or felt-tip pens.
To make a wooden tangram, thin plywood is best suited. The workpiece will also need to be drawn and cut according to the diagram, and the resulting parts will need to be painted.
How to assemble a tangram?
You can introduce a child to the tangram as early as 3-4 years old. We should start by explaining what its parts are called. The simplest version of the game is to fold the figures along the contours drawn by the elements. The child needs to find the outline of the desired figure and put it on top. Later he will learn to assemble compositions not on top of, but next to, a sample figurine, which will be of a different size. With practice, the baby will gradually be able to move on to adding figures, seeing only their outer contour, or he will come up with the figures himself.
You can play with a tangram one at a time, or you can arrange competitions between players.
As mentioned above, you need to start adding a tangram by finding the location of the large triangle.
Below are some options for figures that can be assembled from puzzle elements.
Tangram, like any other puzzle, is a wonderful simulator for developing logic and imagination. Its peculiarity is its simplicity and at the same time versatility, because with just 7 parts you can put together several thousand variants of shapes! We hope that you and your child will appreciate this exciting game. Enjoy your leisure time!
Tatiana Kholyavskaya
Good day to all!
I think that all teachers are familiar with the puzzle game" Tangram", I won’t write much about her. This Chinese game, which has spread throughout the world for more than 4 thousand years!
Children love it very much play this game, everyone wants to play, one or two sets per group is not enough. I decided to make more sets of this puzzle for all the children in the group. kindergarten from cardboard. I pasted a self-adhesive film on top of the cardboard sheets. This way the figures look more beautiful and stronger.
A game is an equilateral square. For children 5-6 years old, I made a square 12*12 cm. I don’t think it’s necessary to make it larger. Still this a game not only introduces children to geometric shapes, develops thinking, imagination, logic, intelligence, but also fine motor skills, which means the details should not be too large.
A square is divisible by 7 parts: two large right triangles, two small right triangles, one equilateral square, one medium triangle and a parallelogram.
I signed the main sizes on photo: square - 4.2 cm*4.2 cm, large triangles - 8.5*8.5*12 cm.
The square is cut into parts:
Turning it over:
Templates for building figures can be downloaded on the Internet, from the simplest to the most complex. For small children (4 years) It’s better to make the templates yourself by gluing parts of the same size onto a sheet of cardboard; at first they will put the parts on top, eventually next to each other. For example, here is a card with fish:
It will still be difficult for them to build according to the drawn diagrams. But children 5-6 years old are already quite capable of building according to diagrams, first of a plan where the boundaries of the geometric shapes are visible figures:
then without borders:
Children play they can play such a game for quite a long time and with passion (the game develops perseverance) . These are the figures turn out:
I have children senior group, laid out according to the drawn diagrams
I put each set in an envelope
and the envelopes in a box
Now I want to do felt tangram.
Publications on the topic:
Goal: To train children in the ability to carry out search actions of a mental and practical nature. Create new images in your imagination.
In the ECD for FEMP, when introducing children to geometric shapes, I used the didactic game “Tangram”. In order for the children to have.
Educational game "Adventure" Rules of the game "Adventure" The game will help activate thinking, teach the mental operations themselves, and convince the child of the need to search.
Consultation for parents “Developmental puzzle “Tangram” The tangram puzzle game for preschoolers is one of the components methodological support for the section “Elementary mathematics.
GCD for children of the preparatory group "Tangram" Objectives: 1. Develop imagination; 2. Strengthen quantitative and ordinal counting; 3. Orientation on a sheet of paper. Equipment: task “Find.
The preschooler strives for active interaction with his environment. Direct contact of the child with objects available to him allows.
Both adults and children love solving puzzles. This activity is exciting, and it also perfectly develops logic, determination and perseverance.
The tangram game has long been recognized as one of the most interesting puzzles, and it is useful to start getting acquainted with it from preschool age.
What is tangram?
