About

Welcome to The Puzzle Den.  I started this blog so that I could share my love of puzzles with all of you!  I believe that puzzles are an invaluable educational tool as well as a whole lot of fun!  So through this blog, I hope to offer useful tips on using puzzles in education.  I also want to share with you the plethora of puzzles that leak out of my brain.

You'll find a lot of free puzzles here on the blog, but you can find more puzzles at my Teachers Pay Teachers store also called The Puzzle Den.  For the store I write math practice puzzles and holiday themed puzzles.

A little about me:  I am a homeschool mom with 2 kids.  I've been on this journey for 7 years now and enjoying it very much!  I graduated from college in 1995 with a BA in Math and Computer Science from VA Wesleyan College.  I worked in No VA for 5 years as a Software Engineer until I decided to stay home with my kids.  As much as I adore my kids and love teaching them, I look forward to returning to school and the nine-to-five grind someday.  But for now, I teach and learn with my kids and I write puzzles!  Every day is an adventure!


9 comments:

MCalado said...

Hello!
I'm a french teacher of English.
I find your word compass puzzle extremely interesting but could you tell me how you built them because I can't find a site where to generate some.
Thanks a lot for your help.

The Puzzle Den said...

Hi Marina,
I generate all my puzzles with pencil and paper! Then I use Photoshop to format them for publication. I am not aware of any generator that can create a Word Compass style puzzle. I know that there are word search and crossword generators out there...oh, and sudoku. You would have to create and format other types of puzzles yourself. It is a lot of work, but once you have created the framework, you can use that as a template. I hope this helps and good luck creating your own Word Compass puzzles!
Les

Unknown said...

I am a GT teacher and just discovered your site. I love your puzzles!

The Puzzle Den said...

Thanks! I hope you find plenty of fun puzzles for your amazing students!

Mint said...

Hello,
Where do you get your clip art from? Is it Zip-a-dee? Thanks so much.

The Puzzle Den said...

I do buy much of my clip art from Zip-a-dee-doo-dah-Designs!
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Zip-a-dee-doo-dah-Designs

Anonymous said...

I'm an English teacher in France and your puzzles are amazing for ESL learners at all levels. I can use them as a group work activity, solo activity, research activity and so much more. Great resource and it's fantastic that it's free. Thank you.

Anonymous said...

I love your site! I am a math teacher and use your puzzles often as a warm up or activity for them to quietly do when they are done with work. Thank you so much for posting your puzzles. Truly a gift to me and my students. They love them!

The Puzzle Den said...

Aww! Thanks so much! It's always nice to know that the puzzles are being used and loved!