Geometric Design Puzzles

Geometric design puzzles have ancient origins. The Chinese tangram, Archimedes’ puzzle and a host of others are recorded in ancient books.

And although they are old, time has not removed the shroud that makes three, four, five or more simple geometric pieces from being puzzles. They are as fascinating (and occasionally frustrating) today as they were to the ancients.

David and I have been making a few of our favorites to send to cousins and uncles for Easter (in lieu of cheesy cards).

Here is the first pattern for a simple square puzzle:

I like using craft foam for these puzzles because it’s sturdy enough to keep the puzzles from getting mangled after a few days, and it’s so easy to cut.

For now David has been drawing the lines and I’ve been cutting, since my little lefty still isn’t great at cutting straight lines.

PDF Template for Printing

To make a puzzle of your own, print off the PDF template linked above. Cut out the square from the rest of the paper, then cut a square from your craft foam that’s exactly the same size.

We then line up the paper and the foam and use a black pen to punch holes through the paper to mark where each line begins and ends.

Then David uses a ruler to draw the lines nice and straight, and I use a pair of sharp scissors to cut out the shapes very carefully.

One the puzzle is cut, you’ll want to destroy or hide the template (because referring to it while solving the puzzle is cheating!!!) and have fun playing.

While it looks simple, without the template this one is harder than it looks.

If you’re looking for something more challenging, or more specifically Easter-themed, try this Cross puzzle template. The similarity of the shapes makes it a more challenging puzzle.

Download the Cross Puzzle Template

The pieces to both these puzzles fit nicely into an envelope, so can be mailed to friends and relatives along with a letter to give them some entertainment too!

Tags: tangram, geometric puzzle, craft, kids puzzle, kids activity, kids craft, easter craft

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This entry was posted on Friday, March 16th, 2007 at 6:12 pm and is filed under Arts, Crafts and Music, Puzzles & Brain Teasers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.