DIY Light Box

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Look at this baby snow leopard playing with Magna-Tiles on a DIY light box in a teepee with a flashlight…!

Challenge your Children to make the shape of the teepee pictured with #magnatiles. It is a Square Pyramid!
Make a DIY light box with a clear plastic container and place lights you may have around your home/classroom inside! A tip from the creator: Taping parchment paper inside the lid of the clear bin helps to diffuse the light of the mini bulbs we used in the light box pictured.

Thank you Magna-Tects!

Wreath

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We made a Magna-Tiles Wreath with Eight Right Triangles in the Shape of a Ring!

Magna-Tiles by Valtech Wreath

We often think of an assortment of leaves, flowers, twigs, and fruit as decoration hung on doors, trees, and houses around the holiday season. Are you familiar with the other definitions of Wreath? The first known use of the word is before the 12th century!

From Merriam-Webster.com, Wreath (noun) means:

  1. something intertwined or arranged in a circular shape: as
  • A. a band of intertwined flowers or leaves worn as a mark of honor or victory

  • B. a decorative arrangement of foliage or flowers on a circular base

Magna-Tiles Valtech Wreath 2013

2.  something having a circular or coiling form

Play and LEARN with your children! Discuss where else you see circular shapes throughout your day! Make connections between math and the real world. Do any logos or objects with a Circular Shape come to mind? What about foods like a bagel or donut?!

Here are some ideas from Magna-Tects: an onion ring, the Chase Bank logo, the ring worn on your finger, rings of a tree, and the Olympic Rings!

Learn more about the word Wreath  and view other flat, 2-D Shapes to make with Magna-Tiles!

Pyramids

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Many Magna-Tiles castles are decorated with pyramids at the top! Did you know that pyramids are named after the shape of their BASE!?

This Triangular Pyramid = EQUILATERAL triangle as a base

Square Pyramid = small square as a base

Challenge your children to make a triangular pyramid and a square pyramid using equilateral triangles as the sides! Would these pyramids be TALLER or SHORTER than pyramids with isosceles triangles as sides? Visualize what it would look like and then make it with Magna-Tiles to find out if you are right!

Magna-Tiles Hexagon

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This Magna-Tiles Shape is a Hexagon! It has 6 Sides and 6 Vertices.

We call it IRREGULAR because all of the sides are not the same length and the angles are not equal. When all Sides are Equal and all Angles are Equal, we call it Regular.Valtech Magna-Tiles Blue Irregular Hexagon

Make this Shape! Pieces Needed:

  • 4 Right Triangles
  • 2 Small Squares

This Shape reminds us of a football! Challenge your Children: What Shape would we make if we removed the 2 Small Squares from the middle? Practice Visualization!

Think… we would have 4 Right Triangles connected with each of their hypotenuse facing outward. Each hypotenuse is the same length… that means that the Shape will have four equal length sides. You can also look at the Irregular Hexagon and visualize Half of each Small Square being taken away.  This is because we know that 2 Right Triangles put together makes 1 Small Square!

Visualize what this would look like in your head… and then make it with Magna-Tiles!

Answer: A Square!

Magna-Tiles Hexagon

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This Magna-Tiles Shape is a Hexagon! It is a six sided polygon.

This is a REGULAR hexagon because all of the sides are equal and angles are equal! If all of the sides are not the same length and the angles are not equal, we would call it a IRREGULAR hexagon.

Valtech Magna-Tiles Hexagon

This Shape reminds us of a pizza! Make a #magnatiles pizza pie! Pieces Needed:

  • 6 Equilateral Triangles

Magna-Tiles Tetrahedron

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A Tetrahedron is a 3-D Geometric Solid that has Four Triangular Faces, Six Edges, and Four Vertices.

Valtech Magna-Tiles Tetrahedron 001

The Tetrahedron is one kind of Pyramid. The base is a triangle (any of the four faces can be considered the base) so a a tetrehedron is also known as a Triangular Pyramid. Remember that Pyramids are named after the shape of their base!

To make it with Magna-Tiles, you will need four Equilateral Triangles. Below is the flat, 2-D Net. All 4 Faces are Equilateral Triangles! Visualize what the shape will look like if we “fold” the 3 triangles around the base up… and then make it with Magna-Tiles!

Valtech Magna-Tiles 2DNet Tetrahedron

Here is an example of the Shape of a Tetrahedron In Real Life!

Valtech Magna-Tiles Tetrahedron Life (1)
Valtech Magna-Tiles Tetrahedron Life (2)