These fun foam triangles are a homemade version of a tangram puzzle! We followed a template from Highlights magazine, which made for great puzzling on a Saturday morning.

First, follow the lines provided to divide a large sheet of craft foam into 8 triangles. Big kids can help with the lines and the cutting, but this was more of a craft that I set up for Travis than one we prepared together.

Soon I had 3 sets of triangles for him, in orange, green, and yellow foam.

We looked at the shapes in the magazine and he wanted to make the fish first: green triangles! Tangrams are wonderful for helping children think spatially and translate what they see on the page to a real model.

Travis needed help with the orientation of a few triangles, but mostly could see how the fish came together.

Next up was an orange fox! I had Travis point out where the biggest triangle went first as a starting point, and we worked our way outward from there.

He was quite proud when he saw the fox take shape.

Finally, he made the yellow cat. Add big googly eyes to any or all of these, if you have them!

As your child becomes skilled at copying the provided designs, branch out and make up your own! Next time I’m going to cut up a smaller version since these would be perfect to slip in a zip-top bag and turn into a take-along toy for car rides or waiting rooms.