"Columbus egg" is an exciting puzzle for children and adults

2024 Author: Sierra Becker | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-26 03:46

Games that make you think will always be popular, no matter how technologically advanced the age may be. Puzzles develop logical thinking. And if they use visual material, then also figurative. Games based on geometric shapes of various shapes and sizes help develop spatial imagination. Tangram, in particular the "Columbus egg", forms such thought processes as juxtaposition of part and whole, analysis of the situation and generalization.

What are puzzles?

Any task that requires a quick wit to solve will be a puzzle. It does not require special scientific knowledge to find the answer. Here, rather, intuition and creativity will be required.

There is no special classification of puzzles. However, you can divide them into groups depending on what they operate with.

1. The basis of the game is the word. The task itself, the course of its solution and the result - everything can be done only with the use of oral or written speech. This puzzle does not require any items to be drawn. An example would be a riddle or a charade.
2. Quest using items. It may bemade up of any things that are sure to be found in the house: matches or toothpicks, coins or buttons, cards.
3. Puzzle depicted on paper. This includes all kinds of crossword puzzles and puzzles.
4. Games with specially made items. Popular examples: puzzles, Rubik's Cube, snake, Columbus Egg.

What is a geometric puzzle?

For this game, the main figure is divided into parts. It turns out flat, correct and not very details. The original figure can be almost anything. In tangram, for example, this is usually a square. And from the name of the puzzle "Columbian Egg" it is clear that it is based on an oval that resembles an egg. There are games in which the main figure is a circle or a heart.

From the resulting parts, you need to add something else, some kind of complex figure. And this drawing should be recognizable. Such folding can be both arbitrary and on assignment. Schemes for drawing up drawings can contain only silhouettes or depict the contours of parts. It all depends on the player's skill level.

How to make a puzzle yourself?

Like any other toy, these construction sets can be purchased at the store. But it will be more interesting if you make a "Columbus egg" with your own hands.

Since it is supposed to reuse the details of the designer, it is desirable that the material be dense. For example, hard cardboard or a piece of flat plastic.

In order to simplify the process of making a game, you can take an oval as a basis,which is lined in the same way as an egg. But you can spend a little more time and draw an egg.

First you need to draw a circle in which to draw two perpendicular diameters. They will become the first lines along which the egg will then be cut. Then, at the extreme points of one of the segments, draw two circles with a radius equal to this diameter. Then you need to draw lines connecting three points on the circle, which will give large triangles. You need to finish them on large circles. Draw an upper small circle and a lower one of the same radius. The first one will show the border of the egg, and the bottom one will give you three dots that will tell you where to draw the little triangles.

The result should be 5 pairs of figures that are formed:

• from large and small triangles;
• large and small shapes resembling triangles but with one rounded side;
• details resembling a trapezoid, one side of which is curved.

For clarity and easier understanding of how to line the Columbus Egg, the diagram is presented below. The lines along which you need to divide the puzzle into parts are highlighted in red.

In some versions of this game, small triangles inside the egg are combined into one to simplify the task.

Puzzle Game Rules

The essence of the task is to fold figures from the details of the Columbus Egg constructor. It can be people, animals or birds, vehicles and furniture, flowers, letters andnumbers.

There are only two rules in the game that cannot be broken:

• first - you need to use all the details;
• second - the parts should not intersect, they should be applied to each other.

When getting to know a puzzle, you can just look at the details and think about what they look like. This will make it easier to play Columbus Egg. For preschoolers, this item is simply necessary. Because it will be easier for them to understand how to make figures. In addition, this moment contributes to the development of imagination and the ability to analyze and break the whole into parts.

As you improve your puzzle playing skills, you need to move from simple to complex. First, the diagrams should contain lines that show the boundaries of the parts. Then they may no longer be.

It is desirable to fold the figures on a white sheet of paper. Then they can be circled and painted on clarifying details and background. This will help develop imagination and diversify the game.

Possible puzzle patterns

As an example of a simplified version of the game, in which 9 parts, at the initial stage, you can use such schemes.

For connoisseurs and fans of puzzles, pictures without auxiliary lines are suitable.

No one will remain indifferent. The whole family will be involved in finding a solution.