Take & Make: Tangram Puzzle Horse & Warrior
Create your own pictures using seven shapes of a tangram!
What is a Tangram?
A tangram is a puzzle of seven pieces or shapes (five triangles, one parallelogram, and one square) that can be rearranged to create a variety of images. The tangram game originated in ancient China, but it was in the 19th century that it gained widespread popularity in China, Europe, and the United States. There are many legends about how the tangram was invented. One of the best known stories is about a pane of glass that was accidently broken into seven different pieces. Someone picked up these pieces and moved them around to form different pictures. Now it is your turn to create your own pictures using these seven shapes!
Mounted Warrior on Horse
Mounted Warrior on Horse, Warring States period (475–221 BC), earthenware with pigment, excavated from xianyang Steel Tube Factory, 1995. Xianyang Municipal Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, M28057:6
Horses and cavalrymen were part of the First Emperor’s Terracotta Army. You can see this work, as well as many others, in Terracotta Army: Legacy of the First Emperor of China.
Make Your Own Tangram Puzzle
Materials:
- Scissors
- Crayons
- Markers
Directions:
1. Download the numbered tangram template and print it out.
2. Cut along the solid black lines of the tangram template so that each numbered piece is separated.
3. Rearrange the tangram pieces so that they resemble the Warrior and Horse tangram image seen above. Make sure the tangram puzzle pieces don’t overlap!
4. Once you have tried your hand at creating the Warrior and Horse, compare it to the completed & numbered sample of the Tangram Horse and Warrior.
5. Feel free to decorate your tangram pieces and then rearrange them to see what other creations you can construct!