2021 New Year's Maze

Here's to a better year!

TpT Digital Activities

TpT has a digital overlay feature! I have been busy adding the overlay to a bunch of products. To be fair, this feature has been available for a while, but I wasn't sure it would work with puzzle products. But then I got a review from a teacher who said they had used one of the puzzles digitally. I mulled it over for a while, then checked it out and realized that it can work! Not for everything, mind you, but for many things! 

So here is an example of the Crytpo-Riddles product with a digital overlay. This one in particular is Crypto-Riddles Subtraction. When you buy this product you get a PDF with 22 puzzles included and answer keys. Each page has 2 puzzles on it. You cut them in half so that your kids don't get overwhelmed with too much math practice at once! 

You also get the digital overlay included with the PDF! This allows you to assign any of the pages to your students to work on. Since it is built over the PDF, you will get 2 puzzles per page. But if you only want to assign one at a time, you can use the edit features to put a white box over the puzzle you don't want to assign at that time. TpT is allowing for a lot of flexibility with this feature! You can see above what the screen will look like for a student who is solving the puzzle. I like how these half sheets fit on the screen nicely without having to scroll. Students will have access to text boxes, pens, highlighters, and shapes. They can use these freely on the page, but they cannot delete whatever formatting is already in place. 

I sat in on a webinar explaining the features of this new TpT feature. It was very informative. You can watch it on youtube here, if you are interested.

So far, I have created overlays for Crypto-Animals, Crypto-Dinos, and Geometry Puzzles. I have added it to two Spanish puzzle products, Zoo #1 & School Supplies. And I am currently working on getting them added to all the Crypto-Riddles products. With these, I am also giving them a major facelift. They are some of the first products I made when I joined TpT, and I thought they could use an update! So those are taking a bit longer to complete. 

On a side note, I am also currently updating all the Winter puzzle packs. When those are done, I will create a grade 6 pack to go with it. I recently finished Fall and made a grade 6 pack for that too! I am working on updating all the seasons puzzle packs as they are a bit out-of-date as well. These puzzles wont have overlays as they are designed to be printed as little books. There are also a number of puzzles that just wouldn't work digitally, like coloring pages and such.

Hope your holidays are joyous and safe!

3 Free Winter Mish Mash Puzzles

Winter is near! It's actually a bit chilly here in Virginia. So for those who are stuck at home, from the virus or the cold weather, here are some free puzzles to pass help you pass a little bit of the time.

These are Mish Mash puzzles where words have been torn asunder, and it's your job to mash them back together! There are 3 different puzzles included in the download, one for 6 letters words, one for 8 letter words, and one for 10 letter words. Click on the picture above or here to download the puzzles from Google Drive.

Stay warm!

Logo Mix-Ups #2 - free puzzle

Here is another installment of Logo Mix-Ups! You can play this with your kids right from the computer screen in full color. Or download a copy here. You can print in color which has more visual clues, but black and white works fine too. I tried to find logos that most kids would be familiar with, but this second batch is a bit of a stretch.  Good luck!

You can find Logo Mix-Ups #1 here.

I didn't publish answers for these, but if you get stuck, scroll down this page....

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Logo Mix-Ups #1 Answers:

  Microsoft & Coca-Cola

  Chick-fil-A & Campbells

  NASA & AT&T

  Dominos Pizza & Starbucks Coffee

  Disney & Nike

  Subway & Netflix

  Amazon & Lego

Logo Mix-Ups #2 Answers:

  Yahoo & IHOP

  Levi's & 7 Eleven

  McDonalds & Burger King (the McD's arches are in the shape of a sideways 'B'!)

  Lay's & M&Ms

  Baskin Robbins & Oscar Mayer

  YouTube & Target

  Mtv & Wii

Thanksgiving Research Links

Here are links to some of the websites I used to research information when creating the puzzles for the Thanksgiving mini-books. Some of them are really interesting, particularly the video about luffa gourds! Do not miss that one!

What pilgrims wore

https://historyofmassachusetts.org/what-did-pilgrims-wear/

http://mayflowerhistory.com/clothing

Thanksgiving myths

https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/11/pilgrims-with-shoe-buckles-and-other-thanksgiving-myths/249010/

Thanksgiving foods

https://www.history.com/news/the-history-of-pumpkin-pie

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/what-was-on-the-menu-at-the-first-thanksgiving-511554/

All about Gourds

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/vegetables/vgen/cucurbit-plant-information.htm

https://www.harrisseeds.com/collections/gourd?variant=28917525841

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/science-decorative-gourd-season-friends-180970636/

Absolutely hilarious video about the uses of luffa gourds!

https://youtu.be/3kB5kcIMz5M

Are squashes fruits or vegetables?

