#Leaf tessellation how to

It would be a great quiet activity for Jonathan to build the puzzle while we’re doing our homeschool work. This type of tiling is composed of a single shape, meaning that all tiles used are congruent to one another. In terms of the number of prototiles used, the tiling that has only one prototile is named monohedral tiling. One shape of a tile in a tessellation is called a prototile. Isn’t that fun? This truly was a fun family project! If I get the time (ha ha – we’ll see!), I’d love to make some more of this shape to laminate. Tessellation Patterns : The Basic Classification. We made several copies of this one and created a family work of art: But the kids were able to get close enough that they could appreciate the pattern.) We cut this shape out of construction paper and then built a puzzle! (As you can see, accurate cutting is a must. A rhombus will tessellate, for example, so any shape that you build with rhombus tiles will tessellate also.

An easy way to do this is to use pattern blocks. We also explored making our own tessellation shapes. Now the boys can do the puzzle without worrying about bumping the lizards. I put some contact paper sticky side up on our LEGO table, attaching it to the table with painter’s tape. Puzzle Tip: The laminated lizards hold up well, but they are slippery. If you don’t feel the need to assemble your puzzle multiple times, gluing the lizards onto poster board would be the simplest option for display.

I’m sure that we will use them for more than just this activity – one of the boys already suggested a hide-and-seek game with them.Īnother option for making them more sturdy is to print the lizards on card stock. The boys just keep looking at them and exploring them. Cutting out the laminated lizards added more time to this project, but it was so worth it! Now we have all these durable colorful lizards. Jordan got me a Scotch Thermal Laminator for Christmas, and I have found it to be very useful. BUT, the lizards curled when we cut them out, making it difficult to fit them together. Because of the complexity of this lizard design, I wanted to create a puzzle that the boys could do over and over. Step 3: Choose a method for displaying your tessellation. And probably a job for mature cutters only, because it needs to be precise. The beauty of this project is that even a three year old can color a lizard, and any stray marks will be eliminated when you cut it out. I made several copies, and the boys all colored lizards – from age 3 to age almost 12. I found a lizard template to print (in the style of Escher), and we had fun making our own lizard tessellations! When I think of tessellations, I immediately think of the artist M. This post contains Amazon affiliate links. Escher, and at the bottom of the post you can print three simple tessellation shapes to color and cut out.

#Leaf tessellation how to

In this post, we’ll show you how to create a lizard tessellation puzzle in the style of M. The way I explained it to the boys was that the shape needs to fit together like a puzzle, with no white space in between the pieces. A tessellation is a shape that can be repeated over and over in a pattern. We will be joining up with some other fabulous bloggers over the next few weeks to bring you simple STEAM projects centered around the five senses. We’re back with another STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and math) series! This time it’s Summer STEAM Camp.