Learn how to use puzzles to enhance math skills, strategies, and attitudes in a fun and interactive way. Find out what puzzles are, why they are beneficial, how to use them, what types to choose, and where to find them.

On one of my birding trips, I met a young 5 year boy with his father. As his father was showing him birds in the lake, he started counting the birds. Interestingly, when he saw some other kind of bird, he not only counted that particular type of bird but he also told what was the total number of birds he saw. For almost 2 hours he kept doing this happily. This kid liked numbers so he naturally started doing counting. Some other kid who has more interest in colours would have noticed the various colours in the birds. To design puzzles, it is important to understand the natural interest of the kid. After all the purpose is not to keep them busy but to make them think on more questions based on the given problem to encourage critical thinking.

How can you use puzzles to enhance math instruction and student engagement?

Math is more than just numbers and formulas. It is also a way of thinking, problem-solving, and creating. Puzzles are a great tool to help students develop these skills and enjoy math learning. In this article, you will learn how you can use puzzles to enhance math instruction and student engagement.

1 What are puzzles?

Puzzles are activities that challenge students to find solutions, patterns, or connections using logic, reasoning, and creativity. Puzzles can be verbal, visual, spatial, or numerical, and they can vary in difficulty and complexity. Puzzles can be used to introduce, practice, or review math concepts and skills, or to extend and enrich math learning.

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Carrie Evans
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Puzzles are entertaining, engaging, and can be educational. They encourage thinking and problem solving which are skills that need to be supported and developed for success across curriculum areas.

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Neema Das

Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry Teacher
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Puzzles are challenging problems that need logic and creativity to solve. They have been used in history for entertainment and in war. It can be used for teaching as it can make the mathematical topics like series, pattern, colour code, cryptography problems challenging to solve. Students like challenges rather than theory and sometime students pick concepts of progression, series and pattern without even being taught.

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Poku C.

Visual Art Trainer: On a mission to enlighten rural communities through creative expression.
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The visual puzzles I know about often involve identifying and recognizing patterns. Solving puzzles have served me as a relaxing effect and as a stress-relief activity. Focusing on a puzzle has helped me divert attention from stressors. I believe puzzles can promote a sense of accomplishment upon completion. The skill you gain by doing puzzles are transferable to various areas of life.

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2 Why use puzzles?

Puzzles can be an effective and enjoyable way to help students engage with math. They motivate exploration of math ideas and concepts, stimulate curiosity, interest, and enjoyment, and foster critical thinking, problem-solving, and reasoning skills. Puzzles also develop persistence, resilience, and confidence in math, support differentiation and individualization of learning, and encourage collaboration, communication, and reflection on math processes and strategies.

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3 How to use puzzles?

Puzzles can be a great way to engage students in math instruction. Consider using puzzles as warm-ups, transitions, or closures to activate students' prior knowledge or review math concepts. Puzzles can also be used for independent, partner, or group work to provide students with opportunities to practice and apply math skills. Additionally, puzzles can be used as assessments or feedback tools to check students' understanding of math concepts and skills. Moreover, puzzles can be used as enrichment or challenge activities to stimulate higher-order thinking, creativity, or curiosity in math. Finally, you can use puzzles as cross-curricular or interdisciplinary connections to integrate math with other subjects or real-world contexts.

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4 What types of puzzles?

Math instruction and student engagement can be enhanced with the use of puzzles. For instance, Sudoku is a number-placement puzzle where students must fill a grid with digits from 1 to 9 without repeating them in any row, column, or subgrid. KenKen is a number-operation puzzle that requires students to fill a grid with digits from 1 to 6 (or more) while respecting the arithmetic clues in each cage. Kakuro is a number-sum puzzle where students must fill a grid with digits from 1 to 9 while respecting the sum clues in each row and column. Logic puzzles require students to use deductive reasoning and clues to find the solution to a problem or scenario. Tangrams and Pentominoes are puzzles that involve the use of geometric shapes to form a given figure or design.

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Neema Das

Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry Teacher
Report contribution
On one of my birding trips, I met a young 5 year boy with his father. As his father was showing him birds in the lake, he started counting the birds. Interestingly, when he saw some other kind of bird, he not only counted that particular type of bird but he also told what was the total number of birds he saw. For almost 2 hours he kept doing this happily. This kid liked numbers so he naturally started doing counting. Some other kid who has more interest in colours would have noticed the various colours in the birds. To design puzzles, it is important to understand the natural interest of the kid. After all the purpose is not to keep them busy but to make them think on more questions based on the given problem to encourage critical thinking.

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5 Where to find puzzles?

Puzzles are an effective and versatile tool to improve math instruction and student engagement. You can find puzzles online on websites and apps such as Math Playground, Math Is Fun, and Brainzilla. Additionally, there are many books and magazines that feature puzzles for different ages, interests, and abilities of math learners, like Puzzlemania, Math Puzzles and Games, and Puzzle Baron's Logic Puzzles. Furthermore, you can create your own puzzles using online tools, templates, or software such as Puzzle Maker, Crossword Labs, and Microsoft Excel. Incorporating puzzles into your math lessons can help students develop their math skills in a fun and meaningful way. Try it out and see the transformation in your math teaching and learning!

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6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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How can you use puzzles to enhance math instruction and student engagement?

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1 What are puzzles?

2 Why use puzzles?

3 How to use puzzles?

4 What types of puzzles?

5 Where to find puzzles?

6 Here’s what else to consider

Educational Leadership

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How can you use puzzles to enhance math instruction and student engagement?

1

2

3

4

5

6

1 What are puzzles?

2 Why use puzzles?

3 How to use puzzles?

4 What types of puzzles?

5 Where to find puzzles?

6 Here’s what else to consider

Educational Leadership

Rate this article

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