Farm Animal Square Edge Matching Puzzle
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Can you rebuild the 3 x 3 square so that snowflake images are formed in this farm animal square edge matching puzzle?
This puzzle is just one of many printable edge-matching puzzles that I have created for my own classroom and am sharing with you!
Be sure to check out my entire collection of free hands-on puzzles.
This specific puzzle was a special request of my five-year-old son. When I was making some holiday versions of this puzzle, he asked for a farm animal themed puzzle. And here we are!
Looking for more farm-themed activities and puzzles for your classroom? Here’s a few examples of the other farm animal activities I have created.
Puzzle Instructions
Cut apart the provided pieces and assemble them into a 3×3 square so that the puzzle pieces match along each edge to form farm animals.
Options for Printing and Prepping the Puzzle
There are several options for printing and prepping this edge-matching puzzle.
The easiest way to distribute this puzzle to students is to print the page with the puzzle pieces, have each student cut out their own pieces, and let them build their square grid on their desks.
If you plan on reusing the puzzle pieces from year to year, I highly suggest running the pages through a laminator first to make the pieces more durable.
MATH = LOVE RECOMMENDS…
A laminator is a MUST-HAVE for me as a math teacher! I spent my first six years as a teacher at a school with a broken laminator, so I had to find a way to laminate things myself.
I’ve had several laminators over the years. I currently use a Scotch laminator at home and a Swingline laminator at school.
I highly recommend splurging a bit on the actual laminator and buying the cheapest laminating pouches you can find!
If you are giving each student their own copy of the puzzle, this is entirely unnecessary. Just print on some pretty, colorful paper and GO!
If you are looking to display the resulting work or if you would like students to keep their work in a folder or notebook, you might want to print the next page in the PDF file which includes a 3 x 3 puzzle grid for students to build their solution upon or glue their pieces on after solving.
In my opinion, this page is most useful for those who are opting to display or keep the resulting solved puzzle. If you are reusing the puzzle pieces with different classes, I would just put the puzzle pieces in bags and forego the printable template.
If you are working with younger students or with a population of students who needs a bit of starting place for their puzzle solving, there is another version of the grid in the file that shows which puzzle piece belongs in the top left corner of the square.
Including this piece of information will drastically reduce the amount of time it takes older students to solve the puzzle, so I would be very discerning about whether your students need this scaffolding or not.
Ultimately, you know best what your students need. When I first started sharing puzzles I created for my classroom 8 years ago, I never imagined that they would be used in so many diverse classrooms around the world.
Jumbo Version of Puzzle
I printed copies of the puzzle and hung it in a magnetic pocket from Charles Leonard on my dry erase board at the front of my classroom. This way, students can grab a copy of the puzzle and take it back to their desk to work on it.
There are also jumbo-sized puzzle pieces available to print at the end of the PDF file. These can be printed so students can work on the puzzle in small groups.
Disc magnets can be applied to the pieces so they can be hung on a magnetic whiteboard or other magnetic surface.
Free Download of Farm Animal Square Edge Matching Puzzle
This Farm Animal Square Edge Matching Logic Puzzle is available to download as a PDF file. As a result of the program I used to make the puzzle, there is no editable version. Sorry for any inconvenience.
Click here to Download
Farm Animal Square Edge Matching Puzzle (PDF)
319 downloads – 184.24 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!
