As far back as I can remember, I always like to draw/doodle triangles and make patterns. Most of my notebooks and scrap pieces of paper have different triangle patterns making all sorts of shapes. When I came across eeBoo's "Challenges with Form & Color," I was immediately drawn to the cover photo, displaying eight different color triangles making a shape. When I brought it home and showed it to my 10-year-old daughter, her first reaction was – "OHHH, pretty colors and triangles!" We immediately started placing the pieces together to create different shapes and patterns without even looking at the box instructions.
Like tangrams, the game's objective is to arrange the pieces together to form different numerical and geometric concepts. Unlike tangrams which contain five triangles: two small triangles, one medium triangle, and two large triangles, a square, and a parallelogram, Challenges with Form & Color has seventy-two (72) non-slip same-size triangles pieces in 8 different colors, a velvet artboard to place the triangle pieces and 50 cards with one hundred practice images into ten categories :
Elementary Figures
Simply Objects
Patterns
Negative Space
Implied Continuity of Line & Form
Perspective
Color
Color & Translucency
Representational Imagery
Alphabets
If you are wondering what the purpose of recreating the shapes is, the cover of the box provides detailed information on what the cards help develop. For example, cards #1-5 provide elementary figures – according to the box – "these cards develop a sense of basic geometry – showing that triangles combine to create squares, parallelograms, rectangles, and larger triangles. An adult can point out that the two right triangles can be placed together to form a square, two "squares" can be combined to form a rectangle, and those shapes can also be combined to form larger triangles. Two right triangles can also be combined to form a parallelogram."
Cards #53-68 Color and Translucency – "Color can be used to give the impression of overlapping figures. By using colors that are blends of those in "overlapping" shapes, the blended colors appear to be the result of a foreground shape allowing the area below to show through and affect the color of the figure on top. Amazing!"
The game helps develop the fundamental elements of design, form, and color to provide a thorough understanding of patterns that significantly impact a child's overall development. When my daughter and I used the game, I saw her engage with the pieces and create different patterns on her own. When she tried to duplicate what the cards had, she struggled a bit before she got it. As Dr. Maria Montessori's famous quote, "never help a child with a task at which he feels he can succeed," I stayed silent and observed her work out how to replicate the image in the card. Once she got it, she was encouraged to do another one, and so on. Eventually, she tried to pile up all the triangles to let me know she was done for the night, cleaned up, and said, "we should get this for Emma for her next birthday, she would love it, and we can make a game out of it, maybe we could time ourselves to see who can finish first, OR, maybe we could try to limit the number of triangles we can use! Mom, you need to get more of these."
Made with a recycled board and printed on FSC-certified paper with vegetable-based inks. This game is a must-have for anyone that is interested in color and design!