Place Value Puzzle

Have you had students struggle with learning place value?

For many younger learners, place value isn’t easy. Once place value is introduced into the curriculum, they have to learn an abstract mathematical concept. To understand it, they need to change the way they think about numbers. When they learn how to count, numbers have a single value: 2 = 2, 4 = 4, and so on. But with place value, a 2 or 4 in the tens or hundreds place takes on a whole new meaning!

Since place value can get tricky, I wanted to create a fun way for students to practice. Once I came up with this Place Value Puzzle Activity, I knew I had a winner. These puzzles are engaging for kids and help them build key math skills.

Why I love puzzles for learning place value

The best way to help students learn difficult concepts isn’t piling on the worksheets. They can get boring, repetitive, and make students feel even more defeated than when they started. Instead, I MUCH prefer games!

Games don’t have to be all about having fun. The best games to use in the classroom combine practice with something kids enjoy doing. Since some students need a bit of extra practice to get place value down, games are the perfect way to go about it.

Place value puzzles feel like a game, but help students understand several different forms of three digit numbers. They let students practice connecting the dots between the numbers they know and hundreds, tens, and ones. If you have yet to try place value puzzles in your classroom, I think you and your students are going to love my monster-themed Place Value Puzzle Activity!

What’s included in the Place Value Puzzle activity?

This printable resource includes 18 different puzzles for plenty of practice. Students can mix up a few or all of the pieces to customize their challenge. The puzzles help students reinforce standard form, expanded notation/expanded form, hundreds, tens, and ones, and base 10 blocks.

The activity also includes two recording sheets to assess students’ learning. This way, you can easily take note of which students are still struggling with place value to help them later.

How can I use the Place Value Puzzle in my classroom?

One of my favorite things about this place value puzzle activity is its versatility! You can use this resource in a few different ways in the classroom. If you need inspiration to incorporate this activity into your curriculum, here are a handful of my personal favorites:

●       Early finisher activity — Got a few early finishers in your class? Let them keep busy with these monster puzzles! I love to keep these out on a table or in an early finisher basket for my students to grab whenever they need. Since it’s a game, it feels like a reward, but they still get some extra place value practice in. Once they know how to complete the puzzles, they can work quietly and independently while the rest of the class finishes up.

●       Math centers — These place value puzzles are an awesome activity to put out on center tables. They’re everything a great math center activity should be: easy to complete independently and helpful for building key math skills. Since there are 18 puzzles, students likely won’t get bored or finish before their center time is up.

●       Partner activity — I love classroom activities that build teamwork. Although math is usually practiced independently, this resource lets students work together to solve a place value puzzle. It will help them bond through exercising their teamwork skills.

Tips for using your puzzles in the classroom:

To get the most out of this resource, I want to share a few tips that I’ve found helpful:

●       Laminate your puzzles — Laminating is the key to using an activity for as long as possible. It not only saves paper, but it saves you the time and effort of reprinting and preparing the puzzle for future classes. Plus, accidents happen in class, and lamination protects any liquids or other stuff from messing up the puzzles. I highly recommend laminating yours so that you get the most out of the resource.

●       Print on colored paper — Colorful printing paper is my not-so-secret weapon for making low-prep activities stand out! I used bright pink and green paper to print out this game, but you can use any color you’d like. Since there is a monster theme, printing them on “spooky” colors like orange, green, and purple would look great.

Conclusion

Teaching place value is made easy and fun, thanks to these Place Value Puzzles! Students love the little monsters, and teachers love that they help kids master this important math concept. Use them as early finishers, math center activities, or partner activities!

Are your students struggling with learning place value? What’s your favorite way to teach place value in the classroom?