Post-It Note Puzzle
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Today I want to share one of my favorite puzzles that I used with my students last year. It involves one of my favorite things in the world, Post It Notes!
I learned about this puzzle from Chris Smith‘s amazing maths newsletter. If you’re not signed up to receive his newsletters, you need to do so ASAP. Each one is full of fun puzzles, teaching ideas, and so much more.
Here are the instructions for signing up:
The featured puzzle from Volume 373 definitely caught my eye.
I recreated it with actual post-it notes on my dry erase board.
My students were instantly drawn in. At first, they assumed the puzzle would be super easy. After struggling for a few minutes with no success, some students started doubting the puzzle’s solvability. I loved that when a student thought he/she had arrived at a solution that it could be verified by actually moving the post-it notes.
Some classes did manage to arrive at a solution. Others gave up. I used this puzzle as a random time filler last year. This year, I’m considering incorporating it into my first week of school activities.
Puzzle Solutions
I intentionally do not make answers to the printable math puzzles I share on my blog available online because I strive to provide learning experiences for my students that are non-google-able. I would like other teachers to be able to use these puzzles in their classrooms as well without the solutions being easily found on the Internet.
However, I do recognize that us teachers are busy people and sometimes need to quickly reference an answer key to see if a student has solved a puzzle correctly or to see if they have interpreted the instructions properly.
If you are a teacher who is using these puzzles in your classroom, please send me an email at sarah@mathequalslove.net with information about what you teach and where you teach. I will be happy to forward an answer key to you.
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, as fun activities in their workplace, or as a birthday party escape room.
More Number Puzzles
- Triangle Chain Puzzle
- Product Square Puzzle
- Nines Challenge Puzzle
- Square Sums Puzzle
- Divisibility Puzzle
- Eights Challenge
- Lines of 3 Puzzle
- Equal Sums Puzzle
- U Sums Puzzle
- Sevens Number Challenge
- Magic H Puzzle
- 2024 Challenge: Yearly Number Challenge
- 12-25 Christmas Number Challenge
- Sixes Number Challenge
- Fives Challenge Puzzle
- 3-1-4 Pi Day Number Challenge
- Fours Challenge Puzzle
- Threes Challenge
- Twos Challenge
- 10 Free Printable Math Challenges to Enjoy
- Twosday Challenge Activity
- Strimko Puzzles in the Classroom
- Rotated Square Puzzle
- Make 30 Puzzles
- Which Side of the Line Numbers Puzzle
- Simple Sums Puzzle
- Sums Puzzle
- Twenty Cubes Puzzle
- Number Strips Puzzle
- Pips Puzzle
- Triangle Sums Puzzle
- In a Row Puzzle
- Square Sudokus
- Magic Square 15 Puzzle
- Make It Pythagorean Puzzles
- Measurement Puzzlers
- Make Six Puzzle – Number Challenge
- See and Say Sequence Puzzle
- Pattern 15 and Pattern 30 Puzzles
- Sum to Twenty-One Puzzle
- Number Ball Puzzles by Naoki Inaba
- 9-10-11-12 Challenge
- Hidato Puzzles
- Plus Times Puzzles
- Three Numbers Puzzle
- Equation Puzzle
- Sum to Thirty Puzzle
- The Splice is Right Puzzle
- Up to Specs Puzzle
- Equation Rotation Puzzle
- Tic Tac Total Puzzle
- Only Takes and Adds Puzzle
- 20 x 9 Challenge
- Big Magic – A Printable Magic Square Puzzle
- TIGO Puzzles
- Step Puzzles by Naoki Inaba – A Logic Puzzle for Introducing Arithmetic Sequences
- Is it Possible Divisibility Puzzle
- Genius Blocks
- Nine Squares Puzzle
- Twelve Envelopes Puzzle
- Twos to Nines Challenges
- Factor Tree Puzzles Inspired by Dr. Harold Reiter
- Hidden Equation Puzzles
- Sum to Twenty Puzzle by Marcy Cook
- Maximize the Sum Puzzle
- Strimko Logic Puzzles Review
- Perfect Square Puzzle
- Post-It Note Puzzle
- How Far Can YOU Climb? – An Activity by Frank Tapson
- Angle Mazes by Naoki Inaba
- The 5-4-3-2-1 Challenge
- Japanese Logic Puzzles for the Secondary Math Classroom
- Area Maze Puzzles from Naoki Inaba
- KenKen In The Classroom
- Futoshiki Puzzles
- Petals Around the Rose
- Hashi Puzzles
- Shikaku Puzzles
- Nonogram Puzzles
- Four Fours Challenge Activity
- 31-derful Puzzle
- Digit Cells Puzzle
So does "remove" count as "moving" a note? Or do they have to move and stay in the problem. Honestly I'm also stuck on moving just one…but I'll keep working on it. thanks! I signed up for the newsletter too.
Remove doesn't count as moving. Think about moving to make an exponent. Or flipping over as you move. It really is a tricky question!
Sarah, do you have a link to a hint or solution? This puzzle looks great for my class!
Possible Solutions: https://twitter.com/mathequalslove/status/893946825992019968
I love this kind of stuff with my middle schoolers! Thank you for the newsletter sign up info!
You're Welcome!
I can figure it out if I can remove one post it note. But all the numbers together equal 39 so I don't see how you can get each line to equal the same number. 39 isn't divisible by 2! Help!!
You have to get tricky. Use exponents. Or flip a post-it note over, etc.
Once I read your note about exponents or flipping over I got it immediately. I wonder what hint I could give to students.
can you share the solution.
I was looking for something for this morning and don’t have time to solve.