Math Cube Riddle: Brain Teaser for Kids

Math play, or "recreational mathematics" is an effective way to help your kids exercise their brains without making it seem like work. This math cube riddle puzzle is a terrific mind-stretching activity that promotes growth mindset and rewards perseverance.

In order to solve the puzzle, kids use logical reasoning, spatial awareness and problem solving skills, all of which are important for math learning. They also must practice patience in order to achieve a goal, an important executive function skill.

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Instructions

First you'll need to make the puzzle cubes (easy), then explain the objective. Next, sit back and watch those young brains problem solve!

Assemble:

Print out the cube riddler and assemble either the pattern cubes or number cubes. There are 4 different cubes, you need one of each.

Cut out the cubes carefully on the outline. Fold on all the solid lines and shape into a cube.

Tape or glue tabs to inside for clean looking blocks. Using glue is challenging, which is why I recommend placing a small piece of double-sided tape on each tab and pressing gently to secure each side. However, it is much easier and simpler if you don't care about appearances to place tape on the outside.

Finished cubes will look like this: (not all pictured)

Objective:

The goal is to stack the cubes so that no single number, or pattern (depending on which set you are using), shows more than once on each side of the stack. Each side (minus the tops and bottom) of the stack should display 1, 2, 3 and 4, or the four different patterns–in any order.

Tips

This cube riddle puzzler is more difficult than it looks, although kids might stumble on the answer by accident. If your little ones are getting frustrated alter the challenge so that the goal is to get 2 or 3 sides instead right of all 4. We had great success with that.

If you want to add an extra creative twist, fold the cube so that the blank sides are on the outside and have kids come up with their own designs. However, be sure that they keep the same organization of which pattern goes where as the printable versions.

Solution:

Although I'm giving you the solution below, I always recommend that jumping to the solution, even after hours of attempts is not the goal. The goal is patience and problem solving. Try to convince your child to put the riddle aside for a while and come back to it.

However, here is the solution. Imagine the blocks are stacked; face two is to the right of face one, face three is to the right of face two, etc. Numbers/patterns on faces read top to bottom, and they need not be in the same orientation (eg. some numbers may be sideways or upside down relative to one another).

• Face one: 3, 4, 2, 1
• Face two: 2, 4, 1, 3
• Face three: 1, 2, 3, 4
• Face four: 4, 1, 3, 2
• Bottom face: 1, 3, 2, 1 (Note that the bottom and tops do not need to reflect all number, this is just for reference to help you line up the cubes correctly)

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