Mim's Glow Workshop — Compose Shapes from Pattern Blocks
Help Mim the glow-smith forge light! Fuse little glowing glass shards — triangles and rhombi — to fill each blank lantern shape, then forge the SAME shape a new way, or re-forge it into something new. A warm Grade 1 geometry game about composing 2D shapes into bigger shapes (and back), aligned to Common Core 1.G.A.2 and K.G.B.6.
Help Mim the glow-smith forge light! Fuse little glowing glass shards — triangles and rhombi — to fill each blank lantern shape, then forge the SAME shape a new way, or re-forge it into something new. A warm Grade 1 geometry game about composing 2D shapes into bigger shapes (and back), aligned to Common Core 1.G.A.2 and K.G.B.6.
About this activity
Mim the glow-smith forges light by fusing small glowing pattern blocks — triangles and rhombi — to fill a blank lantern outline, making a rhombus, a trapezoid, a hexagon, and more. It's a free, interactive Grade 1 geometry activity that runs in the browser with no account.
The big idea is composing shapes — that bigger shapes are built from smaller ones, and the same shape can be built more than one way. The rounds go beyond simply filling an outline: children re-forge the same hexagon a new way, re-compose a shape into a long bar, cover a space using only triangles, and grow a partly-built shape into a finished hexagon. Because a triangle and a rhombus can both help fill a space, a child has to choose and arrange pieces that actually fit, not just drop blocks in.
It is aligned to Common Core 1.G.A.2 — composing two-dimensional shapes to create a composite shape (also K.G.B.6). No timer, no score — just calm, playful practice.
What's inside this activity
- Designed for Grade 1 learners (ages about 6–7)
- Common Core strand: Geometry
- Aligned to Common Core standard 1.G.A.2
How to play
Look at the blank lantern outline you need to forge.
Fuse triangles and rhombi to fill it — or re-forge the same shape a new way.
Not quite? Rearrange the pieces and try again, with no timer and no score.
What your child practices
- Building a larger shape from triangle and rhombus pattern blocks
- Filling a target outline with pieces that fit, with no gaps or overlaps
- Making the same shape more than one way, and re-forging it into a new shape
- Covering a space using a chosen kind of block, or finishing a partly-built shape
Learning goals
Compose two-dimensional shapes into a larger composite shape — the focus of Common Core 1.G.A.2
Understand that bigger shapes are made of smaller ones, often in more than one way
Build the spatial-reasoning foundation for later geometry and fraction work
Frequently asked questions
- What does the Mim's Glow Workshop — Compose Shapes from Pattern Blocks activity teach?
- Mim's Glow Workshop — Compose Shapes from Pattern Blocks is a free interactive activity for Grade 1, focused on Geometry. Children play it right in the browser — no printing, login, or setup required.
- Is Mim's Glow Workshop — Compose Shapes from Pattern Blocks free to use?
- Yes. Mim's Glow Workshop — Compose Shapes from Pattern Blocks is completely free, with no signup and no paywall, on any tablet, laptop, or classroom whiteboard.
- Which ages is this activity for?
- It is designed for Grade 1 (Geometry) and works well for whole-class, small-group, or independent practice.
Practice this standard
See all 1.G.A.2 activitiesMore activities to try
- K.G.A.2Identify the Shape — Kindergarten Geometry
- K.G.B.4Count the Sides — Kindergarten Geometry
- K.G.A.3Flat or Solid? — 2D and 3D Shapes for Kindergarten
- 1.G.A.3Equal Halves and Fourths — Find the Fair Shares | Grade 1 Geometry
- 2.G.A.3Same Size, Different Shape — Equal Shares Can Look Different | Grade 2 Geometry
- 1.G.A.3Make Equal Parts — Partition into Halves & Fourths (Grade 1)