Tactile Tangrams is an ancient Chinese puzzle consisting of seven pieces in three different shapes: triangle (2 large, 1 medium, 2 small) square and parallelogram.
The materials and activities presented make this timeless and popular puzzle accessible to students and adults with visual impairment and blindness.
The use of tangram puzzles encourages the development and reinforcement of many educational and recreational skills including spatial reasoning, shape recognition, size comparison, pattern replication, and independent problem solving. Many geometry concepts such as congruence, symmetry, sides and angles, fractions, measurement, area and perimeter, rotation/reflection, and concave/convex shapes are also reinforced.
The following skills, especially important for tactile and low vision readers, are also addressed:
• Visual/tactile discrimination
• Visual/tactile memory
• Visual/tactile spatial orientation
• Parts of a whole understanding
• Recreational/leisure skills
Tactile Tangram Kit includes:
• Magnetic-backed Tangram Puzzle Pieces (for use on a metal surface)
• Translucent Tangram Puzzle Pieces (for use on a light box)
• Foam Tangram Puzzle Pieces
• Tactile/Print Puzzle Frame — outline images in which to arrange puzzle pieces
• Tactile/Print Puzzle Solutions showing a dissected view of each puzzle image
• Magnetic Strips for mounting puzzle frames to a metal surface
• Tactile/Print Grid Sheets
• Large Print Teacher’s Guidebook (includes CD-ROM with accessible files)
• 3-ring Binder
WARNING: CHOKING HAZARD — Small Parts. Not intended for children ages 5 and under without adult supervision.
