Tessellation can be such an exciting and motivating way for kids to learn about shape and space. Fitting colored shapes to make a colorful tessellating pattern seems to engage children, which is one of the reasons I love teaching about tessellation. Rather than just give kids tessellating patterns to color, I thought I’d share some of the other activities I use to teach tessellation.

Sorting shapes

For this activity you will need a range of shapes, you could use cardboard cut outs of shapes or pattern blocks.

• Provide groups of students with an assortment of shapes, for example: squares, rectangles, quadrilaterals, triangles, hexagons, ovals and circles (see picture below).
• Get your students to sort the shapes according to whether they will tessellate or not.
• Just by looking at the shapes, get your students to sort them into three groups: shapes that will tessellate, shapes that might tessellate and shapes that won’t tessellate.
• When the shapes have been sorted, get your students to check if they do tessellate.
• Ask them: what do you need to check to see if a shape will tessellate?
• Ask them: what is different about the shapes that can’t tessellate?

Brick paving designers

For this activity your students will need colored rods or cuisenaire rods. They will also need a sheet of paper.

• Set the task of your students being brick paving designers.
• They need to produce a letter or pamphlet to show a client the different designs possible with their product.
• Students can use the rods as manipulatives to experiment with possible combinations and designs.
• When they have come up with a combination they draw the design in the letter/pamphlet.
• You could further develop this idea by getting your students to use other regular polygons for floor or wall tiling designs.

Click here to find more fun math games and activities

Graphic Credits: Graphics From the Pond