Sudoku for kids: a 4×4 puzzle with pictures
A kids' sudoku with no numbers, to start thinking logically
This sudoku for kids is a 4×4 grid split into four boxes. Instead of numbers it has pictures: fruit, animals, vehicles or instruments, which change on every board. There is only one rule: each picture goes once in every row, once in every column and once in every box. Children drag the pictures from the tray to the empty squares, or tap a picture and then tap a square, and when it fits, a voice says its name.
Easy or hard 4×4 sudoku
On the easy level the board starts almost full and six pictures are missing. On the hard level only six are there at the start, and the child has to work out the other ten by looking at rows, columns and boxes. Each game is three boards in a row, and every board has exactly one solution. If a picture doesn't fit a square, the square shakes and the picture goes back: there's no score and no timer.
What does your child practice?
- Reasoning by elimination: if the row already has the apple, the grapes and the orange, the gap must be the banana.
- Keeping several things in mind at once, because every square depends on its row, its column and its box.
- Finding their way around rows and columns, the same skill they later use to read a table.
- Thinking before acting: checking the row, the column and the box before letting go of a picture.
- Vocabulary: every time a picture goes in the right place, they hear its name.
It works on computers, tablets and phones, and you can put it on an interactive whiteboard to solve it together as a class. No sign-up and nothing to download.
Frequently asked questions
What is a picture sudoku for kids?
It is a smaller sudoku with no numbers. Instead of the 9×9 grid it uses a 4×4 one with four pictures, and the rule is the same: no picture repeats in a row, a column or a box.
What age is it for?
The easy level works from about 4 or 5, with an adult nearby the first few times. The hard level is a good challenge for 6- to 8-year-olds.
Why pictures instead of numbers?
Because thinking logically doesn't require knowing numbers. With pictures a child sees right away what's missing from a row, and it doesn't feel like a math problem.
Can we play it on the interactive whiteboard?
Yes. Put it on the screen and let the class say which picture goes in each square while the teacher taps. It works with a finger, a mouse or a keyboard.
What happens if they make a mistake?
The square shakes with a soft bump and the picture goes back. There's no score and no timer: they can try again as many times as they like.
Picture Sudoku is one of the 13 logic games on Amigoki.
