Elephant Pentominoes Puzzle

The animal-shaped pentominoes puzzles I have been putting out on a weekly basis have been a huge hit with my students. This elephant pentominoes puzzle was no exception!

Elephant Pentominoes Puzzle Instructions

Can you arrange a set of twelve pentominoes to form the shape of an elephant?

You can flip or rotate any of the pentominoes pieces, but you may not overlap them.

Puzzle Source

I ran across this elephant shaped pentominoes puzzle in Jon Millington’s Pentominoes: Puzzle shapes to make you think which was published by Tarquin in 1987. It was listed as part of a Pentazoo puzzle challenge.

Previously, my students have tackled the Terrier Pentominoes Puzzle, the Penguin Pentominoes Puzzle, and a set of 13 different printable pentominoes challenges.

I was able to check out a copy of this book virtually from the Internet Archive’s Free Online Lending Library. You will need to make a free account to access the book.

Printing and Prepping the Puzzle

11 x 17 Version

I printed three copies of the elephant pentominoes puzzle on 11 x 17 cardstock. Often Amazon will list packages of this cardstock as “used.” This usually just means that the outside packaging has been torn. I am often able to pick these packages up for 50% off as a result.

I printed this elephant puzzle on 11 x 17 paper since the plastic pentominoes I have in my classroom are made up of 1-inch squares. I wanted my students to be able to lay the pentominoes pieces directly over the elephant outline.

MATH = LOVE RECOMMENDS…

Amazon offers several brands of plastic pentominoes which I recommend. Each brand is sold in a tub containing six sets of twelve pentominoes each for a total of 72 pentomino pieces.

• Learning Resources Rainbow Pentominoes
• Learning Advantage Pentominoes
• Didax Colorful Pentominoes – CURRENTLY THE CHEAPEST!

Want each student to have their own set of pentominoes? I also offer a set of free printable one-inch pentominoes pieces which can be laminated or printed on cardstock for durability.

If you don’t have a class set of plastic pentominoes, I do have a printable version of 1-inch pentominoes available to download and print. Please be aware that you MUST allow students to turn over the printed pentominoes pieces in order to solve the puzzle! This is less obvious than with the plastic pentominoes pieces.

8.5 x 11 Version

Since many teachers have told me that they do not have access to a copy machine or printer which prints on 11 x 17 paper, I have also uploaded a letter-sized version below which prints on two sheets of 8.5 x 11 inch paper. You will have to trim and tape or glue the two letter-sized pages together to form the pentominoes puzzle board.

Ideas for Using in Class

I placed each set of pentominoes in a magnetic pocket below the puzzle on the dry erase board.

I like this method of displaying the puzzles because students are able to easily grab the pocket of pentominoes and take them back to their desks.

Looking for more animal shaped pentominoes fun? I have also created a frog pentomino puzzle.

Hint Cards

Also available to download is a set of 4 hint cards that can be used with students who need a bit of assistance with solving the puzzle or seeing if they are on the right path.