Developing Geometric Thinking through Activities That Begin with Play

For children, geometry begins with play. Rich and stimulating instruction in geometry can be provided through playful activities with mosaics, such as pattern blocks or design tiles, with puzzles like tangrams, or with the special seven-piece mosaic shown in figure 1. Teachers might ask, How can children use mosaics, and what geometry do they learn? Before addressing these questions and exploring the potential of the mosaic puzzle for teaching geometry, I note some misconceptions in the teaching of mathematics and present some of my ideas about levels of thinking in geometry.