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/squash-fruit-or-vegetable#uses

Difference between domestic and wild turkeys

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_turkey

https://www.grandviewoutdoors.com/turkey-hunting/domesticated-turkey-vs-wild-turkey-whats-difference

https://www.kidzone.ws/animals/turkey.htm

Thanksgiving Puzzle Mini-Books

Thanksgiving is right around the corner! To celebrate this year, I have created a mini-book full of puzzles for each grade from Kindergarten through 6th! You can download all of these books for free until Thursday night (Nov 12th, 2020). So if you need something to keep your kids busy this year, grab them while they're FREE! (It's a crazy year...take some free puzzles...it could help!) 

Each book comes with a cover page to color, 15 different puzzles and activities, and an answer key. You simply print the pages, cut them along the center line, and staple them together. It's very easy! And the kids will love it! Some of the puzzles might be challenging, but that's what older siblings and parents are for. Work on puzzles together and try to forget what's going on in the world outside your door. At least for a few minutes.

So click on the picture above or here to go to a list of the puzzle books. You do have to have a TpT account to download them, but it is free also. Grab all of them, and as your kids grow, you will be covered for years to come!

On Friday, they will all become paid products. They will cost $4 each. I will also offer a bundle at a 20% discount of all 7 books. 

Thanks for following The Puzzle Den and enjoy!

Fall Sunflower Pixel Art

Here is a new free puzzle to celebrate Fall! It's a Pixel Art activity. Kids must solve the math problems, then use their answers to color in the grid. The result should look something like the picture above! Just click on the picture, or here, to download from Google Drive.

Enjoy the beautiful leaves and the season!

Digital Missing Words 1-8

This is the digital version of the paper puzzles I released yesterday. Just click on the picture above. This will create a copy of the file in your Google Drive. You can then send the link to your students so they can solve it too! Everyone should get their own copy so they can put their own answers into the sheets. (Note: Anyone who wants to solve these must have a google account.)

These are Missing Words puzzles, which are pretty straightforward to solve. In the digital version, there are no picture clues, but the red boxes will turn green to indicate a correct answer. When the whole sheet is green, you've solved it! It also automatically fills in the blanks with the correct answers when they are chosen and colors the used answers red.

I hope you students enjoy these puzzles!

Missing Words 1-8 Free Puzzles

Missing Words are a type of word puzzle very similar to the Four-Fits puzzles, but these tend to be much easier to solve. These should be great for elementary level students! You can download this puzzle by clicking the picture above or here. This will get you a pdf file with 8 Missing Words puzzles. It also includes all answer keys and some hints for solving!

I do have a digital version (Google Sheets) of all 8 of these puzzles almost ready to go live, so if you prefer digital, it should be active by Friday!

Happy Solving!

Four-Fits 1 to 8 - Digital Versions

I have finally made all of the Four-Fits puzzles into digital versions using Google Sheets! You can grab a copy by clicking on the picture above or here. This should force you to make a copy to your computer. You can then send copies to your students so they can solve these puzzles on their computers! There are 8 sheets which you can access by the tabs at the bottom of the page. Each sheet has a different puzzle on it.

If you already downloaded puzzle 1 as a digital version, your kids should skip sheet 1 as it is the same puzzle.

Let me know if you run into any trouble. I'm still learning how to use this technology myself, but I will try to help!

Four-Fits #1 - Free digital version

I finally figured out how to use Google Sheets! So here is my first puzzle in a fully digital and solvable form. The boxes will turn green when the correct answer is inserted and the words in the word list will turn red when a word is checked off. I think it's about as cool as I can make it for now. It is a repeat of a previously released free puzzle, so if you have already printed and played, no need to solve it again! But if printing is a problem, then this is your puzzle!

You should be able to grab it from Google Sheets. Click on the photo above and it will prompt you to make a copy of this document. This allows you to edit it, which means you can fill in the blanks and such.

Good luck and let me know if you like this format and I will try to make more!

Four-Fits 7 and 8 - Free Puzzles

Here is a new batch of Four-Fits puzzles today. I tried to make them themed with Spring and Pets. Some of the words might be a bit of a stretch, but they should still be fun!

Enjoy!

Picto-Idioms #2 - Free Puzzle

Another free puzzle ready this evening! It's Picto-Idioms #2. Enjoy!

Creepy Crawlies Crossword - Free Puzzle

Today's free puzzle is a visual crossword. Can your students identify these creepy but amazing little creatures? There is a word list provided to help with spelling and identification. There are extra words included...just to add a little extra challenge!

The clips for this puzzle come from two awesome Teachers Pay Teachers stores, The Painted Crow and David's Simple Teaching. Both of these stores provide realistic clip art that is clear and fun! So thanks guys!

Enjoy!

