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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International Women’s Day Word Search
Build vocabulary skills with this International Women’s Day word search.
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Synonyms Picture Puzzle
Build vocabulary skills with a fun Synonyms Picture Puzzle.
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Antonyms Picture Puzzle - Opposite Words
Practise identifying and using antonyms with this 15-piece under-the-sea picture antonyms puzzle.
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Valentine’s Day Word Search
Stretch your upper primary students’ vocabulary and reading skills with a sweet Valentine’s Day word search.
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Syllable Type Mazes - Worksheets
Strengthen students’ understanding of the six types of syllables with this set of 6 syllable mazes.
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Force and Motion Vocabulary Puzzles
Reinforce science vocabulary with this set of 22 force and motion vocabulary puzzles.
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Easter Egg Rhyming Word Puzzles
Have some Easter fun with this Easter Egg rhyming word game for early years.
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Halloween Crossword Puzzle
Stretch your upper years students’ Halloween vocabularies and reading skills with a Halloween crossward puzzle.
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NAIDOC Week Find-a-Word – Lower Years
A lower-years find-a-word puzzle emphasising topic words from information sheet about the NAIDOC 2022 theme: “Get Up! Stand Up! Show Up!”
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NAIDOC Week 2022 Crossword Puzzle
A student crossword puzzle based on the information sheet about the NAIDOC 2022 theme: “Get Up! Stand Up! Show Up!”
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NAIDOC Week 2022 Find-a-Word – Upper Years
A student find-a-word puzzle emphasising topic words from information sheet about the NAIDOC 2022 theme: “Get Up! Stand Up! Show Up!”
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NAIDOC 2021 – Heal Country! - Crossword Puzzle
A puzzle related to key concepts of the NAIDOC theme.
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Name Match Up Puzzle – Word Document Template
A Word template to make your own match-up puzzles.
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Food-Themed Syllable Puzzle
A fun food-themed phonics activity for lower years that helps to develop syllable recognition.
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Complex Dot-to-dot – Skip Counting by Sevens (Wolf) – Worksheet
A complex dot-to-dot where students demonstrate skip counting by sevens.
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Mini-Mystery – Who Scared the Black Cat?
A logic-based Halloween-themed puzzle where students solve a mystery by reading clues.
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Missing Addend Addition Picture Puzzle – Level 3
Consolidate students’ addition skills with this missing addends worksheet.
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Easter Mini-Mystery – Who Stole the Easter Egg?
A fun, logic-based Easter-themed activity where students read clues to solve the mystery.
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Mini-Mystery – What Is the Shoe's Name? – Interactive PowerPoint
An engaging warm-up activity about a shoe with a mysterious name.
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NAIDOC Week Connection to Country Crossword Puzzle Worksheet
A NAIDOC Week Connection to Country crossword puzzle worksheet to use with your students.
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NAIDOC Week Connection to Country Word Search - Middle Primary
A NAIDOC Week Connection to Country Word Search suitable for middle primary school students.
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NAIDOC Week Connection to Country Word Search - Upper Primary
A NAIDOC Week Connection to Country Word Search suitable for upper primary school students.
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6 x Dinosaur Mazes
A set of 6 fun mazes with a dinosaur theme.
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Know Your Place Jigsaws
Six mini jigsaw puzzles focusing on different places.
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Identifying Odd Numbers Worksheet
A fun activity to help your students to identify odd numbers.
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Identifying Even Numbers Worksheet
A fun activity to help your students to identify even numbers.
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Dot-to-Dot Drawing - Numbers by 3 - Kite
Join the dots and numbers to make a picture.
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Dot-to-Dot Drawing - Numbers by 2 - Anchor
Join the dots and numbers to make a picture.
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Alphabetical Order Icosahedron
An engaging way for your students to consolidate their understanding of alphabetical order.
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Dot-to-Dot Drawing - Numbers by 10 - Rocket
Join the dots and numbers to make a picture.
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Dot-to-Dot Drawing - Numbers by 3 - Grasshopper
Join the dots and numbers to make a picture.
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Dot-to-Dot Drawing - Numbers by 3 - Eel
Join the dots and numbers to make a picture.