Tangram Puzzles with Solutions

When a child brings a tangram set and asks how to make a shape, choose that figure here and the solution is shown one piece at a time. The library has more than 80 figures of animals, people, objects, numbers and letters, and prints puzzle cards, answer cards and a cut-out tangram board, or saves them as a PDF.

How to use

1. Under "Choose a figure" (on the right, or below on a phone), press a category such as "Animals" or "Numbers", or search by name, and pick a figure.
2. "Show solution" shows the finished layout at once. Press "Start over", then each press of "Next" moves one piece into place and names it.
3. To show the child only the puzzle, press "Puzzle"; just the black shadow remains.
4. In "Solve it yourself", drag pieces onto the shadow and change their direction with "Turn 45° left", "Turn 45° right" and "Flip". When all seven pieces are inside, the page says it is solved.
5. Under "Print and PDF", choose "This figure" or "Whole current list", set "Per page", "Add answer cards" and "Add a cut-out tangram board", then press "Save as PDF" or "Print".

How it works

• The pieces are two large triangles, one medium triangle, two small triangles, one square and one parallelogram. If a small triangle has area 1, the medium triangle, square and parallelogram have area 2, each large triangle 4, and the whole set 16.
• Every figure uses all seven pieces once without overlap, and a program checked that the pieces join edge to edge. The solution is one example; "Solve it yourself" also accepts any other layout that fills the same shadow.
• With "1 (real size)" the shadow is printed at the real size of the chosen board (10, 15 or 20 cm), so a child can lay the pieces on the paper. Figures larger than the paper are scaled down.
• The chosen figure and print settings are saved only in this browser.

How to solve a tangram puzzle: start with the large pieces

When solving from the shadow alone, find the places for the two large triangles first. Together they cover half of the area, so the widest, straightest part of the shadow is usually where they go. "Show solution" places the pieces in the same order: large triangles, medium triangle, parallelogram, square, small triangles.

Small pointed tips such as ears, tails or beaks are often the small triangles, and a slanted strip is the parallelogram. The parallelogram fits some places only when it is flipped, so if everything seems right but one piece will not go in, flip the parallelogram.

How to make a tangram from a square of paper

With "Add a cut-out tangram board" on, a page with a square divided into the seven pieces is printed too. Print it on thick paper, or glue the print onto card, and cut along the lines. Choose 10 cm, 15 cm or 20 cm; switch off "Colour the pieces" to get white pieces a child can colour.

For the exact size, set the scale in the print dialog to actual size or 100 %. Printing with fit to page can make it slightly smaller.

Questions and answers

What is the solution to the tangram cat?

Press "Cat" under "Choose a figure" to see the layout. Press "Start over" and then "Next" to see the pieces placed one at a time, starting with the large triangles.

How many tangram pieces are there and what are they called?

Seven: two large triangles, one medium triangle, two small triangles, one square and one parallelogram.

Does a tangram figure have only one solution?

No. Many shadows can be filled in more than one way. The page shows one example, and "Solve it yourself" accepts other correct layouts too.

Can I print many tangram puzzles at once?

Choose "Whole current list" under "Figures to print" to print the current category or search result, 4 or 6 per page, up to 60 figures at a time.

How do I turn a piece on a phone?

Tap the piece to choose it, then press a turn button or twist two fingers on the screen. Each turn is 45°.