Printable Logic Puzzles for Kids

From LoveToKnow Kids

The benefits of printable logic puzzles for kids are many. Before you spend big bucks on puzzles, however, check out our choices. We’ve found lots of great websites with plenty of puzzles for kids of all ages.

Logic puzzles are fun, learning tools.

Benefits of Puzzles

Why choose puzzles for your kids? The benefits will last far after your child has crossed that stage and received her high school diploma. Puzzles are educational in many different areas. For younger kids, puzzles help them understand shapes, colors, numbers, and letters. Toddlers begin to see that there is a set pattern or logic to how pieces fit together. They become more observant as they look for shapes that match or fit together. Puzzles also help develop eye-hand coordination. Another important aspect associated with puzzles is socialization. Even the most reticent child will become more socialized as she works with others to solve the logic of a puzzle. Kids strategize and converse about the best way to complete the puzzle.

Find Printable Logic Puzzles for Kids Online

Logic puzzles for kids tease their brains, encouraging them to reach out and stretch their thought process as they try to solve each puzzle set before them. While there are many free children’s games online, there are also a variety of logic puzzles. Check out the following links!

Hoagie’s Gifted Education Page-This site offers plenty of brain teasers for kids of all ages, including “Brain Binders”, “Brain Boosters”, “Brain Food”, “Labyrinth”, and “Mastermind”.
The Kidz Page-This site, which is dedicated to kids, offers lots of great downloads in a variety of topics.
Puzzle Choice-While this site offers adult-sized puzzles, there is a section called “Kids Choice” that offers some great logic puzzles for your kids to enjoy.
Puzzlemakers-This is another great interactive site for kids of all ages.
Word Juxtapoz- This site features hundreds of the world's wackiest, funniest and brainiest icebreakers, energizers, creative thinking games, word puzzles, brain teasers riddles, cartoon idioms and proverbs and teaching materials!

Sudoku

What is Sudoku? According to Sudoku Central, Sudoku is a puzzle that is most frequently a 9×9 grid made up of 3×3 subgrids (called "regions"). Some cells already contain numbers, known as "givens". The goal is to fill in the empty cells, one number in each, so that each column, row, and region contains the numbers 1 through 9 exactly once. Each number in the solution therefore occurs only once in each of three "directions", hence the "single numbers" implied by the puzzle's title.

The attraction of the puzzle is that the completion rules are simple, yet the line of reasoning required to reach the completion may be difficult. Published puzzles often are ranked in terms of difficulty. This also may be expressed by giving an estimated solution time. While, generally speaking, the greater the number of givens, the easier the solution, the opposite is not necessarily true. The true difficulty of the puzzle depends upon how easy it is to logically determine subsequent numbers.

Sudoku, which was first published in New York in the late 1970s by the specialist puzzle publisher Dell Magazines in its magazine "Math Puzzles and Logic Problems", can be the perfect logic puzzle for kids. Sudoku develops kids’ logic skills, and children as young as 7 or 8 can enjoy working them. Kids don’t have to be math whizzes either. The following links will take you to some great Sudoku printable logic puzzles:

Activity Village-This site offers lots of great Sudoku puzzles.
Daily Sudoku-This site provides a free puzzle every day.
Surf Net Kids-Each day a new puzzle is provided at this site, along with an explanation.
Sudoku Essentials-This site features very simple Sudoku puzzles for the beginner, along with detailed instructions on how to play the game.

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