Puzzles for Teachers
Browse an extensive collection of printable puzzles, brain teasers, mazes, crosswords, digital activities and a whole lot more to challenge your elementary 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 or sub binder!
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 favorites 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 up written clues and require students to fill in a grid with words that intersect with each other.
- 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 practice 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, colors, 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 mazes to teach math or crossword puzzles in your reading centers, 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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Pictograph Puzzles
Practice reading and interpreting pictographs with these fun puzzles which require students to match pictographs with other data displays with matching data.
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Number Matching Puzzle - Double Digit Subtraction
A hands-on game to play when practicing double-digit subtraction.
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Missing Part Path - Find the Missing Number Worksheet
Practice using various subtraction strategies with a fun dice-roll math maze.
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Integer Number Sentences - Tarsia Puzzle
Practice solving addition and subtraction number sentences involving integers with a printable Tarsia puzzle!
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Area of a Parallelogram – Differentiated Math Mazes
Determine the area of different parallelograms with a set of differentiated math mazes.
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Area of a Triangle – Differentiated Math Mazes
Use the area of a triangle formula as you work your way through this set of differentiated math mazes.
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Cooperation Word Search
Review vocabulary and boost your students’ cooperative interaction skills with a word search worksheet.
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Number Patterns: More or Less – Puzzle Match-Up
Use your understanding of place value and skip counting to determine 10 or 100 more or less than a 3-digit number with this set of puzzles.
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Re- Prefix Crossword Puzzle
Review vocabulary skills and boost your students’ knowledge of the “Re-” prefix with a crossword puzzle worksheet.
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Weathering, Erosion, and Deposition – Word Search
Strengthen your students' understanding of weathering, erosion, and deposition terms with a vocabulary word search.
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Weathering, Erosion, and Deposition – Crossword Puzzle
Review science vocabulary terms associated with weathering, erosion, and deposition with a crossword puzzle.
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Subtraction Strategies Puzzle Match
Practice identifying and using different subtraction strategies with a set of printable math puzzles.
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Prefix Puzzles - Printable Reading Center
Grow your students’ vocabularies with an engaging prefix puzzle activity.
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Prefix Puzzles - Printable Reading Centers
Practice building, reading, and understanding the meaning of words with prefixes with fun literacy centers!
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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.
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Magnetism Crossword Puzzle
Use this magnetism crossword puzzle to reinforce the scientific vocabulary related this noncontact force.
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Decimals on Number Lines - Codebreaker Worksheets
Crack the number line code with worksheets practicing identification, addition, and subtraction of decimal numbers.
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Prefixes and Suffixes Word Search
Practice identifying the meanings of words containing prefixes and suffixes with a fun word search activity.
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Types of Weather – Word Search
Review science vocabulary terms with an engaging weather word search.
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Fractions, Decimals, and Percents Tarsia Puzzle
Practice converting and matching fractions, decimals, and percentages with a fun tarsia puzzle.
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Adding and Subtracting Integers - Codebreaker Worksheets
Crack the positive and negative number code with four adding and subtracting integers worksheets.
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Fractions and Decimals Number Line Puzzles
Practice identifying fractions and decimals on a number line with this set of 2- and 3-piece puzzles.
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Equivalent Fractions – Differentiated Math Mazes
Practice your understanding of equivalent fractions with this set of differentiated math mazes.
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Synonym and Antonym Crossword Puzzle
Review vocabulary skills and boost your students’ knowledge of synonyms and antonyms with a crossword puzzle worksheet.
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One-Step Equations (Addition and Subtraction) – Math Mazes
Practice solving one-step equations with whole numbers, decimals, and mixed numbers while working through a set of 3 math mazes.
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Renewable Energy Word Search
Review science vocabulary terms with an engaging renewable energy word search.
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Synonyms Tarsia Puzzle
Have fun building vocabulary skills with a printable synonyms tarsia puzzle activity.
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Easter Picture Puzzles - Numbers 1-20
Practice number recognition with this fun Easter puzzle activity.
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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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Easter Dot-to-Dot Printables
Practice counting in 1s, 2s, 5s, and 10s with these Easter-themed dot-to-dot printables.
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April Fool’s Day Jokes - Codebreaker Worksheets
Have some fun decoding silly April Fools' Day Jokes with a pack of codebreaker worksheets!
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Blending Phonemes - Word Puzzles
Practice blending sounds to encode and decode words with these hands-on word puzzles.