Week 21: Hexagon Tessellations

I love tessellating! This week we are playing with hexagons. Learners can either draw or cut various hexagonal designs with various colors. It is fun to see what secondary patterns can occur. Do other polygons tessellate?

This is a wonderful activity to practice mindfulness and presence as you play with these shapes. It is an opportune project for students to learn single pointed mindedness.

Use lots of colors – tissue paper is also fun. I didn’t post many pictures, because I don’t like to give all the patterns away – I really love the discovery that happens with this project. A paper cutter can come in handy here if you have a large class.

Here is a template to cut from. It is also a good time to break out protractors and comapasses and play with 120 degrees (the outer angle of a regular hexagon).

In our home, we have been playing with laser cut hexagons this week; and if you are a hobbyist with a laser and interested in a set, then I have SVG files here.