All About Sudoku for Kids

September 9 is International Sudoku Day, but this fun number game is great to play — for kids and adults — any day of the year.

If you’ve never played it before, Sudoku is a logic-based number puzzle game. It is played on a 9×9 grid, with some of the cells already filled in with numbers. The objective of the game is to fill in the remaining cells with numbers 1-9 so that each row, column, and 3×3 subgrid contains all of the numbers from 1-9 exactly once.

The grids can vary in degree of difficulty based on how many grids are connected and how many numbers are shown to start with. Kids need a basic understanding of numbers, logic and patience to complete a Sudoku game, so it’s recommended for kids ages 7 and up.

For kids, you can start with specially designed, easier puzzles that have 4×4 grids or 6×6 grids instead of the usual 9×9 grid. It can also be helpful to have more of the grid filled in when they start so they can get the idea of how the puzzle is supposed to work better.

For instance Kids Math Games Online has printable Sudoku puzzles for all skill levels, starting with a 4×4 grid (which only uses the numbers 1-4) with as many as eight of the grid spaces filled out to make it easier for kids new to the game to solve it.

More good Sudoku games for kids can be found here:
Sudoku for Kids
Puzzles to Print
Math in English (also has puzzles with shapes or letters instead of numbers)
Cool 2B Kids
Science Kids (also has a blank template for devising your own games)

You can also try the online games at Sudoku Online. That page also has good tips about trying Sudoku with kids, probably the most important being to explain the rules very clearly, and to help them with their first few puzzles but let them make mistakes so they can figure out how to do it on their own. And of course there are apps you can use to play Sudoku at any skill level.

Do you play Sudoku or do your kids? I’d love to hear about it if you play together!

[Photo: Kids Math Games Online]

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Pi Day Activities for Little Kids

I’m in deep denial about the fact that new year is almost upon us again! It’s been the fastest and the longest year at the same time, and I can look back and see some good things as well as some things I wish had gone differently.

Doing a year in review with your kids — whether in the classroom or at home — is a good way to capture some of their memories and the things they really liked about the year gone by.

There are a lot of different printable year in review worksheets you can use if you want to make this super easy. Here are links to a few (often part of larger posts about NYE celebrations with kids that are worth a read, too):

Teach Beside Me has lots of fun printables fro the end of the year, including a year in review that covers favorite memory, funniest memory and the best book they read, among other topics.
NurtureStore‘s version has space for a self-portrait and prompts like favorite toy, best day out this year and future dream job.
Remember favorites, their “best idea” of the year and have room for setting goals for next year with this one from The Keele Deal.
The year in review from Yes We Made This has room for drawing or writing and includes things like something they learned, a memory they made and a place they visited.

Of course you could pretty easily make your own year in review for the whole family to do that asks questions based on what you most want to remember. (Favorite video game? Best friend? Favorite family memory?)

And if after the year in review you’re ready to look ahead a bit, Mrs. Merry has new year’s resolution printables to inspired kids to look ahead and set goals for things they want to try. You can totally fill this one out as a grownup, too.

[Photo: Mrs. Merry]

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