Puzzles and Riddles

Learning Goals:

  • Multiply and divide whole numbers using a variety of tools and strategies
  • Determine the missing numbers in equations
  • Develop and apply reasoning skills to make and test math predictions

The Challenge:

The goal of these Kakooma puzzles is to find which number in each section is a product of two other numbers found there (which number can be an answer by multiplying two others?) Once you have found the product in each section, use all 4 products to create 1 final addition puzzle and solve to get your final answer (which of the special numbers from each section is the sum of two of the others?) Here is a solved example:

A completed example of a two-part multiplication kakooma puzzle. The first part has four square sections containing four numbers each. The left section containing 6, 6, 30, and 36 is labelled with the solution 6x6=36 and its number 36 circled in red. The top section containing 2, 6, 12, and 15 is labelled with the solution 6x2=12 and its number 12 circled in red. The right section containing 4, 8, 32, and 40 is labelled with the solution 8x4=32 and its number 32 circled in red. The bottom section containing 3, 8, 16, and 24 is labelled with the solution 8x3=24 and its number 24 circled in red. The second part of the puzzle is made of four boxes containing 12, 24, 32, and 36. It is labelled with the solution 24+12=36 and its number 36 circled in green. The final answer box contains the number 36.

Now, try solving these trickier kakooma puzzles on your own, or solve some online at Gregtangmath.com/kakooma.

An unsolved two part kakooma puzzle, with each part made up of 5 connected pentagons. The first part has five pentagonal sections containing five numbers each. The top-middle section contains 7, 8, 9, 72, and 81, the top-right section contains 5, 6, 7, 28, and 35, the bottom-right section contains 7, 8, 9, 42, and 63, the bottom-left section contains 4, 5, 7, 21, and 28, and the top-left section contains 6, 9, 10, 48, and 54. The second part has five smaller, blank connected pentagons, labelled a-e, followed by an arrow pointing to the final answer box.

An unsolved two part kakooma puzzle, with each part made up of 9 connected squares. The first part has eight 3-by-3 square sections containing 9 numbers each. The top-left section contains 35, 7, 9ths , 4, 42, 5, 10, 30, and 8. The top-middle section contains 6, 28, 3, 7, 21, 9, 40, 8, and 14. The top-right section contains 14, 35, 7, 9, 21, 8, 4, 3, and 18. The middle-left section contains 49, 8, 36, 5, 6, 7, 2, 42, and 64. The middle-right section contains 20, 7, 6, 30, 9, 18, 10, 24, and 4. The bottom-left section contains 9, 6, 7, 5, 3, 2, 11, 4, and 32. The bottom-middle section contains 9, 25, 7, 54, 10, 56, 5, 48, and 6. The bottom-left section contains 30, 8, 32, 6, 36, 40, 7, 3, and 4. The second part has 8 smaller, blank connected squares surrounding the addition symbol, labelled a-h, followed by an arrow pointing to the final answer box.

Questions and Prompts to Support your Child:

  • What have you tried so far? What could we try together?
  • If you feel stuck, try eliminating numbers that couldn’t be the product of any of the others first. It might help you see things differently!

Extensions & Adaptations:

  • If calculations are feeling too tricky, grab a calculator!
  • Try creating your own kakooma puzzles by starting each section with three numbers that complete a multiplication sentence, then adding in some extra numbers that don’t. Make sure to still include numbers that are close, to keep your puzzles challenging.

Source: gregtangmath.com