The Picto-Scramble Challenge Levels

The Picto-Scramble Challenge Levels are here! I was only going to make one challenge level page, but it turned out to be a little too terribly challenging! So I made a second one that is challenging but not brain-frying-ly so. Challenge Level #5 above will have some hard words in it, but should still be within the capabilities of most strong spellers.

While Super Challenge Level #6 almost beat me and I wrote the darn thing! My daughter thought these puzzles were fun until I gave her this one. It sat on her desk for many days, unsolved. We ended up working on it together, and two brains had trouble with it! So I don't expect all students to even know all these words...some of them are hard! But I thought it might still be interesting for some, so I am putting it out there. Definitely see if your kids can conquer Challenge #5 before giving them this page!

Good luck!

Four-Fits 5 and 6 - Free Puzzles

Four-Fits 5 & 6 are now ready for solving! Download by clicking the picture above!

Easter Pixel Art - Free Coloring Page

This is actually a redo of an old puzzle I created a few years ago. In the original version, the squares are too small, so I've redone it with bigger squares, which should make it easier to color. Click on the picture above to download a copy!

Hoppy Easter!

U to Z (except X) Mini Fill Ins - Free Puzzles

The last set of Alphabet Mini Fill Ins is now available! This includes U to Z, except for X. There are just not many words that start with X that kids will recognize and know how to spell!

I have also generated 2 Word Lists. The one above has all the word lists needed for all 25 puzzles.

While this word list includes extra words for each letter, maybe making it a little more challenging! I made these word lists because some of the words used are pretty tough to spell. So you can print just one copy of whichever list you like and use it for all 6 pages of Alphabet Mini Fill Ins.

You can find the other puzzles posted here:
A to D
E to H
I to L
M to P
Q to T

Stay safe!

Free Easter Mazes

Easter is only one week away! Here are a couple mazes to get your kids started on their celebrations! There is one easy maze and one harder maze. The harder maze is more of a medium maze, but if your kids like mazes, I don't think they'll quibble.

Just click on either picture above to download both in one .pdf file. The answers are on the last two pages.

I've also put all my Easter Mini-Books on sale for half off in my TpT Store. You can grab them up for only $1.50 each from now until April 17th. The bundle of K through 6 is on sale for $8.40. These bundles are great for those who suddenly find themselves home with children of many different ages!

Each of these mini-books contains 15 different puzzles for each grade level. There's some coloring, visual puzzles, math, science and language too! Answer keys are included in the back of each book. You just need to print the pages, cut each page in half and then staple them together. They'd make a cool addition to any Easter basket!

Also, TpT is having a site-wide sale from April 6th to the 7th. You'll be able to get up to 25% off on your purchases with participating sellers. You do need to use the promotion code FORYOU.

Enjoy the mazes!

Q to T Mini Fill Ins - Free Puzzles

The second to last set of Alphabet Mini Fill Ins is ready! The letter Q will be a bit challenging, I think. The 'quail' and 'quiver' picture may cause some frustration as these aren't super common words. My tester also thought the 'sneaker' was really tricky because she thought it was just a shoe. As soon as I finish the last page (U to Z), I will put together a set of word lists that students can use along with the Fill Ins, in case they can't think of what something is called or have trouble with the spellings.

Happy solving!

Mixed Up Signs - Free Puzzle

Here is an oldie but goodie! This is a puzzle I created several years ago. You can find it in the Freebies/Fun Friday section of my blog (or click the picture to just see this puzzle). These were little puzzle packs I put together for older students. There are 10 sets of them available, and even though the puzzles were written in 2013, they are still a lot of fun! So check those out, if you have some bored older students.

I decided to resurrect this puzzle because it is a great visual puzzle that can be solved right off the computer screen. So no need to print at home. I don't know about everyone else, but I am on my last packet of printing paper right now, so I'm trying not to print too much!

Also, this is one of my favorites! Ginny and I already had a laugh over the "Do Not Stop" and "Dead Children at Play" signs this morning. It's a fun puzzle and also informative as there is information on sign color and shape at the bottom of the page that are also helpful clues.

I hope this helps brighten your day!

Four-Fits 3 and 4 - Free Puzzles

Four-Fits 3&4 are now available to download and print! Don't forget to snag your copy of Four-Fits 1&2, if you didn't get it already. In my previous post, I said that these puzzles were probably best for older students, but I really encourage you to try them with your younger students too. They might not know some of these words, but will be able to solve these with a little help from their older siblings or parents. I think these are really fun!

Some hints for solving Four-Fits:
1) There is a picture clue per puzzle to get things started.
2) Cross off words you've already used, and that will help to narrow down choices as you go along.
3) Never solve in order! Always skip around and try different words. Some are easier than others.

Hope your home-educated students are enjoying these puzzles!