TangramFury

A tangram is an ancient Chinese puzzle. It has 7 pieces called "tans". These tans are 5 triangles, 1 square and 1 paralleogram. The original puzzle is to arrange the 7 tans to form a square. The pieces can be rearranged to make silhouttes of 1000's of shapes from birds to people to boats and much more. The puzzles are shown in silhouette and the puzzler needs to rearrange the 7 tans to match the silhouette or shadow of the image. I discovered tangrams by accident in 2011. I came across a picture of one while looking for a wooden puzzle to create in my father-in-law's woodshop. My daughter told me they have students solve them in school. I asked, "Why?" She said, "They're supposed to teach us spatial reasoning". My thought was that if solving 1 puzzle is a learning experience, then making a competitive game of them would help even more. This idea gave birth to the boardgame, "Tangram Fury". Since then, I've continued to puzzle, designing over 1500 unique tangrams. Instead of the traditional jars and birds, I focused on modern images such as the Liberty Bell, sports figures, Christmas elves, spaceships, and such. I've created "tangram packs" that include designs of famous characters and props (such as the Millennium Falcon) which I give to celebrities at comic cons. It's been memorable for my kids. (Picture my 10-year-old son meeting Stan Lee while wearing a t-shirt with a tangram Spiderman dangling on it!) Zazzle makes it possible to put these original designs onto hats, mugs, stickers, magnets, and so much more! I continue to tangram. Feel free to make requests...