Colouring Ukraine (place value)

Colouring Ukraine (place value)

Coloring Ukraine (MathPickle 2022) This Feb 2022 activity is rooted in sad world events, but it simultaneously celebrates the tradition of beautiful map colouring puzzles.  Here is a map to colour (you’ll need to choose “File” then “Make a...
Glue (addition, geometry)

Glue (addition, geometry)

Glue (MathPickle 2021) This geometric square-gluing puzzle is one of my best from 2021. The rules are simple (but probably best seen on the video rather than read): 1) Start with two 1×1 squares labelled “1.” 2) Glue a new square labelled with one...
Coins in a Row (addition, game)

Coins in a Row (addition, game)

Coins in a Row (Peter Winkler 2003) This is not an original MathPickle puzzle. It’s from Mathematical Puzzles: A Connoisseur’s Collection (163 pages, 2003) by Peter Winkler. Spoiler Alert! The solution is in the video below. Teaching is an...
Three Color Triangle Puzzles (logic, algorithm)

Three Color Triangle Puzzles (logic, algorithm)

Three Color Triangle Puzzles (MathPickle 2021) This logic puzzle is inspired by the brilliant Mathologer video below. The tricks presented above are proved below.  Playing with these puzzles is good for upper elementary, but younger kids can get a lot of value from...
Rainbow Sudoku (logic puzzle)

Rainbow Sudoku (logic puzzle)

Rainbow Sudoku (MathPickle 2021 – Inspired by Amar Sodhi) In regular sudoku and pentomino sudoku numbers are given as clues. Each region needs exactly one copy of each number. That’s true whether the regions are 3×3 squares or pentominoes. In Rainbow...