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
- Plus Plan
6 x Dinosaur Mazes
A set of 6 fun mazes with a dinosaur theme.
- Free Plan
Know Your Place Jigsaws
Six mini jigsaw puzzles focusing on different places.
- Free Plan
Identifying Even Numbers Worksheet
A fun activity to help your students to identify even numbers.
- Plus Plan
1 to 20 Number Match-Up Puzzles
A set of 20 match-up puzzles to help students identify the numbers from 1 to 20.
- Plus Plan
Dot-to-Dot Drawing - Numbers by 3 - Grasshopper
Join the dots and numbers to make a picture.
- Plus Plan
Dot-to-Dot Drawing - Numbers by 3 - Eel
Join the dots and numbers to make a picture.
- Plus Plan
Top and Tail Puzzles
10 top and tail puzzles to use when working with vocabulary.
- Plus Plan
Counting Picture Puzzle Numbers 6-10
Practise counting 6 to 10 objects and matching groups to numbers through this 15-piece picnic scene picture puzzle
- Plus Plan
Decomposing Fractions Puzzles
Get your students decomposing fractions in more than one way with this set of puzzles perfect for maths groups!
- Plus Plan
Compound Words Tarsia Puzzle
Match the compound words with their matching word parts to solve this Compound Word Tarsia Puzzle.
- Plus Plan
Vowel Digraphs Picture Puzzle
Practise decoding words with long vowel team conventions with this 15 piece picture puzzle.
- 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
Remembrance Day Connect the Dot Worksheets
Practice counting up to 50 and create beautiful Remembrance art using a set of printable Remembrance Day Connect the Dots Printables.
- Plus Plan
2 Digit Place Value Puzzles
Teach students the different representations of 2-digit numbers with this place value puzzle.
- Plus Plan
Piecing Together Emotions – Puzzle Activity
Guide your students to identify the feelings and emotions of others with this social emotional learning puzzle activity.
- Plus Plan
Halloween Adjectives Word Search - Lower Years
Bring in the Halloween spirit this year, starting with a printable Halloween word search filled with spooky adjectives!
- Plus Plan
Number Ordering Puzzles - Halloween Theme
Practise counting with a fun set of spook-tacular Halloween number puzzles!
- Plus Plan
Subtraction within 100 - Two-Digit Subtraction Puzzles
Practise subtraction strategies with a set of printable maths puzzles.
- Plus Plan
Picture Puzzles - Team Building Activity
Build classroom community with a set of team-building puzzles for primary students.
- Plus Plan
Counting by 1s Picture Puzzles
Use this fun sorting activity for your students to practice ordering numbers in sequential order, and improve their skip counting skills!
- Plus Plan
Natural Disasters – Printable Puzzles
Match pictures and facts of various natural disasters with this set of printable science puzzles.
- Plus Plan
Pictograph Puzzles
Practise reading and interpreting pictographs with these fun puzzles which require students to match pictographs with other data displays with matching data.
- Plus Plan
Prefix Puzzles - Literacy Centre
Grow your students’ vocabularies with prefix puzzles in your literacy centres.
- Plus Plan
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
Easter Dot to Dot Worksheets (1s, 2s, 5s and 10s)
Practise counting in 1s, 2s, 5s and 10s with these Easter-themed dot-to-dot worksheets.
- Plus Plan
Maps and Globes Vocabulary Puzzles
Make your geography lessons more fun with a set of map and globe picture puzzles.
- Plus Plan
International Women’s Day Word Search
Build vocabulary skills with this International Women’s Day word search.
- Plus Plan
Synonyms Picture Puzzle
Build vocabulary skills with a fun Synonyms Picture Puzzle.
- Plus Plan
Word Chain Mazes - Worksheets
Colour a path through the maze by identifying the changing phoneme to create a continuous word chain.
- Plus Plan
Valentine’s Day Word Search
Stretch your upper primary students’ vocabulary and reading skills with a sweet Valentine’s Day word search.
- Plus Plan
Back to School Emoji Code Breaker Worksheets
Use this emoji code breaker worksheet as a back to school activity with your students.
- Plus Plan
Halloween Crossword Puzzle
Stretch your upper years students’ Halloween vocabularies and reading skills with a Halloween crossward puzzle.