Best Math Puzzles For Kids Of All Ages

A puzzle is a game or problem that is designed to test a person’s knowledge or creativity. Of all the puzzles available, Math puzzles make up at least half. These problems require logic and calculation to reach the answer. Furthermore, they have specific rules or conditions that the solution must satisfy.

Math puzzles are a great way to increase student engagement and logical skills. Thus, we have listed down 11 interesting math puzzles for kids of all ages.

Origin of Math Puzzles

Math puzzles date back to the ancient Egyptians and Greeks. The Rhind papyrus is a great example of Egyptian related math puzzles. Similarly, over 2000 years ago, people of Ancient Greece also tried to crack math problems involving trisecting an angle, doubling the cube etc.

Types of Math puzzles

1. Math riddles

Riddles combine critical thinking with basic math skills. Thus, giving your kids math riddles to solve once in a while is quite useful. Some riddles are given in the table below.

Examples of math riddles with answers

Math riddleAnswerA grandfather, two fathers and two sons went to watch a movie together. Everyone purchased one movie ticket each. How many tickets did they buy in total?3 (the grandfather is also a father and the father is also a son)A duck was entrusted with $9, a spider with $36, a bee with $27. Based on this information, how much money should be given to a cat?$18 ($4.50 per leg)A zookeeper had 100 pairs of animals in her zoo. If two pairs of babies are born for each of the original animals, and then sadly 23 animals do not survive. Thus, how many animals do you have left in total?977 animal (100 x 2 = 200; 200 + 800 = 1000; 1000–23 = 977)A cell phone and case cost a total of $110. The mobile phone costs $100 more than the phone case. How much was the cell phone?$105 (not $110)Maria went to the store to purchase a loaf of bread for dinner. She had 2 quarters, 4 dimes, 3 nickels as well as 2 pennies. The total price of the bread was $0.82. She vowed to make sure she had 1 coin remaining after completing the purchase. Therefore, which coins did she have left after buying the loaf of bread?One of the quartersHow can you add eight 4s together so that the total adds up to 500?444 + 44 + 4 + 4 + 4 = 500Jennifer passed away of old age on her 26th birthday. How is this possible?She was born on February 29th of a leap yearIf 66 = 2, 8123=2, 999 = 3, 0=1, 8=2, 9696=4, 88=4 and 98=3 , then what does 816982 equal?Six, each circle is equal to one. For example, 6 has one circle, 8 has two circles in it.

2. Prodigy

Prodigy is a free, mathematical games platform that children love to use while practising math skills. Although in the traditional sense it is not a math puzzle, Prodigy uses several similar principles to help develop mathematical fluency and critical thinking skills. Furthermore, kids complete curriculum-aligned math questions to earn coins, which they can use to collect pets and go on quests. You can also deliver different math content to each student, help them prep for standardized tests and easily analyze their achievement data.

3. KenKen

KenKen is a popular, grid-based numerical puzzle. It looks like a mashup between a number crossword and sudoku grid. Invented by a famous Japanese math professor, Tetsuya Miyamoto, in 2004, it is featured daily in The New York Times as well as other newspapers. It challenges students to train their basic math skills while applying logic and critical thinking skills to obtain the answer.

KenKen was developed as a tool to improve math and logic skills in a fun as well as understandable way. The puzzle encourages independent thinking, concentration, emphasises trial and error as well as perseverance.

Originally posted on Best Math Puzzles!