How to make a tangram

Cut the square into two triangles. Cut the triangle into two smaller triangles.

Watch this part carefully. Just mark the center there. Now cut the triangle into a trapezium and a triangle. And cut the trapezium into two smaller trapeziums. Cut the trapezium into a square and triangle. Cut the trapezium into a parallelogram and a triangle.

Look at all the shapes we have now. We have five triangles, two big ones a medium one and two small ones. A parallelogram and a square.

Now let's try to rearrange it back into our original square sheet of paper. Can you remember how it went? There we go, a tangram. Good job.

So what's some of the mathematics here? When we involve children in making mathematical tools, we help them make meaning from them. By making a tangram, we can build spatial skills and focus attention on important ideas like, how bigger shapes can be decomposed or broken up into smaller shapes. Providing hands-on activities like this one allows children to manipulate geometric shapes, which helps build understanding of geometry and spatial sense.

Over to you now mathematicians. Have fun making.