These pages are meant to provide an introduction to some of the most easily accessible logical/mathematical puzzles in a form that is easy to download and print.

Many of these puzzles need only paper & pencil, while others are physical. I use the brightly-coloured plastic craft foam for the latter. Look for it in dollar stores, craft stores, office supply stores, and department stores with a crafts section. It takes a lot of careful cutting to make class sets – my mother has been a tremendous help!

If you are a teacher, here is a description of an effective way to introduce most of these puzzles to your class.

Five-piece tangrams

These puzzles are very popular with students from kindergarten through grade 3. Having only five pieces instead of the classic seven makes them much less intimidating for many people. Students who enjoy these puzzles may be encouraged to try the classic tangrams. Making the pieces I use craft foam because it is easy to handle and lasts very well, but if you are in a hurry, you could make them out of cardstock.

Streamers

Streamers has been popular with everyone from grade 4 on up. Here are the demonstration puzzles to help you get started. To play, each student will need a set of 16 pieces: squares, triangles, circles, and rhombuses each in blue, green, orange and purple. Here are the puzzles themselves: 1&2 , 3&4 , 5&6 , 7&8 , 9&10 , 11&12

Towers

This is a wonderful puzzle which requires a person to think in three dimensions. Most people seem to find it easier (and more fun) to start by working with physical pieces on a grid. I’ve introduced it to classes as young as grade 5, and to individual students younger than that. Here are: A description of pieces and a template for the grid The process I use to introduce Towers to a group, which you might also use to help you figure it out for yourself The step-by-step solution for the example in the introduction A set of Easy 4x4 puzzles which can be solved using the blocks A set of Medium 4x4 puzzles , which can also be solved using the blocks A set of Hard 4x4 puzzles , for which you might want to get out a pencil and eraser, although they can be solved using the blocks A set of Easy 5x5 puzzles I’ll post more 5x5 puzzles soon!

Magnets

Can you figure out the rules from this (mostly) solved puzzle? Here is another solved puzzle , and here is a description of the rules together with a very easy worked example. A great way to learn to play Magnets is to use physical pieces, as shown in the photo. Here are: A description of what’s needed A set of easy puzzles (and solutions ) A set of medium puzzles (and solutions ) A set of more difficult puzzles (and solutions ) If you would like examples of some useful types of logic, here is a step-by-step solution for an easy puzzle and one for a medium puzzle .

Futoshiki

Can you figure out the rules from this solved puzzle? Getting started : check to see whether you understood the rules and see a partial solution to a puzzle Classroom demonstration for teachers Futoshiki I - V puzzles to download Find many more at BrainBashers and Simon Tatham’s portable puzzles .

Kakurasu

This puzzle is essentially a Latin square with addition. All you really need to know is how to add single-digit numbers, although subtraction is also useful. Once you’ve spend a few minutes sorting out which numbers mean what, you’re ready to start puzzling! Can you figure out the rules from this solved puzzle? Getting started Classroom demonstration 4x4 puzzles (and solutions , just in case) 5x5 puzzles (and solutions ) 6x6 puzzles (and solutions ) Puzzles in three sizes Once you’ve mastered these, you might enjoy creating your own puzzles: just start with the tick and X-marks, work out the sums, then decide how many of the sums to give as clues.

Domino puzzles

These puzzles come in four levels. To make it easier to keep track within a level I photocopy the puzzles (double-sided) on different colours of paper, say puzzle 1 and 2 on blue, 3 and 4 on yellow, etc. Level 1 involves only 13 dominoes. These are very popular with the K-3 crowd. Some children may need a little encouragement to get started: Which pieces do we know for sure?

Hidato

Can you figure out the rules from this solved puzzle? Check here to see if you’ve figured it out. This is one of most accessible of all the puzzles. All you need to be able to do is count! It’s fun for primary students to have coloured counters to put in the blanks. This also reduces any concern they might feel about having a number in the wrong place, as it is very easy to fix.

Latin & Euler squares

An Euler square, almost completed. I love these puzzles! They are visually appealing, with bright colours and distinct shapes rather than numbers or letters; they require puzzlers to be very clear about which rules they are using; there are thousands of solutions for each level; and solutions can be found via many approaches. Children are often quicker than adults at finding solutions,which makes them feel justifiably proud of their abilities.

Rectangles

Can you figure out the rules of the game from its solution? Rectangles connects arithmetic and geometry. For students who have already started multiplication and division this puzzle makes factoring tangible. For students who are just learning about multiplication, the puzzle provides a concrete introduction to multiplication as repeated addition. getting-started downloadable puzzles for everyone from about grade 4 and up classroom demonstration for about grade 4 and up downloadable puzzles for (approximately) grades 2-4 classroom demonstration for (about) grades 2-4 Find more puzzles for younger students at Math in English , where they are called Shikaku.