Goodnite Bob Productions is proud to be the sole manufacturer and distributor of van Hiele Tiles, named for Dina van Hiele-Geldof and Pierre van Hiele, the Dutch researchers who decribed how students learn geometry by moving through different stages of reasoning.

Van Hiele Tiles are modeled on the "Sphinx Puzzle" (also known as Lott's Stone Puzzle), which was one of over three dozen patterns created in the 1880s by the German toymaker Adolph Richter and Company. These puzzles were molded from a "stone" made of clay, sand and linseed oil. The original Anchor Stone Puzzles are highly prized by collectors. A few of these puzzles (not the Sphinx) are still available using the original material from the Anker Stones Company.

The Sphinx puzzle is based on a rectangle that is cut into seven pieces:

• 1 equilateral triangle
• 1 obtuse isosceles triangle
• 2 right scalene triangles
• 1 rectangle
• 1 isoseles trapezoid
• 1 scalene trapezoid

With these 7 pieces, a wide array of investigations can be conducted from kindergarten through high school, including visual problem solving, attributes of polygons, the difference between congruence and similarity, measuring angles, as well as calculating perimeter and area.

Each classroom set of van Hiele tiles comes with a curriculum booklet describing investigations suitable from kindergarten up to high school, including homework assignments, challenging puzzles, as well as assessment materials.

Goodnite Bob Productions offers training for teachers on van Hiele Levels and how to incorporate van Hiele Tiles into your math curriculum. Please contact us for dates and fees.

Click here to download an order form or call 718 909-8343 for more information.