Puzzles and Brain Teasers - Full List

Build logical thinking skills with these addition square puzzles.

Challenge students with these mind-bending, critical thinking puzzles.

Assemble a cipher disk and use it to decode facts about animals, explorers, plants, and other science/social studies topics.

Students love to learn with these foldable origami cootie catcher (aka Fortune Teller) games.

This page has a nice selection of "connect the dots" puzzles. These are great for reviewing basic counting, alphabet, roman numerals, and skip counting.

Look carefully for items hidden within the playful scenes.

Build vocabulary and critical thinking skills with these analogy worksheets.

Penelope Peabody is lost somewhere in the USA. Can you tell where she is? Use the 50 states worksheet puzzles on a daily or weekly basis.

First find the answers to the math problems and plug the answers into the puzzles.

To find the answer to a funny riddle, solve the math problems. Skills include division, multiplication, subtraction, addition, place value, roman numerals, and many more.

Plot the ordered pairs on the coordinate grid and connect the points to reveal mystery pictures.

Solve the subtraction, addition, division, and multiplication facts to reveal a mystery picture.

The teacher posts a clue each day of the week. Students read the clues and try to figure out the mystery number.

Kids love these math puzzle match games! Try them in your learning centers. Topics include addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, time, money and more!

Learn Sudoku with these easy, fun puzzles.

Challenge your students with these printable tangram puzzles. These worksheets are made specially for your 4-inch classroom tangram sets. Basic and advanced levels available.

Weekly "What Am I?" challenge puzzles for kids of all ages.

Students change one letter in each word on the puzzle to make a new word. These are great for teaching phonics, vocabulary, and critical thinking.

Connect the letters in these maze puzzles to make words from the list. Then find a science fact written in the unused letters.

We have lots of non-holiday word search puzzles for students of all ages.

A full index of all Math, ELA, Spelling, Phonics, Grammar, Science, and Social Studies worksheets found on this website.

Puzzles and brainteasers are excellent tools for enhancing learning in elementary school English Language Arts (ELA), as they engage students in fun, interactive ways while sharpening critical thinking, problem-solving, and language skills. Word-based puzzles like word ladders, word searches, and crossword puzzles help students expand their vocabulary, improve spelling, and develop pattern recognition. For example, word ladders require students to change one letter at a time to create new words, fostering an understanding of phonics and spelling rules. Word searches, on the other hand, help students recognize letter patterns and enhance visual scanning skills, both of which contribute to improved reading fluency.

Beyond word puzzles, brainteasers like hidden pictures, tangrams, and mazes stimulate cognitive development by encouraging students to think critically and strategically. Activities like Sudoku and logic puzzles help students develop reasoning skills, which are key to solving complex problems not only in math but also in reading comprehension and writing. These puzzles require students to look for patterns and relationships, helping them develop a deeper understanding of how things connect—skills that are directly transferable to understanding sentence structure and narrative flow in ELA. Tangrams and hidden picture activities also promote spatial reasoning, which is useful for understanding directions and visualizing story elements.

Incorporating puzzles and brainteasers into the classroom provides a fun, low-pressure way for students to practice essential academic skills. Teachers can use the activities that Super Teacher Worksheets provides as warm-ups, transitions, or enrichment exercises, giving students the opportunity to challenge themselves while also building skills in language arts and beyond. Additionally, puzzles promote perseverance, creativity, and concentration, teaching students the value of patience and persistence when working through difficult tasks. By sharpening both their language and critical thinking skills, students develop the cognitive tools necessary for academic success across subjects.