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

The celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe is important throughout Mexico and other parts of the world. Her feast day is Dec. 12, and the celebrations honoring her appearance to Juan Diego in 1531 begin a few days before that.

Whether you celebrate yourself or just want to share about the celebration at home or in your classroom, Las Mañanitas: The Beautiful Celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe is a good place to start. The book, by Ernesto Joel Vega Rosales and Jeanette Gonzalez Seneviratne, with illustrations by Dana Sanmar, tells the story of a family’s celebration of the feast day in both English and Spanish.

They prepare with a novena, which is nine days of prayers and preparations. The children, Lucia and Pablo, are given special outfits made by their grandmother that look like what Juan Diego might have worn when he saw Our Lady. The book describes the prayers that are made each day, such as a prayer for respect for life, for families and for the indigenous people of the Americas, to name a few.

As told in the book, Juan Diego was a native Mexican born near modern day Mexico City. His given name was Cuaauhtlatoatzin, which means “He who speaks like an eagle.” When he converted to Christianity his name was changed to Juan Diego, and as he walked to church he passed a hill called Tepeyac. One day he heard the birds singing especially beautifully and a voice called him to go to the top of the hill.

There he saw Our Lady of Guadalupe, who asked him to tell the bishop she wanted a chapel built in her name at the foot of the hill. The bishop asked for a sign that Juan Diego really saw her, and later she had him collect flowers that she blessed and take them to the bishop. When Juan Diego dropped the flowers, an image of Our Lady could be seen on his cloak, which is still on display in her basilica to this day.

The feast day is celebrated as mañanitas, which includes singing, indigenous music and dancing, and children presenting flowers to Our Lady. Juan Diego is remembered today as being humble, brave and faithful, and was the first indigenous American made a saint.

The book is colorful and tells the story in a clear way, and it’s fun to have it both in English and Spanish if you teach Spanish or speak Spanish at home or in the classroom. It’s a great way to learn the basics of the celebration and the story of Juan Diego and why he is still remembered today.

About the book: 40 pages, paperback, published 2024 by Loyola Press. Suggested retail price $14.99.

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Have you read?

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