Tangram puzzles help children learn shapes and colors as well as use their imagination to create images.

A Tangram is a tricky set of seven geometric shapes made up of two small triangles, one medium triangle, two large triangles (total five triangles), a square, and a parallelogram.

Like building blocks, tangrams can teach kids about spatial relationships. They may help kids learn geometric terms, and develop stronger problem solving abilities.

The simplest way is to let kids create their own complex shapes. But traditionally, tangrams are treated as puzzles. The kid is shown a target shape in outline, so that the "seams" between the composite tans are concealed. Then the kid attempts to recreate the shape using the seven pieces.

Print and cut out the shapes or let the children color the blank shapes with colors of their choice. Follow the suggestions to create the pictures or let the children create their own by joining the pieces.

To get your child acquainted with the tangram pieces, print out the coloring pages.