Summer Block Projection #3: 3 Immovable Pentablocks

This summer, I'm on a mission to brand equally many puzzles equally possible for my classroom from a bag of 100 wooden blocks (affiliate link) that I purchased from Amazon.

So far, I convey used vi of these blocks to brand a gear upwardly of Genius Blocks together with 27 of the blocks to create a SOMA Cube. 33 blocks downward - solely 67 to a greater extent than to go!

Project #3 uses fifteen to a greater extent than of these blocks to cast a puzzle called "3 Immovable Pentablocks."

The goal of this puzzle is to house the 3 pentablocks inside a vii x vii tray then that it is non possible to slide whatever of the pieces inward whatever direction.

This puzzle is from The Big, Big, Big Book of Brainteasers (affiliate link) past times The Grabarchuk Family. It's out of impress which makes the used copies on Amazon a fleck pricier sometimes than I would prefer. If you lot tin alternative upwardly a used re-create for a adept price, DO IT! This is i of my favorite puzzle books. It has such a multifariousness of dissimilar puzzles together with SO many of them!



You tin withal access quite a few of the puzzles for free, though. Amazon's Look Inside Feature lets you lot await at quite a few of the puzzles for free. Just move along clicking "Surprise Me!" on the left pane to run into a dissimilar page of puzzles.



I began my projection past times joining my one-inch wooden blocks (affiliate link) amongst woods gum to cast the v puzzle pieces.

I don't ain whatever clamps to properly agree the blocks together spell they are drying, then I i time over again turned to my trusty pilus bands to exercise the chore for me!

Once the gum was dry, I had to figure out how to brand a tray to house the puzzle pieces in.

Since my blocks are one-inch cubes, I created a vii x vii tabular array where each jail cellphone was a one-inch foursquare to represent amongst the blocks.

I cutting slits from each corner of the newspaper to each corner of the grid.

With these slits cut, I started folding upwardly the sides of the newspaper along the border of the grid. 

Once all the sides were folded up, I folded the pocket-size triangles over then the sides could move easily glued together.

Here's what a corner looks similar i time it's been glued.

Now, it's starting to genuinely await similar a tray!

To brand the tray sturdier (and hopefully stand upwardly up to the abuse of teenagers!), I started cutting pieces of cardstock to gum to a greater extent than or less the sides of my newspaper tray.

I folded each slice of cardstock inward half.

Then, I folded i of the halves inward one-half again.

These folds brand the cardstock tally precisely over the side of the tray amongst a large overlap on the bottom of the tray to larn far sturdier.

Here's what the bottom looks similar afterward gluing on the cardstock:

Now, repeat this procedure 3 to a greater extent than times.

I glued an extra combat of cardstock on the bottom of the tray to complete it off.

Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 finished tray! It's non absolutely perfect because i of my sides ended upwardly slightly taller than the other three, but I'm withal genuinely proud of it.

At this point, I decided it was fourth dimension to genuinely endeavour to solve this puzzle. Remember, the goal of the puzzle is to house the 3 pieces inward such a agency that none of them tin motion inside the tray. 

That's when I discovered that this puzzle is VERY tricky. After trying scheme afterward arrangement, I took a break. My husband, of course, came over together with solved the puzzle inward simply a infinitesimal or then equally I kept my eyes unopen then the puzzle wouldn't move spoiled.

Once I knew that it could indeed move solved, I went at the puzzle amongst a novel vengeance. (Of course, I never genuinely doubted that the puzzle could move solved. It did come upwardly from a published puzzle book, afterward all...)

One affair that I flora frustrating inward my attempts at this puzzle was that it was sometimes difficult to say where i puzzle slice stopped together with the adjacent began.

I got out my newly purchased collection of Apple Barrel paint (affiliate link) together with several newspaper plates together with got to move to create this issue.

It worked! The puzzle pieces are straight off slow to distinguish from i another.

I was pretty excited when I figured out how to brand the pieces tally all the agency across the grid - until I realized that the entire column of pieces could move slid across the tray.

I won't spoil the puzzle for you, but I volition reassure you lot that it tin move solved! There's smashing satisfaction to move had from shaking the tray together with watching the puzzle pieces that you lot created rest inward place! 

Want to create a re-create of this puzzle for your ain classroom? I've uploaded the files here.

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