Puzzles for Teachers
Browse an extensive collection of printable puzzles, brain teasers, mazes, crosswords, digital activities and a whole lot more to challenge your primary students in fresh and fun ways!
This teaching resource collection is teacher-created, with curriculum-aligned and editable resources available for both lesson planning and adding to your fast finisher activity box!
Curious about using puzzles in your classroom or looking for fresh ideas? Read on for a primer from our teacher team!
Types of Puzzles
There's a whole host of puzzles out there you can use to get your students more engaged in learning, develop problem-solving skills and reinforce the concepts you're teaching! Here are a few favourites from our teacher team (and you'll find printable versions of many of these in this collection)!
- Picture puzzles — Picture puzzles are a great teaching tool that require kids to use visual perception and problem-solving skills to identify patterns or differences in a set of pictures.
- Crossword puzzles — Often used by adults, these puzzles are kid-friendly too! They offer written clues and require students to fill in a grid with words that intersect.
- Tangram puzzles — These challenging puzzles for kids involve using a set of geometric shapes to create a larger picture or design.
- Logic puzzles — This learning tool requires kids to use reasoning and deduction to solve a problem. They usually involve a set of clues that need to be used to figure out the solution.
- Word searches — In this type of puzzle, a grid of letters is given with a list of words to find hidden within it. Students are challenged to go on the hunt for the word, often reading up, down, diagonally and sometimes even backward!
- Spot the difference — A popular feature in kids' magazines, these require our students to find the differences between two nearly identical pictures.
- Sequence puzzles — Sequence puzzles involve arranging a series of objects or symbols in a particular order, based on a set of rules or patterns. For example, students may practise skip counting as they place puzzle pieces in order based on the numbers displayed on each piece.
- Maze puzzles — Yes, mazes count as puzzles! They challenge kids to find their way through a maze to reach a goal or endpoint.
- Matching games — This is another type of puzzle you may not think of as a puzzle per se, but it is! Matching games involve finding pairs of matching items, such as shapes, colours, or numbers, in a set of cards or objects.
- Tarsia puzzles — Similar to jigsaw puzzles, tarsia puzzles are made up of irregularly shaped pieces that fit together in a specific way to form a larger picture or pattern. This type of puzzle has a twist, however! In a Tarsia puzzle, each piece contains a problem or question related to a particular topic or subject area. The students must match the pieces together by finding the correct answer or solution to each problem or question. Once all the pieces have been matched, they form a larger picture or pattern that provides a visual representation of the topic or concept being studied.
How Do You Use Puzzles in the Classroom?
Whether you're using tarsia puzzles to teach maths or crossword puzzles in your reading rotations, this is a versatile learning tool! Here are a few of the times they can come in handy:
- Introducing new concepts
- Reviewing concepts students have learned
- Reinforcing problem-solving skills
- Collaborative learning
- Learning through play
- Differentiated instruction
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Christmas Activity Sheets
Explore these 6 different Christmas activity sheets in the lead-up to Christmas.
- Free Plan
Jingle Jumble - Free Christmas Find-a-Word
Use a Christmas Find-a-Word printable to build vocabulary and spelling skills in your classroom this Christmas season.
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Christmas Word Search
Help spread holiday cheer with this Christmas word search.
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Christmas Activity Sheets Workbook
Have a blast completing the fun activities in this printable Christmas activity sheet workbook.
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Christmas Mini-Mystery - Who Broke the Candy Cane?
Add a fun, logic-based Christmas-themed activity to your plans. Students read clues to solve a holiday mystery.
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Christmas Activity Mazes – Addition and Subtraction
Navigate these Christmas maze worksheets with some simple addition and subtraction to keep those minds active!
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Christmas Mini-Mystery - Whose Present Is the One with Plain Brown Paper?
Read clues to solve a mystery with this fun, logic-based Christmas-themed activity.
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Christmas Mini-Mystery - Who Put Up Their Christmas Tree Too Early?
Read clues to solve a mystery with this fun, logic-based Christmas-themed activity.
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Connect the Dots Christmas Worksheets
Practise ordering the alphabet by connecting the dots on these Christmas dot-to-dot worksheets.
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Space Word Search
Review science vocabulary terms with an engaging space word search.
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Mini-Mystery – Who Drank the Teacher's Coffee?
A fun, logic-based activity where students read clues to solve the mystery.
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Candy Cane Activity - 2 Digit Subtraction Tarsia
Practise two digit subtraction with regrouping with a Tarsia Puzzle candy cane activity.
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Christmas Skip Counting - Printable Puzzles
Grab a set of 10 printable Christmas puzzles to help students skip count in the classroom.
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Maths Mazes (Multiplication and Division)
Solve these mazes by manipulating numbers using multiplication and division skills.
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Kindness Word Search
Download a printable word search about kindness to explore this important aspect of social awareness with your students.
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Christmas Crossword Puzzles
Have a bit of holiday fun with a set of three Christmas crossword puzzles.
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Christmas Maths Puzzle - Addition Facts to 20
Practise addition facts up to 20 with a printable Winter maths puzzle for Year 1 students
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Australia Word Search with Solution
A fun word search to help your students learn and work with Australian related vocabulary.
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Secret Code Number Line - Worksheet
Crack the number line code with five number line codebreaker worksheets to practice number identification, addition, and subtraction.
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Christmas Maths Puzzle - Counting to 10
Count groups up to 10 with a printable Christmas maths puzzle.
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Order of Operations – Maths Maze
Evaluate numerical expressions using the order of operations with this math maze!
- Free Plan
2D Shapes and 3D Objects Crossword with Solution
A crossword with clues for both 2D shapes and 3D objects.
- Free Plan
OW and OU Words - Word Search
Explore words containing ‘ow’ and ‘ou’ with this set of differentiated word searches.
- Free Plan
Mini-Mystery – Which Key Opens the Door?
Use knowledge of 2-D shapes and right angles to solve the mystery in this fun, logic-based activity.
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Basketball Word Search
Have some basketball fun in your classroom with this basketball-themed word search.
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Rounding Numbers – Maths Mazes
Round numbers to various places while finding your way through this set of 5 maths mazes.
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Australian Money Word Search with Solution
A word search to help your students to learn what the Australian currency looks like and their corresponding names.
- Free Plan
Maths Mazes (Place Value)
Determine the correct paths through each maze using knowledge of place value.
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Maths Mazes (Factors)
A set of maths mazes that allow students to demonstrate their knowledge of factors.
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Natural Resources Word Search
Review the different natural resources with a word search.
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Prefix, Suffix and Root Words Word Search
Identify terminology related to prefixes, suffixes and root words in this word search.
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Decimals on Number Lines – Codebreaker Worksheets
Crack the number line code with worksheets practising identification, addition, and subtraction of decimal numbers.