Free Easter Crypto-Riddles

Easter is just a couple days away, so these are probably a bit late for most teachers, but parents can get some use out of them.  And maybe teachers can print them up for some week-after-Easter fun.

Crypto-Riddles are puzzles that get kids practicing their basic math facts.  Once they find the answers to the facts, they can use the letters next to the answers to fill in the answer to the riddle at the top.  These types of puzzles are self checking.  And sometimes the riddles are even amusing!  :-)

I created 4 Easter themed Crypto-Riddles, one each for addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.  When you download the pdf file from Google Drive, you will get all of them together along with the answer keys.

And if your students enjoy these types of puzzles, I have more available in my TpT store.
Crypto-Riddles Addition Puzzles
Crypto-Riddles Subtraction Puzzles
Crypto-Riddles Multiplication Puzzles
Crytpo-Riddles Division Puzzles

Enjoy!

Easter Egg Puzzle Shapes Template

Today, I have some Easter Egg Puzzle Shapes to share with you.  I had in mind a little antonyms matching game to make with these, but I thought blank ones might be more useful for teachers and moms.  You can download the blank version as a .jpg file, then print them off and write in whatever your students need to practice.   

Alternatively, you can download a pre-filled version with the antonyms in them already.  This version requires Microsoft Word.  I have the 2013 version, so I don't know that it will work with other versions, but I have hopes!  In any case, if you download this version, you can edit the text boxes inside the eggs to show whatever you like.

If you download the Word version, it will look wonky.  It will open in protected view, and you will have to enable editing to get the formatting to straighten out.  A button will appear at the top of the page that will say "Enable Editing."  Once you push that, you can then edit the text boxes inside the eggs.

If you don't have Word, you can still download the .jpg blank version and import it into your favorite text editor.  This way you can also create text on top of the eggs and don't have to hand write them.

Some ideas for egg matching games:
     Math practice (5+10, 15)
     Synonyms (jump, hop)
     Color names and objects that are that color (red, apple)
     Clothes and body parts (socks, feet)
     States and capitals (Richmond, Virginia)
     Foreign Language practice (hola, hello)
     Anything that comes in pairs

Also, try printing these on pastel sheets of paper for a more Eastery feel.  I recommend cardstock for these puzzles.

If this gives you any trouble, feel free to shout out.  I can try to help.  This is the first time I've done an editable document, so it may not go totally smoothly.

Enjoy!

Kaleidoscope Sticker Mosaics

Last month I told you about The Stargazing Dot to Dot Book.  It's one of the activities that Ginny and I like to work on while we listen to stories before bed.  These kinds of drawing/crafting activities will not distract from your ability to listen and engage in a story.  Some studies have shown that doodling appears to enhance concentration!  (Try this article called "Keep Calm and Doodle On" if you'd like more information.)

So, of course, we found some amazing sticker mosaic books on B&N's bargain bin and snatched them up!  This Kaleidoscope Sticker Mosaics book is filled with Wild Creatures.  We also picked up a Neon Nature book.

Each page has the outline of one creature.  This one is a parrot.  If you look closely, you can see that the bird has been sectioned off into little triangular bits.  Each triangle (or other shape) has a letter and number in it. 

At the back of the book, you can find the sticker sheets.  Each of these stickers are lettered and numbered too. 

Place each sticker into its matching spot on the animal, and you will slowly build a beautiful picture!  I have giant sausage fingers, so I have found that using a tweezers to place the pieces really helps.  Ginny just goes for it!

Here's our completed parrot!

Since Ginny and I work on the same picture at the same time, we like to cut the sticker sheets up into smaller bits.  Usually, the pictures have 5 or 6 lettered sections, like A-E, and we cut them out that way. 

Here's a closeup of the flamingo.  You can see that we don't always get all the pieces to match up exactly and that leaves little white spaces between stickers.  Also, some of the smaller stickers and long, skinny triangular stickers don't quite fill the entire space and leave white showing.  This doesn't bother Ginny or I at all, but based on some reviews I read on Amazon, this is very annoying to some people.  So just be aware.

Here's a beautiful hummingbird!  Some of the stickers on this picture were SO tiny!  It creates a beautiful finished picture, but I don't think younger kids could manage these tiny pieces very well.

