Attention all Math Nerds! Or, you know, anyone who loves a good puzzle. This week’s #OneNewThing is for you!

I recently came across a fun website called SolveMe Puzzles that has a TON of free games for students (or the nerdy adult) to play. All of the games require players to solve a math-based puzzle. Currently, the website has three types of puzzles:

Mobiles

In this game, players are asked to find the numbers that will balance the scale. This is a GREAT game for introducing equations in a fun, visual way.  Over time, the puzzles get much more advanced and challenging.

Who Am I?

In this game, players have to determine the number based on the clues given. It starts out simple, with numbers between 0-9, but eventually moves to numbers in hundreds place and includes equations.

Mystery Grid

Mystery grid is very similar to Sudoku – but with more Math! As you can see in the GIF below, the early levels are simply about placing the numbers in the correct order. In later games, players have to find the appropriate placement for the numbers while solving equations. Fun, right?!

Build Your Own

One other great feature is the ability for players to build their own games. Within each game, players can select to “play” or “build”. By building their own games, students will be challenged to “backward plan” and engineer their own math games.

Ready to play? Visit the SolveMe Puzzles website!

In the Classroom

As always, I try to bring my #OneNewThing back to applicable classroom activities and strategies. Here are some ways you could use the SolveMe Puzzles in your classroom:

• Bell Ringer Activities – These puzzles would be a fun and challenging activity for students to complete as they are coming into class. Students love playing games, so this is a fun way to get them interacting with math in a visual way.
• Introduction to Equations – Do you teach equations in your classroom? This is a fantastic tool to introduce equations to students! Before they have learned algorithms for equations, help them visualize the balance through the “Mobile” puzzles. Then, challenge them to solve more advanced equations in the “Mystery Grid” puzzles.
• Student vs. Student Challenges – Invite your students to create their own games and trade them with a partner. Can their partner solve their games? Did they make it to easy? Too hard? Students will be immediately engaged when they have this extra buy-in to Math!

As I mentioned before, students love to play games – so let’s trick them to love Math with these fun puzzles! 🙂

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Have you heard of SolveMe Puzzles and/or used them in your classroom? What do other classroom uses you see for these puzzles? Share in the comment below!