26 Square Search Puzzles
Fitting in some addition practice with this collection of Square Search Puzzle Worksheets with a sum of 26 – perfect for ringing in the 2026 New Year!
This addition puzzle is just one of many free printable square search puzzles that I have created and am sharing with you!
Be sure to check out my hundreds of other free printable logic puzzles!
Looking for more New Years Puzzles and Activities for celebrating the beginning of 2026? Here’s a few examples of the other 2026-themed New Years Resources I have created.
What is a Square Search Puzzle?
A square search puzzle is a puzzle made of a rectangular grid where each cell of the grid is filled with a number. The goal of the puzzle is to identify 2×2 squares within the grid which sum to a target number.
Here’s an example of a 100 Square Search puzzle where the goal is to find exactly six 2×2 squares which sum to the number 100.
Puzzle Source
These Square Search Puzzles were coded by me in Python, but they were inspired by a collection of square puzzles I found on a French website recently. These puzzles involved finding a 2×2 square which sums to 50 or 100. The PDF credits http://www.rvtki.org (now defunct) as the original source of the puzzles.
The Internet Archive shows that this website was once ran by Hervé Baudier. I could not find out much more than that. I also found an additional collection of this style of logic puzzle on another French website.
Since I already have another set of puzzles called Square Puzzles, I decided to rename these “Square Search Puzzles.”
If anyone knows more about the origin of these puzzles that I have only ever found mentioned on French websites, I would love to have that information so I can update this post!
26 Square Search Puzzle Instructions
Find and shade six different 2×2 squares within the provided square grid so that the sum of the numbers in each 2×2 square is 26.
There are ten different versions of the puzzle with one puzzle per page.
Files for 26 Square Search Puzzle
These 26 Square Search Puzzles are available as both a PDF file and as an editable PowerPoint file. The PPT is in a zip folder, so it will need to be unzipped.
26 Square Search Puzzles (PDF)
3 saves – 86.73 KB
PPT (in ZIP Folder)
Click here to SAVE the file to your device.26 Square Search Puzzles (PPT in ZIP)
0 saves – 518.75 KB
Puzzle Solutions
Puzzle solutions are available on a password-protected solution page. I do not openly post the puzzle answer keys because one of my goals as a resource creator is to craft learning experiences for students that are non-google-able. I want teachers to be able to use these puzzles in their classrooms without the solutions being found easily on the Internet.
Please email me at sarah@mathequalslove.net for the password to the answer key database featuring all of my printable puzzles and math worksheets. I frequently have students emailing me for the answer key, so please specify in your email what school you teach at and what subjects you teach. If you do not provide these details, I will not be able to send you the password.
Not a teacher? Go ahead and send me an email as well. Just let me know what you are using the puzzles for. I am continually in awe of how many people are using these puzzles with scouting groups, with senior adults battling dementia, or as fun activities in their workplace. Just give me enough details so I know you are not a student looking for answers to the puzzle that was assigned as their homework!
