Our fourth freebie this week is a series of four maths picto-puzzles each of varying difficulty.
Here is an example page;
They include addition, subtraction puzzles and multiplication. Challenge your students to find the value of each Valentines symbol, watch out for valentine’s symbols within symbols on the more challenging picto-puzzle 4 and 5.
The full resource can be downloaded here by clicking the link below.
This free download includes 4 different Valentine picto-puzzles which can be displayed or printed as worksheets, with solutions. Ideal for a quick starter or plenary. You should also check out our premium Valentine bundle.
Click the picture below to visit this bundle.
Don’t forget to check out this weeks Valentine posts for our freebies!
More NumberLove to share and we ask if there is a substitute for love? Well the only substitution we’re covering here is algebraic substitution!
This free download requires pupils to answer questions evaluating expressions and then they shade the number grid to create the LOVEly picture!
Click on the picture above to get the free download from our store. If you like this you will LOVE our Valentine Math bundle, available via our store. It includes these two Math Art resources.
Another quick NumberLoving freebie Maths activity for the week of love, leading up to Valentine’s Day. Definitely suitable for GCSE 9-1 Maths and has plenty of challenge (Pythagoras, multi-step, area of parts of circles, area of sectors and segments).
There are five different hearts and pupils are asked to find the area and perimeter of the heart. The hearts are made up of triangles and two semi-circles or the more challenging heart (heart 5) requires pupils to calculate the area of two identical major circle segments.
Take a closer look at worksheet five for the extra challenge, suitable starter or plenary for Higher GCSE students.
Download the full free resource via the link below; this includes five different hearts of varying challenge that can be printed as worksheets (or displayed) and includes the solutions!
A quick free logic puzzle for our favourite time of year Valentines Day, we are NumberLoving after all!
Download the full resource below: this includes the option of clue cards for traditional mystery or a worksheet option with built in two way table and the solution.
You may have read my previous post about Sudoku’s and the many variations that I have found over the years to keep the challenge and mind thinking! So beyond the classic and more challenging Sudoku’s I moved on again.
So I searched out other logic, number games and came across this book by Chambers “Beyond Sudoku; Japenese number puzzles”. I would recommend it, I have actually two copies one for personal use the other I have cut up and laminated for in use in the classroom.
Hashi- Also known as bridges
One of my favourites and very easy to get the hang of but challenging enough! The circles represent islands to be connected by bridges. The number indicates the number of bridges connected to that island, the maximum number of bridges between two island is two (beware this doesn’t isolate the islands). Puzzlemix.com is a great place for all the following puzzles, create a free puzzle and you can save it for later. Another site with over 2 million puzzles has enough to keep those brains ticking over the Christmas break.
Kakuro- Also known as cross sums
It looks like a cross word but the numbers don’t lead to a written clue the numbers are the clue, as well as the number of cells. The number represents the total of the digits for example if a total is 3 and there are only two cells, you know the two digits are 1 and 2. This is a good starting point! Though I must admit I have not truly mastered the kakuro and so found these tips useful.
Hanjie- Also known as Griddler, Nonagram or Paint by numbers
A blank grid, at the end of each row and column the number identifies the number of cells that need to be shaded as part of the picture. Remember that a comma between each number indicates at least one square gap. Good website to play easy to hard hanjie games online but you can not save your game. Once you’ve got the hang of the controls this is a great piece of free software. However if you sign up for free with puzzlemix.com you can save your games for later!
Slither Link Also known as fences
This game takes me back to playing boxes with my grandparents as a young child. Although this game you do connect the dots you do not make boxes, but instead one big island. The number refers to the number of lines, the maximum being 3 sides (anymore would create an isolated island). Best hint I got was to find the 0’s next to a 3, as the side between the two can not be an edge therefore the other 3sides of the number 3 must be!
The Krazydad website has lots of slitherlink puzzles of varying degrees of diffulty as well as variations on the classic game. My favourite the Rhomboid slitherlinks and there are 100 downloadable books enough to keep even I busy! Also it would be rude to not pay special attention to the snowflake slitherlink at this time of year.
Fillomino-
Each cell in the end will contain a number, the number identifies how many cells of the same number are joined. For example 2, means there are two squares with the digit 2 in, therefore no adjoining cells can be part of a 2 formation. Fillomino strategies are available here, I found these useful. For your daily online fillomino online game click here. An archive of printable fillomino’s are available here.
Nurikabe
The aim of the game is to determine if a cell is white and therefore part of an island, or black and part of the connecting canals. The numbers refer to the number of cells in an island, no islands can be connected horizontally or vertically, where as canals must all be connected. Try online here.
Mosaic
Create a mosaic using the information, similar to minesweeper. The number refers to how many cells should be shaded in that and the surrounding cells, i.e. the maximum is 9. Identifying the 9’s and the 0’s is a good starting point. A free download is available here. For some strategies and tips click here.
Hitori
Starting with a complete grid of digits, you eliminate numbers so that no digit recurrs in the same column or row, no shaded squares can touch creating one big island. Again Puzzlemix.com allows you to play online and save your games for later.
I am sure here at numberloving we will find plenty more to add to this list so check up on us regularly. If you have any that you recommend get in touch by leaving a comment below, we would love to hear and set ourselves a new challenge.
Keep those brains ticking over the Christmas break. Merry Christmas!