The puzzle includes 7 geometric shapes (tans): 5 right triangles of different sizes, 1 square and 1 parallelogram. They are obtained from a large square, which is first divided into 2 identical triangles. Then, from each triangle, several more figures are obtained: from the first - 2 large triangles, from the second - all the other figures. The sizes of the figures in the tantam can vary, as well as the material from which the puzzle is made. You can, for example, cut out tangram parts from cardboard, including multi-colored ones, while focusing on the drawing below.
Even better is to use magnetic tape to make tans - then the figures can be assembled directly on the refrigerator or a special board. You just need to remember that the proportional ratio of the sides of all geometric figures must certainly be the same - after all, this is the meaning of the tangram.
When and where did the puzzle appear?
The homeland of tangram is China, which determined the name of the game: in Chinese, tan means “part.”
There are several versions of where and when the tangram first appeared.
According to the first, tangrams have been around for more than 4 thousand years, and they appeared completely by accident. A fallen porcelain tile broke into 7 pieces, and its owner tried to put the pieces back together. But he was hampered by haste, and each time he received more and more new pieces. As a result, the activity was very exciting not only for him, but also for other people. Thus, the broken porcelain square turned into a fascinating Board of Wisdom.
Another explanation of what a tangram is and how it arose takes us back 2.5 thousand years ago, during the reign of one of the Chinese emperors. His heir grew up as a very smart and quick-witted boy, but did not want to study. Then the emperor summoned a mathematician, a philosopher and an artist and gave them a task: to come up with something that could interest the boy. Together they came up with "Shi-Chao-Tyu". The board, cut into 7 parts, introduced the future emperor to the basics of mathematics, taught him to look at the world comprehensively, like an artist, and instilled in the boy the perseverance and patience characteristic of philosophers.
According to the third legend, one of the Chinese sages, whom his compatriots equated to a deity, described the development of the world from chaos to the modern state in 7 books. Moreover, the basis of each volume is a description of figures assembled using the tangram technique from 7 geometric figures.
Whatever the background of the origin of the tangram puzzle, the important thing is that with its help you can not only have a great time, but also take a new look at the world.
Meaning of tangram
What are the rules of the game with thanes? They are quite simple and even a child can do them.
The player’s task is to collect from the tans as many silhouettes of animals, people, surrounding objects, etc. The field for imagination here is really wide: after all, there are supposedly more than 6 million combination options. So, for example, you can create two silhouettes that differ in only one detail.
The tangram puzzle, like any other game, requires compliance with several rules.
- All collected figures must include all 7 tans.
- The silhouette is assembled on a plane, while the tans should be adjacent to each other either on one side or at an angle, but in no case should they overlap or be placed on top of each other.
Compliance with these conditions may initially cause some difficulties, so it is wise to teach children how to lay out tans gradually.
Techniques for mastering the puzzle
To clarify the answer to the question “how to assemble a tangram?”, you can resort to the following techniques.
Finally, when an understanding of what a tangram is and the basics of the game have been mastered, you can begin such steps as dividing the finished figure into tans, and then composing the figure in accordance with your own vision.
What is the use of a puzzle?
The wide educational and educational capabilities of the tangram contribute to the fact that the puzzle is actively used in the educational process already in preschool institutions. And this is completely justified.
- Folding tan figures perfectly develops hand motor skills.
- Acquaintance with tans, their comparison and folding introduces an initial course in geometry, the relationship between the whole and the part.
- Figures painted in different colors help you better understand the world around you.
- The combination of geometric figures and laying out silhouettes of people and animals not only develops imagination, thinking, and perseverance, but also broadens one’s horizons and contributes to the formation of a holistic perception of the world.
Thus, with the right approach, tangram can become a very effective educational and educational tool both in the hands of specialists and in the hands of parents.
Tangram in the life around us
Understanding what a tangram is and what its capabilities are has become a good help for designers. For example, a shelf made up of 7 familiar geometric shapes looks very original. Its advantage is that the tangram parts in such a shelf can be constantly swapped. As a result, without much effort you can add something new even to a rather boring interior.
The transforming sofa, assembled according to the same tangram type, also looks stylish. Or a compact coffee table that attracts attention with its unusual shape.
In general, tangram is entertaining puzzle, capable of serving well every person striving for self-improvement and knowledge of their own capabilities.
