Easy Sudoku Puzzles
Sudoku puzzles teach important critical thinking, problem solving and organization skills, and these easy sudoku puzzles are a great way for beginners to understand the concept.
Starting with the most basic 3x3 sudoku grid and
using cutouts that are easily rearrangeable, kids can learn how to play
sudoku and experiment with the position of the images without
frustration.
Deductive reasoning skills are developed as they learn to use the process of elimination to reduce the overwhelming number of possibilities to only one or two, and then test each one to see which answer works.
Children also learn to pay attention to detail as they are continually checking their work to be sure everything still complies with the rules after they add something new.
The Rules of Sudoku
The rules of sudoku are easy:
- Each row across and column down needs one of each image.
- There can't be more than one of any image in any row across or column down.
To print, simply click on the printable of your choice. This will open the file in PDF format. Please keep all copyright information intact.
Tips for Teaching Sudoku to Kids:
- Teach kids to start with a row or column that has only one or two empty spaces to fill. Ask them "What are the things that are not already in this row?" This narrows down the possibilities.
- Then try out each of the possibilities, to see if there are any conflicts in the other direction. This teaches the process of elimination.
- After you fill that box, ask them how doing that affects any other rows/columns--is there now another row/column that only has one or two empty boxes? This will help you determine your next move.
- Another strategy is to work with one picture at a time, placing all the pieces you can before moving on to the next picture. Ask "If you only have one apple left to use, where can it go?"
When your kids have got the hang of the easy 3x3 sudoku puzzles, they can move up to these 4x4 grids.
These last two sudoku puzzles are a bit more challenging!
Color Sudoku has your child arranging the pictures so that there is only one YELLOW item in each row/column. However, all 4 yellow items are different! This can be tricky for some students to grasp, but is a great brain skill for them to develop.
Finally, when your student is ready for an easy Number Sudoku puzzle, they can practice on this simple sudoku game.
