How to Make your own Pentominoes from Alphabet Blocks

There is already a "make your own pentominoes instructable by Jonntx here:
http://www.instructables.com/id/make-your-own-pentominoes!!!/'

I suggest making pentominoes out of alphabet blocks. They are so much more interesting because you can build with them. That and you can try to solve for the 2 x 5 x 6 shape or the 3 x 4 x 5 shape. :-)

Step 1 Gather Alphabet Blocks

Find your alphabet blocks. These are little ones I found in a hobby store. They are about 5/8" (five eighths of an inch (1.5 cm)) cubed. You will need 60 of them. Yes, sixty. You can also use the bigger ones which are about 1 1/4" (one and one quarter inches (3.2 cm)) cubed. You can find them at toy stores and online. I repeat, you will need sixty of them.

You will also need glue and rubber bands.

Comments

[hammer9876]

I figured out where we first leaned about pentominoes. From the book "Imperial Earth" written by Arthur C. Clark. We made our first set out of cubes back in the 1970s.

[lexkeepsitsimple]

I have never heard of pentominoes before but this looks awesme. Just earlier tonight I was wondering what I could make with building blocks like these, thanks for the idea!

[AndyGadget]

Great idea. I was going to post a Pentomino 'ible but couldn't find a supplier for the plain blocks I used on my original set. My set gets used most for a 2 player game for which you need an 8 x 8 square grid. The players take turns to place a piece flat on the board from the pile of pieces and the one who lays the last piece so the other player cannot go is the winner. It is deceptively tricky!

[hammer9876]

Nice! Looks very much like what we made. We bought a bunch of "sticks" in various kinds of wood, like walnut, cherry, oak, etc. The sticks were exactly square so hubby just cut the various sizes and I glued them together. The big set is from some original sized alphabet blocks. One day I got the urge to paint them. Has anyone else out there made their own set of pentominoes?

[KaptinScarlet]

Nice, reminds me of the Edward de Bono's work with 6 cuboids, I always liked that