Venn Diagrams are pretty ubiquitous in school. Most students have seen and used the common form of a Venn Diagram that you see below in order to compare/contrast two things.
To be honest, after a bazillion years of teaching, I’ve gotten quite bored with using this graphic organizer. However, there are a few people who have thought up some interesting variations on this theme, and I thought I would share some with you.
First up, Venn Perplexors are a series of workbooks that have levels suitable for Kinder and up. Level A sticks with the concept of students grouping pictures and words into diagrams, but the other levels challenge students to use Venn Diagrams to solve math problems. It’s an unusual way to do algebraic thinking that is great for students who need some math enrichment.
I’ve posted about “Logic Zoo”, a PBS Cyberchase game here. It’s fun to play on the interactive board with students in Kinder and 1st.
Another interactive board possibility (for a bit older children) is this one.
Anaxi is a unique game that I included in my Gifts for the Gifted Series in 2016. Players use translucent cards to create Venn Diagram categories that require some creativity to fill. It’s challenging, so I would use it with 2nd grade and up.
Today, I had an interesting discussion with my 3rd graders with this puzzler from Math Pickle. I think this has been my favorite Venn Diagram activity so far. The free printable has 13 different blank diagrams and a list of 13 groups of 3. Problem solvers must find which diagram matches which group. For example, what would the diagram for “reptile, crocodile, and female” look like? The great thing is that the answers are NOT provided, so we were all trying to figure out the answers and debating our solutions. I loved the critical thinking that was used for this activity, though it might be better suited for 4th grade and up. I could definitely see making some of these up for other subjects, too, like geography or social studies. Also, Math Pickle has some other Venn Puzzlers which look wickedly fun here. (I want to try the polygon ones!)
Lastly, here are some fun and creative Venn Diagrams that are probably best for middle and high school students – or even your adult friends. Along the same lines are these humorous ones from Math with Bad Drawings.