Ginny and I are both really enjoying this activity and have only one page left to do in this book.  Amazon does carry a Paint By Sticker series with loads of neat animal pictures to create.  We may have to buy some of those too!  There is also a Paint By Stickers Kids series which looks to have big stickers that little hands could manage better.

And in case you were wondering, currently Ginny and I are listening to the second book in a series called the Winternight Trilogy.  Book one was "The Bear and the Nightingale" and book two is "The Girl in the Tower", and they are written by Katherine Ardin.  Book three isn't out yet.  These books take place in old Russia and contain lots of Russian folklore.  I think they are very well written, and the reader from the Audible version is quite good!  But I would recommend them only for older teens or adults. 

Have fun listening to stories and creating little masterpieces together!

Limerick Letter Falls

In the spirit of St Patrick's Day, I've written some Limerick Letter Falls for you to try to solve.  Ginny does not like these!  They give her fits and starts.  But I enjoy solving them.  So I'm thinking they might be best for older kids, like teens and adults.  You do have to think about word formation, the subject of the poem, the format of a limerick, and other clues to really be able to solve these.  That just might be too many things for younger kids to keep in their minds or want to think about.  Puzzle lovers will enjoy tying all the clues together though!

Just click on the picture above, or here, to download the puzzle and the answer key.

Also note, I wrote the limericks myself, so there is no guarantee that they are any good...as limericks I mean.  They are very clean and kid friendly.

I hope you enjoy these, and if you do like them and want more....I've written some other bad limericks that I can also post!

New Puzzles Added to St Patrick's Day Sets

St Patrick's Day is right around the corner!  And to get in the spirit I have been writing some new puzzles to add to my old St Patrick's Day Sets in my store. 

The Lower Elementary Set (grades 1-3) got some Mini Dot to Dots, a Pixel Art, a Double Trouble, a second Hidden Word, and a Rebuses puzzler.

The Upper Elementary Set (grades 4-6) got a Pixel Art, a Double Trouble, a Hidden Words, an Acrostic, and a maze of Ireland!

Now each pack comes with 15 puzzles of various difficulty levels, which gives teachers more flexibility. 

I also have a bundle of the two (a 20% savings compared to buying them separately) for those who need 30 puzzles to choose from!

Hope your St Patrick's Day is totally GREEN!

Spanish Pets Matching Game

I've been working on a lot of Spanish language puzzles for my TpT store lately.  For the Pets pack I created a bonus matching game that is included in the puzzle set, and I thought I would share that on the blog too!  You can download the cards by clicking on the above picture or here.

The clip art for the game is from Zip-A-Dee-Do-Dah Designs.  She makes awesome clip art and I couldn't do this puzzle thing without her amazing designs!

For each pair of matching cards, you will find one in English and one in Spanish.  The pictures help kids visualize the matches better, but you should encourage them to read the words out loud as they turn them over so they get more practice with the Spanish words. 

Each card has a front...

And a back.  You will have to print them out, cut them, and then paste them together.  Glue stick would work, but I prefer double-sided tape.  You could also skip putting a back on them to save paper, but the cards are see-though even printed on cardstock. 

Once everything is assembled, shuffle the cards and lay them out in a nice grid.  I'm sure everyone is familiar with the rules for matching games, but I will review, just in case.  Players take turns flipping over two cards.  (This is where players should read out each card's name as they flip them.)  If a player finds a match, he or she keeps those two cards and gets another turn.  If no match is found, the cards are turned back over and the next player gets a turn.  Whoever has the most matches at the end of the game wins!

Just remember that for this particular game of macthing, the two cards that match will have the same picture, but one will be in English and one will be in Spanish. 

Ginny and I played a round to test it out.  We got a little confused by the fact that the kitten and cat were not a match!  I mean, there are two cats pictured right?!  Shouldn't they match?  Nope.  One is "el gato", or a cat, and one is a kitten.  You can also use the colors at the top of the cards to confirm a match.  But be aware that some of the cards might have similar colored tops.  For example, rabbit and mouse are both gray at the top.

You can also use these cards as flash cards for more language practice!

I hope you enjoy this game with your little language learners!