Shape and Fraction Puzzles with Tangrams and Pattern Blocks

This idea walks around your house all day. Puzzle solving trains the same persistence that hard problems in any subject will need later. This is worth learning because puzzles build persistence, which matters more than speed. Watch for it today, and when you spot it, tell someone what you noticed and how you knew. Ask yourself where else the same idea might be hiding, then go and look.

This is a good thing for a young mathematician to know. Puzzles put it all together. With pattern blocks, see how many triangles cover one hexagon: six. How many rhombuses: three.

Each triangle is one sixth of the hexagon and each rhombus is one third. With tangrams, fit all the pieces into a square without gaps or overlaps. These puzzles teach fractions, shapes, and patience at the same time, and they feel like play the whole way through.

Watch out for forcing a piece that does not fit. In a good puzzle, the right piece slides in without pressure. Pushing usually means you should try a different piece rather than harder. Do it carefully rather than quickly, and thank God for a mind that can learn.