When I was looking for great links to include in my September Wakelet, I discovered that September 9th is International Sudoku Day. Of course, I can’t ignore that because I literally play Sudoku every single day. It’s my favorite “down-time” activity. I put several links in the Wakelet to help you celebrate this auspicious day, including some online Sudoku games and some places you can find free printables. There’s even a link to a free picture Sudoku you can download from TPT. And, don’t forget to check out the interactive Sudoku bulletin board ideas that you can find here.
I used to like using Jigsawdoku with my students because it allows you to choose different options in order to scaffold. For students who need some extra challenge, you can have them try Mystery Grid (click on question mark for instructions) or Inkies (also known as Ken-Ken Puzzles or Mathdoku). And if you have some students who get really passionate, you can try one of these alternatives.
With St. Patrick’s Day coming up, I have been doing a few leprechaun activities with my students. One that my 1st graders enjoy is to use the “Substitute” tool from S.C.A.M.P.E.R. to imagine what they would like to find at the end of the rainbow instead of a pot of gold. This year, one student drew a puppy that solves Rubix Cubes. That was definitely “out of the pot” thinking! My 2nd graders “Adapted” a classroom to leprechauns, and included posters that instructed the leprechaun students, “How to Talk to Humans.”
The hands-down favorite St. Patrick’s Day activity for my students has always been the Leprechaun Traps. I usually do this with my Kindergartners. The other day, my 2nd graders were recalling the excitement of making the traps and speculating that “probably Mrs. Eichholz was the one who left the notes – not a leprechaun.” 🙂 I’m looking forward to introducing my newest group of Kinders to the Design Process and STEM as they invent their own leprechaun traps.
Breakout Edu has a couple of Leprechaun games on their Seasonal page. (Remember that you need to register for free in order to get the password that opens the full set of instructions.)
And, as if that is not enough, the MilkandCookies blog offers a free download of St. Patrick’s Day logic and sudoku puzzles here.
I wish everyone the Luck of the Irish this March, and I hope you discover your own pot of gold in the near future. (If it’s a puppy who can solve Rubix Cubes, please send him to my house because I’ve never been able to complete one without cheating.)
UPDATE 8/27/2021: Unfortunately, this game is no longer working because it is a Flash game. According to Cool Math, they are working on a “fix” for it. I hope they find a way to make it available again! You can download it as an iOS app here. You can also play it here as an HTML 5 game, but you will have ads (and it may be blocked by school districts).
I’ll be adding the “Blocky Christmas Puzzle” to my list of “Logical Ways to Survive the Weeks Before Winter Break.” It’s a fun site that challenges you to move some blocks around the screen. I know that doesn’t sound very fun or challenging, but trust me, my description doesn’t really do it justice. As you move through the levels, new obstacles are added and your own block becomes magnetic – which can be helpful and irritating at the same time. I love using puzzles like these on the Interactive White Board to talk about Growth Mindset with my students. They cheer each other on and everyone celebrates when someone solves a particularly difficult level.
I learned about the “Blocky Christmas Puzzle” from Technology Rocks. Seriously. You can find more holiday interactive by visiting this post by Shannon. She also has a billion other awesome resources, so you should definitely visit her blog if you haven’t yet.
A few years ago, I thought I would help out the parents of my gifted and talented students by writing about some games, toys, or books that I thought might make good purchases during the holiday season. I called the series of posts, “Gifts for the Gifted,” and I have continued to do it annually on every Friday in November and December. These gifts are suggestions for any child – not just those who qualify for a GT program. Sometimes I receive a free product for review, but I am not paid for these posts, and I never recommend a product that I wouldn’t buy for my own child. For past “Gifts for the Gifted” posts, you can visit this page.
My annual “Gifts for the Gifted” lists wouldn’t be complete without at least one game from ThinkFun. This company is one of my favorite sources for entertaining educational games and my students always enjoy reviewing new ones as well as playing the classics.
Clue Master is one of ThinkFun’s newer products. It’s a “logical deduction” game that is somewhat like Sudoku. Although it is labeled as a single-player game, my students and I like to play in pairs, alternating puzzles. Designed for ages 8 and up, it does one of the things that ThinkFun does best with games like this – scaffolding. The challenges slowly increase in difficulty so that anyone can work through them at their own pace without feeling bored or frustrated.
The game puzzles and solutions are contained in a sturdy book, and you will also find 9 magnetic tokens, a game grid, and instructions in the box. Each challenge gives you a picture of the grid with some clues to the locations of each of the tokens. The player’s job is to use the clues to deduce where all of the tokens should be placed.
The graphics have the pixelated look of Minecraft, which immediately draws the attention of young people. Don’t be fooled, however. Adults will have just as much fun trying to solve the challenges once they skip through the beginning puzzles. Spatial reasoning is definitely a requirement in addition to logic, and many of us can use a bit more practice in both.
With these types of games, I’ve found that part of the appeal to my young partners is for them to see me struggle through it. I also enjoy when they verbalize their thought processes and come to the realization that all of these can be solved through reasoning – not guess & check. This is why I would recommend that, if you purchase Clue Master as a gift, you make plans to enjoy it with the recipient instead of expecting him or her to go off an play it alone. Both of you will find the experience much more rewarding.
For more game recommendations, check out my Pinterest Board, which includes more products from ThinkFun as well as other great companies.
TED Ed recently featured this “River Crossing Riddle” in its weekly newsletter. It is similar to the “Bridge Riddle” I recommended on this blog last May. I think it might be fun to act out the riddle in class to help students try to solve it. When the video is finished, there are some other riddle suggestions that you may want to investigate as well.
River Crossing Riddle from TED Ed
If you enjoy River Crossing puzzles, here is a link to an online interactive one – and another one here from PBS Kids.
UPDATE 5/20/2020: I found some more WODB images, and posted the link here if you are interested!
I just love the people I follow on Twitter. I get so many great ideas that would probably take a decade to reach me if it weren’t for the #eduawesome people who share resources regularly.
The other day I caught a tweet from @JStevens009 that had a link to a mysteriously named Google Slides presentation, “WODB?” I opened it to find 52 slides that each showed four pictures. (John stated that a colleague who doesn’t tweet had shared the presentation.) Doing a little more research, I found the @WODB Twitter stream, which led me to the WODB website, “Which One Doesn’t Belong?”
The website was created by @MaryBourassa, but includes submissions from many people. The basic premise is to provide 4 pictures that share some attributes, but not all. Your mission is to explain why each one doesn’t belong, and to support your answer. There are some that are more obvious than others, and that’s where the fun comes in!
from WODB?
For example, in the image above, it is obvious the nickel does not belong because the rest are pennies. The bottom right picture does not belong because it’s tails and all of the rest are heads. The bottom left one does not belong because it is the only one that does not add up to 5 cents. But what about that first picture?
Seriously. WHAT ABOUT THE FIRST PICTURE?!!!!!!!
Someone tell me what the other 3 pictures have in common that the first one doesn’t. I can’t figure it out.
And it’s driving me crazy.
I just teach gifted students; that doesn’t mean I am one!
