How to play Voskobovich's "Square" and how to make it yourself?

Voskobovich's technique has been widely known to people associated with pedagogy since the collapse of the Soviet Union. One of his popular toys is Voskobovich's "Square", or, as it is also called, the game square. We will tell you about what kind of toy it is, how to play Voskobovich's square and how you can make it yourself in this article.

Voskobovich square - what kind of toy is it?

This game will be interesting not only for children of different ages, but also for adults who play with them. It is made in the shape of a square, which consists of 16 isosceles triangles. Between the triangles that make up a square, there is a space 0.5 - 1 cm wide. The standard dimensions of triangles are 4.5 * 4.5 * 6 cm. A well-bending material is chosen as the basis of the toy, most often it is fabric. The standard size of the base of the square is from 14 to 15 cm.

The planes of each triangle are colored in contrasting colors. For example, on one side, all the triangles that make up the square are red, and if we unfold the square, we will see that they are green.

The number of colors shown in the square depends on the age of the child who will play with it. You can find two-color and four-color squares. Two-color is intended for children aged 2 to 5 years, a child from 3 to 8 years and older can handle the addition schemes of a four-color square. Often for a four-color square, red and blue triangles are used on one side, yellow and green on the other.

Along with the game, there is an instruction in the kit, which offers a fabulous plot for games and addition schemes of different levels of difficulty.

Benefits for the child from playing with the Square

The play square will be of great help in the development of your child.

Playing with it, the child will:

learn to name and distinguish different shapes of geometric shapes;
navigate in size - large, medium, small;
form the first ideas about spatial relationships and spatial modeling;
be able to use the proposed schemes or come up with your own for the design of plane and volumetric figures;
memorize colors;
develop attentiveness, thought processes, logic, memory;
develop imagination, creativity, creativity;
fine motor skills.

How to play

It must be remembered that an adult is a full partner in play with a child. You can easily take this toy on your trip, it will take your child for a long time and take up a minimum of space in your luggage.

For games with Voskobovich's magic square, you can use the book "Square Fun", which is included in the package and offers a fabulous story with 18 color schemes of folding. The fairy tale "The Mystery of the Crow of Meter" with its main characters mom Trapezium, dad Rectangle, baby Square, grandfather Quadrangle and other characters will carry the kid into the world of adventure. He will gladly agree to help overcome the difficulties that stand in the way of the heroes.

You can turn on your imagination and dream up with your child. Come up with your own fairy tale and your own schemes. You can create your own book, which will record your fairy-tale stories and draw pictures, invented together with the baby, according to which he can recreate the figures again. Such a game will be even more interesting for him.

You can suggest counting how many planned figures are in the square. In this case, it is necessary to count compound figures too. You can count triangles, squares, rectangles ...

Play the game "Guess what happened." To do this, fold a shape and ask the kid to guess what happened. If the child already knows how to fold the figures on his own, then switch roles. Now he will fold the figure for you, and you guess.

Try to put together letters, numbers, or symbols that are familiar to you. Let him try it on his own. So you will not only usefully spend time together, but also consolidate the material previously studied with the baby.

You can create an unusual finger theater by playing only with separate parts of the square. Let the child raise the upper left corner with his finger, the lower left corner, the upper right, lower corner, and now, lifting the center of the square from below with his finger, he will receive a pyramid. This game will be fun to play with musical accompaniment.

The square can be cut in certain places. For example, by cutting a square with a cross, you will discover new possibilities for folding unusual volumetric shapes.

Imagine with your baby and you can discover new games with this wonderful square.

DIY master class on making Voskobovich square

There are several options for how to make the square yourself. More about each.

Option 1

This option is the easiest. You will need to prepare:

colored cardboard;
scissors;
ruler;
pencil;
glue;
wide adhesive tape or transparent self-adhesive film.

How to do:

Choose contrasting colors for the triangles. If you make a two-color square, then red and green sheets of cardboard will be enough. If you decide to make a four-color square, then you need red, green, blue and yellow sheets.
Draw the required number of triangles on the cardboard. For two-color, 16 pieces of each color are needed, for four-color - 8 pieces. You can use standard sizes of triangles (6 * 4.5 * 4.5 cm), or you can make your own.
Cut out the triangles.
Based on the size of the triangles, determine the size of the base. For standard sizes, the base will be 15 * 15 cm.If you use a different size of triangles, then take into account the distance between them in 0.5-1 cm.
Glue the triangles in pairs with contrasting colors: blue-yellow, red-green. There should be 16 triangles in total.
Further, if you are using tape, glue the triangles together on both sides, according to the number of colors selected for the square.
If you are using a film, first measure the dimensions of the base of the square. On the base, arrange the squares in the required sequence. Fold over the top border and carefully glue the squares on the other side. You will have a solid base for your square. If you use scotch tape, there will be many places for its connection.

