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
Persuasive Devices Word Search
Familiarise your students with the most common persuasive devices with a fun word search.
- Plus Plan
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.
- Free Plan
Space Word Search
Review science vocabulary terms with an engaging space word search.
- Plus Plan
Aboriginal Diggers Crossword Puzzle
A crossword puzzle that teaches students about Aboriginal diggers.
- Plus Plan
Order of Operations – Maths Maze
Evaluate numerical expressions using the order of operations with this math maze!
- Plus Plan
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.
- Plus Plan
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.
- Plus Plan
Maths Mazes (Multiplication and Division)
Solve these mazes by manipulating numbers using multiplication and division skills.
- Plus Plan
Persuasive Devices Crossword
Familiarise your students with the most common persuasive devices with an engaging crossword puzzle.
- Plus Plan
Area Model Multiplication Small Group Activity
Review multiplication using the area model with this small group activity.
- Plus Plan
Skip Counting Number Puzzles
A fun and engaging set of 10 number puzzles to help students skip count in the classroom.
- Plus Plan
Telling Time Maths Mazes - 5 Minutes
Tell time to the nearest five-minute mark and make maths fun with a printable pack of Telling Time maths mazes.
- Plus Plan
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.
- Plus Plan
Missing Addend Avenue - Find the Missing Number Worksheet
Practise using various subtraction strategies with a fun dice-roll math maze.
- Plus Plan
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.
- Plus Plan
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.
- Plus Plan
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.
- Plus Plan
Maths Mazes (Friends of Ten)
A set of friends of ten mazes where students find missing addends to solve the maze.
- Plus Plan
Time Conversion Maths Mazes
Convert units of time while finding your way through this set of 3 Time Conversion maths mazes.
- Plus Plan
Tangram Treats – Task Cards and Templates
Explore the properties of geometric shapes with this set of scaffolded tangram shapes task cards and cut-out tangram templates.
- Plus Plan
Secret Code Number Line - Worksheet
Crack the number line code with five number line codebreaker worksheets to practice number identification, addition, and subtraction.
- Free Plan
Rounding Numbers – Maths Mazes
Round numbers to various places while finding your way through this set of 5 maths mazes.
- Plus Plan
12- and 24-Hour Time Polygon Puzzle
A puzzle using 12- and 24-hour time.
- Plus Plan
Multiplication Array Puzzles
Guide your students to match arrays, multiplication facts and repeated addition sentences with this set of puzzles.
- Plus Plan
Fact Family Mazes Differentiated Worksheet Set
Use this differentiated worksheet set to provide independent practise of fact family knowledge to solve multiplication expressions.
- Plus Plan
Maths Mazes (Equivalent Fractions, Decimals and Percentages)
Determine equivalent fractions, decimals and percentages in this puzzling maths maze.
- Free Plan
Fractions, Decimals and Percentages Polygon Puzzle
A puzzle using fractions, decimals and percentages.
- Plus Plan
Compound Word Puzzles
Have fun combining words to make compound words with a fun set of compound word puzzles.
- Plus Plan
12 and 24-Hour Time Puzzle Pops
Build batches of tasty ice lollies with a maths centre to match 12 and 24-hour times.
- Plus Plan
Perimeter and Area Digital Puzzles
Give students practice finding the area and perimeter of squares and rectangles with these digital area and perimeter puzzles.
- Plus Plan
2 Digit Place Value Puzzles
Teach students the different representations of 2-digit numbers with this place value puzzle.
- Plus Plan
Maths Mazes (Factors)
A set of maths mazes that allow students to demonstrate their knowledge of factors.