Is using the solutions cheating?

No — but you will learn more if you try the silhouette first. Copying a solution teaches your eye where pieces like to go, which makes the next puzzle easier.

Why does my figure look different from the solution?

Some silhouettes have more than one valid solution. If your arrangement uses all seven pieces, lies flat and matches the silhouette, it is correct — even if it differs from ours.

Where are the printable solutions?

The PDF button above prints all 19 puzzles together with these solutions.

Home › Tangram Puzzle Solutions

Tangram Puzzle Solutions

Here are the solutions to all 19 tangram puzzles on this site, in color, one figure at a time. A fair warning first: a solution is most useful as a last resort. If you are close, go back to the puzzles page and give the silhouette five more minutes — the click of finding it yourself is the whole point of the game. If you are truly stuck, find your figure below and study where the two large triangles and the parallelogram went; those three placements explain almost every solution.

Puzzles + solutions (PDF)Color pieces (PDF)

Tangram House

Tangram Cat

Tangram Boat

Tangram Tree

Tangram Arrow

Tangram Rocket

Tangram Letter T

Tangram Rectangle

Tangram Triangle

Tangram Parallelogram

Tangram Trapezoid

Tangram Stairs

Tangram Fish

Tangram Diamond

Tangram Hat

Tangram Bridge

Tangram Candle

Tangram Heart

Tangram Cup

How to read the solutions

Every answer uses the same colors as the printable template, so you can copy it piece by piece with your own set. Large triangles: red and blue. Medium triangle: orange. Small triangles: two greens. Square: yellow. Parallelogram: purple. Lay your pieces on top of the picture at first if it helps — matching a colored answer exactly is a legitimate way to learn, especially for children. The next step is the same figure from the dark silhouette alone.

Stuck on one piece?

If six pieces fit and one region remains that matches nothing you have left, the mistake is almost never the last piece — it is an earlier one in a mirror position. The two usual suspects: the parallelogram needs flipping, or a small triangle is sitting where the square belongs (they cover related areas, so the error only shows at the end). Undo the last two placements, flip the parallelogram, and rebuild. This fixes most 'impossible' tangrams.

From copying solutions to solving on your own

There is a reliable three-step way to turn these answers into skill. Step 1: copy a solution exactly, piece on picture, and say aloud where each large triangle went. Step 2: an hour later, solve the same figure from the silhouette, glancing at the answer only to check the parallelogram. Step 3: the next day, solve it cold. Most people find that after five or six figures done this way, new silhouettes stop looking like walls of dark shape and start looking like arrangements of corners — which is all a tangram ever is.

FAQ

Is using the solutions cheating?: No — but you will learn more if you try the silhouette first. Copying a solution teaches your eye where pieces like to go, which makes the next puzzle easier.
Why does my figure look different from the solution?: Some silhouettes have more than one valid solution. If your arrangement uses all seven pieces, lies flat and matches the silhouette, it is correct — even if it differs from ours.
Where are the printable solutions?: The PDF button above prints all 19 puzzles together with these solutions.

More tangram pages

Free for personal and classroom use.