How do I explain sudoku to a child?

Every row, every column and every box must have each picture (or number) once. Find a row with only one gap first: there is only one picture it can be.

Which size should I start with?

Picture sudoku for Grade R and Grade 1, numbers 4×4 next, then 6×6, and 9×9 for confident older children.

Does every puzzle have one answer?

Yes. Each puzzle is checked by a solver as it is made, so there is always exactly one solution and children can reason their way to it.

Are answer keys included?

Yes, at the end of the PDF, with the missing pictures or numbers in red.

Sudoku for Kids: Picture Sudoku and 4×4, 6×6 and 9×9 Puzzles

Logic, not guessing

Sudoku has no arithmetic in it: it is pure reasoning. Children learn to look for the place with the fewest possibilities and to check every row, column and box, which is the same careful thinking good mathematicians use.

Picture sudoku first

Four pictures in a 4×4 grid is a gentle start for children who can’t yet hold numbers in their heads. They can draw the pictures or cut and glue them in.

CAPS links

Grade RDevelops problem-solving, logical thought and reasoning as part of early numeracy.
Grades 1–3Maths games and puzzles, such as Ludo, dominoes, jigsaws and tangrams, are listed for independent activities.

Sudoku is not named in CAPS, but the policy lists maths games and puzzles for the independent part of the maths period, while the teacher works with a small group. A picture sudoku fits that list: it practises careful reasoning without needing a teacher at the table.

For Grade R, where CAPS asks for play-based learning, make a 4×4 picture sudoku on the floor with real objects first, then move to the printed sheet.

Summarised in our own words from the DBE’s Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) for Mathematics, Foundation Phase (2011).