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We’re celebrating National LEGO Day and National Puzzle Week by designing our very own LEGO Tetris puzzle!

You’ll need to think about translations, rotations, and reflections as you design your tetrominoes – the geometric shapes made out of four or more squares that serve as the playing pieces in Tetris.

  • Translations occur when you slide an object in any direction without changing its size or shape.
  • Rotations move an object around a fixed point without changing its size or shape.
  • Reflections flip an object across a line without changing its size or shape. A reflection is a mirror image of the object as it appeared in its original position.

Want to build a Lego Tetris puzzle at home or in your classroom? Watch the video for an overview, gather the materials listed at the right, and follow the instructions below!

Step-By-Step Instructions

Step 1

Draw a box that is 2.5 x 3.25 inches

Step 2

Design a minimum of four different tetrominoes using LEGO squares and rectangles. Tetriminos are a geometric shape made up of four or more squares, and for our purposes, each “stud” or dot on a lego is equivalent to a square. Each of your tetromino designs must have at least four dots!

Step 3

Using reflections, translations, and rotations, fill the 2.5 x 3.25 inch box completely with your tetrominoes. There should be no negative space and the pieces should not go outside the box’s boundary! Can’t get it to work the first time around? No problem – just go back and redesign some of your tetrominoes until you have the perfect fit for your puzzle!