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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Bowerbird Word Search
Explore the vocabulary surrounding the world of Bowerbirds with this printable word search.
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Animal Classes Word Search Pack - Upper Years
Review vocabulary related to animal classes and characteristics of animals with a pack of printable animal classification word searches.
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Persuasive Devices Word Search
Familiarise your students with the most common persuasive devices with a fun word search.
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Space Word Search
Review science vocabulary terms with an engaging space word search.
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Elapsed Time - Math Maze Worksheets
Find start times, end times, and calculate duration to find your way through our Year Four Elapsed Time Maths maze worksheets.
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Order of Operations – Maths Maze
Evaluate numerical expressions using the order of operations with this math maze!
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Days of the Week - Months in a Year Word Search Worksheets
Practise reading and spelling the days of the week and months of the year with printable Day and Month Word Search worksheets.
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Compound Words - Word Search Pack
Search, find, and spell compound words with a fun set of Compound Word Word Search Puzzles!
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Animal Classification Word Search Pack - Early Years
Introduce your lower-year students to the six animal types/classes with a pack of printable animal word search worksheets.
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Resilience Word Search
Use this resilience word search to immerse your students in the key vocabulary related to this important social-emotional skill.
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Time to the Hour and Half Hour - Maths Mazes
Engage your students with exciting telling time practise activities with a set of printable Time to the Hour and Half Hour Maths Mazes.
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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.
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Missing Addend Avenue - Find the Missing Number Worksheet
Practise using various subtraction strategies with a fun dice-roll math maze.
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Area Model Multiplication Small Group Activity
Review multiplication using the area model with this small group activity.
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12- and 24-Hour Time Polygon Puzzle
A puzzle using 12- and 24-hour time.
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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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National Sorry Day – Word Search
A word search to promote thoughtful discussion around issues of reconciliation on National Sorry Day.
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Empathy Word Search
Introduce or review vocabulary terms related to empathy with this free word search worksheet.
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Homophones Word Searches
Immerse your students in common homophones with this differentiated set of homophones word searches for your vocabulary lessons.
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Time in Minutes - Maths Maze Worksheets
Tell time to the nearest minute while finding your way through this set of 3 Telling Time to the Minute maths mazes.
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Time Conversion Maths Mazes
Convert units of time while finding your way through this set of 3 Time Conversion maths mazes.
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Telling Time Puzzles - Reading Clocks
Practise reading analogue clocks, digital clocks, and time in word form with a set of printable Telling Time to the Hour and Half Hour Clock Puzzles.
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Australian Map Puzzle
Help your students build understanding of the map of Australia with this interactive game.
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Long E Words - Word Search
Explore words containing some of the most common ‘long e’ graphemes with this set of differentiated word searches.
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Polygon Puzzles - Multiplication Worksheets with Answers
Line the sum up with the corresponding answer.
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Persuasive Devices Crossword
Familiarise your students with the most common persuasive devices with an engaging crossword puzzle.
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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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2 Digit Place Value Puzzles
Teach students the different representations of 2-digit numbers with this place value puzzle.
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Fact Family Mazes Differentiated Worksheet Set
Use this differentiated worksheet set to provide independent practise of fact family knowledge to solve multiplication expressions.
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OW and OU Words - Word Search
Explore words containing ‘ow’ and ‘ou’ with this set of differentiated word searches.
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Maths Mazes (Equivalent Fractions, Decimals and Percentages)
Determine equivalent fractions, decimals and percentages in this puzzling maths maze.
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3D Objects and Their Properties - Puzzles
Explore the names and properties of some of the most common 3D shapes with this set of 8 puzzles.