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Strengthen math skills and practice problem solving this December with these fun Christmas Sudoku puzzles!
Sudoku is one of our favorite ways to play with numbers. The combination of problem-solving and logic that these puzzles teach makes it a great educational resource. I love Sudoku and puzzles in general and try to incorporate this kind of learning in our homeschool whenever possible.
I always struggled with math as a child and had a hard time seeing the beauty and fun in working with numbers. As an adult, I have often wondered if my feelings about math might have been different if I’d been offered puzzles like this.
I want my kiddos to love numbers and puzzling over math problems. And, have good feelings about math in general. So, Sudoku, which is far from a boring math activity, should help me do that!
Christmas Sudoku Puzzles
These picture Sudoku puzzles are perfect for young kids. They use images instead of numbers so it’s easy for them to understand how these puzzle boxes work.
The grid is 4 2×2 boxes with 4 images to a box, row, or column. They are a simple way to help kiddos grasp how sudoku works, but still challenging enough to keep them interested.
We just printed them all out and my daughter is loving them! We printed ours in color, but the download includes black and white versions for low-ink printing. And, I also included a solution page for each puzzle.
Helping Young Kids with Sudoku
My daughter had never done Sudoku before but was able to pick it up really quickly with a few helpful strategies.
I started by explaining to her that each box, column, and row could have only one of each image in it. At first, though, she was still trying to match the pieces, sort of like memory.
So, to help her understand the concept, I pulled out one of each of the pictures in her puzzle and put them in a row. Then, I had her look at the rows, columns, or boxes that already had three images in them. Next, I asked her to find which picture was missing in the one empty space. This worked well and she was able to see what I was getting at.
She finished the first puzzle by herself without any more help. My daughter is 7, so if your child is younger you may have to continue to repeat this kind of example with them before they’re doing them independently. But, I bet it won’t be long before they catch on. I plan on storing these puzzles in a gallon size freezer bag so we can easily pull them out to do them this whole month.
Other Christmas Printables & Activities
If you’re looking for other Christmas themed printable activities try a few of the ones below.
I Spy the Rhymes in Twas the Night Before Christmas
Elves Christmas Writing Prompt Pages
Christmas Penguins Writing Prompts
Christmas Vocabulary Word Cards
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Have fun playing with numbers in these Sudoku puzzles!
Heidi