The manual is ready. You can start folding.

Option 2

You will need:

plain, easy to fold fabric for the base;
colored self-adhesive paper;
scissors;
ruler:
pencil.

How to do:

Prepare a base of the required size. Please note that the edges of the fabric should not peel off. Treat them if necessary.
Cut the isosceles triangles out of self-adhesive paper.
Arrange the triangles on the base so as not to make mistakes when gluing.
Now gradually separate the protective paper layer from each triangle and stick to the base.

The dimensions of the triangles and the base, the color combination are described in detail in option 1.

Option 3

This option is made entirely of fabric. You will need:

plain, easily bendable fabric in a neutral color (for example, white or black) for the base;
colored fabric for triangles;
if desired, you can use white cardboard to stiffen;
glue gun, thread, sewing machine.

How to do:

Prepare the base. Overcast the edges of the fabric if necessary.
Cut out the required number of triangles from colored fabric.
Cut out 32 triangles from cardboard, slightly smaller.
We collect the square. Using a glue gun, glue triangles made of cardboard onto the base, and glue fabric triangles on top of them.
Sew the edges of the triangles with a sewing machine for added strength.

All the necessary sizes and color selection can be seen in the first version of the Voskobovich square production

In addition to games with such a square, Voskobovich offers another game, "Transparent Square".

Transparent square

With the help of this game, the child will develop:

thought processes;
logics;
design skills;
fine motor skills.

In addition, the baby will learn to name and distinguish geometric shapes and learn about their inherent features.

The set includes 30 transparent square plates. One of them is entirely blue, the other plates are colored blue only by individual particles of the square.

The set offers a detailed guide to in-game actions. It contains a tale about the unusual non-melting ice floes of Lake Ice. According to the plot of the tale, the raven Mater for three days competed with the keeper of Lake Ice. All these days he performed various tasks. They are divided into 3 groups in the guide.

The first day offers to complete tasks that require the analysis of geometric shapes and relationships "part-whole".
Day 2 is about collecting squares and other various particle shapes.
The third day involves a game of "vertical dominoes".

All these days, the child assists him in completing tasks, receiving a reward in the form of non-melting pieces of ice. From them he will be able to fold the figures offered in the album or create his own.

On the final third day, you can help the crow with the whole family by playing vertical dominoes with your child. The rules of the game are very simple. The players in turn draw out the plates with the pieces and start building a square from them together. When the plate that you pulled out is not suitable for building a square, then you need to put it aside and start building another square from it.

The player who has completed the construction of the square takes it for himself, and the number of points corresponding to the particles of the square is awarded to him. The winner is the player who has the most points at the end of the game.

The fabulous story "Ice Lake Ice Floes, or the Tale of a Transparent Square" will tell the little one about what happened to the Master and the ice floes in the continuation of the story. This tale is a continuation of a series of tales about the baby Geo, uncle Slava and the raven. If you are not familiar with them, then you can read their summary, which is at the beginning of the book. After Geo takes the magic pieces of ice from the Master, he starts looking for a way out of the Purple Forest. The invisible man Vsyus, who accompanies him on the road - a mischievous and mischievous man - tries in every way to prevent him from doing this. However, the participation of your baby and the magic pieces of ice will prevent him from doing this. Your child will help Geo, collecting various figures from non-melting pieces of ice in the process of reading a fairy tale.

The compactness of this game makes it very convenient. Going on the road, you will know how to keep your child busy for a long time.

The game is suitable for children from 3 to 9 years old. The set includes various schemes for adding figures.

Reviews

In general, the feedback from parents and teachers about the game "Voskobovich's Square" is positive. They say that the game can keep both toddler and older child for a long time. Among the positive qualities are the compactness of the game, the benefits for the development of the child, the different level of the tasks offered, and the high-quality production of the game.

Many considered the disadvantage that the attached book is very thin and requires a very careful attitude to itself.