Sum to Thirty Puzzle
I’ve been doing lots of blog reorganization lately which also happens to coincide with organizing some files on my computer and in my classroom. This has led me to discover a pile of puzzles that I created several years ago but have never got around to using with students or sharing here on my blog.
Today I want to share the Sum to Thirty puzzle with you to start rectifying this oversight.
If you’re interested in what I’ve been doing in terms of blog organization, I added several new pages today. While the pages may be new, the content is definitely not new. I’m just needing to find a better way to organize things that have downloadable files to make those files easier to share and for you to find.
If you want a bit of a blast from the past of my first year of teaching, you might want to check out the new pages I created for the Digit Cells Puzzle and A Mathematical Magic Trick.
This puzzle may look familiar because I’ve shared a similar Sum to Twenty puzzle with you before.
These puzzles are by Marcy Cook They were published in “THINK ABOUT IT! Mathematics Problems of the Day” by Creative Publications in 1982. The book is out of print and very hard to find copies of online.
In the Sum to Thirty Puzzle, students are given a 4 x 4 grid that already has six numbers filled in. Their task is to place the numbers 0-9 in the grid so that each row, diagonal, and column sums to 30.
If you like this magic square style puzzle, I also recommend checking out the Big Magic Puzzle.
Interested in even more puzzles? Check out my puzzles page!
Free Download of Sum to Thirty Puzzle
Sum to Thirty Puzzle (PDF) (3301 downloads )
Sum to Thirty Puzzle (Editable Publisher File ZIP) (1109 downloads )
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.
