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
- Free Plan
Dividing Decimals Maths Mazes
Review how to divide a decimal by a decimal and a whole number with this set of maths mazes.
- Plus Plan
Spooky 3-Digit Subtraction - Maze Game
Practise three-digit subtraction with regrouping skills with printable Halloween Subtraction Maze worksheets.
- Plus Plan
Dot Day Multiplication Tarsia Puzzle
Practise multiplying single-digit numbers and create a masterpiece with a Dot Day tarsia puzzle.
- Plus Plan
Adding and Subtracting Integers - Tarsia Puzzle
Practise adding and subtracting integers with a printable Tarsia puzzle!
- Plus Plan
Re- Prefix Crossword Puzzle
Review vocabulary skills and boost your students’ knowledge of the “Re-” prefix with a crossword puzzle worksheet.
- Free Plan
Natural Resources Word Search
Review the different natural resources with a word search.
- Plus Plan
Proper Nouns Crossword Puzzle - Worksheet
A crossword researching different proper nouns.
- Plus Plan
Addition Maze – Dog and Bone Worksheet
A worksheet to use to practise finding missing addends.
- Free Plan
2D Shapes and 3D Objects Crossword with Solution
A crossword with clues for both 2D shapes and 3D objects.
- Plus Plan
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.
- Plus Plan
Perimeter of Composite Shapes Maze
Use this perimeter maze when teaching your students how to calculate the perimeter of composite shapes.
- Plus Plan
Estimating Sums & Differences Maths Mazes
Sharpen your students’ rounding and estimation skills with a set of maths mazes.
- Plus Plan
10 More, 10 Less Differentiated Mazes
Delight your students with this maze challenge, to practise calculating 10 more or 10 less than a value within 120.
- Plus Plan
Counting by 10's Maze
Find the fun and learn to skip count by 10s up to 100 with this engaging maze activity!
- Plus Plan
Dot-to-Dot Drawing - Numbers by 1 - Elephant
Join the dots and numbers to make a picture.
- Plus Plan
Polygon Puzzles - Subtraction Worksheets with Answers
Line the sum up with the corresponding answer.
- Plus Plan
Polygon Puzzles - Addition Worksheets with Answers
Line the sum up with the corresponding answer.
- Plus Plan
Compound Words Crossword Puzzle Pack
Boost vocabulary skills with a pack of printable Compound Word Crossword Puzzles!
- Plus Plan
Cooperation Puzzles - Teamwork Activity
Explore the benefits of cooperation with a tangram-style team-building activity.
- Plus Plan
Natural Disasters – Printable Puzzles
Match pictures and facts of various natural disasters with this set of printable science puzzles.
- Plus Plan
Water Cycle Crossword Puzzle
Review water cycle vocabulary with a crossword puzzle.
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Earth, Sun and Moon – Vocabulary Cards and Puzzles
Reinforce science vocabulary with this set of word wall cards and vocabulary puzzles covering the Earth, sun and moon.
- Plus Plan
Rounding Whole Numbers – Riddle Worksheets
Integrate riddles and maths with this set of rounding worksheets.
- 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.
- Plus Plan
Aboriginal Diggers Crossword Puzzle
A crossword puzzle that teaches students about Aboriginal diggers.
- Plus Plan
Telling the Time Year 2 Tarsia Puzzle
Solve the tarsia puzzle and practise matching digital times with their corresponding word forms.
- Plus Plan
Weathering, Erosion and Deposition – Crossword Puzzle
Review science vocabulary terms associated with weathering, erosion and deposition with a crossword puzzle.
- Free Plan
Prefix Puzzles - Match Up Cards
Practise building, reading, and understanding the meaning of words with prefixes with a fun set of prefix puzzles.
- Plus Plan
Long OO Words - Word Search
Explore words containing some of the most common ‘long oo’ graphemes with this set of differentiated word searches.
- Plus Plan
Maths Mazes (Equivalent Fractions, Decimals and Percentages)
Determine equivalent fractions, decimals and percentages in this puzzling maths maze.
- Plus Plan
Complex Dot-to-dot – Square Numbers (Skateboarder) – Worksheet
A complex dot-to-dot where students order square numbers.
- Plus Plan
Complex Dot-to-Dot – Fractions and Decimals Puzzle for Year 6
Challenge year 6 students with a complex dot-to-dot where students demonstrate understanding of fractions and decimals.