Activity

Birthday Logic Puzzles (SPYxFAM themed)

Logic puzzle that gets students reading! 3 puzzles escalating in difficulty

I made this logic puzzle based off of an old one I used in Korea with my middle schoolers a few years back. I think my 6th grade elem schoolers can do it but I think it would be a better activity for middle schoolers. If I had a low level SHS class I would use this to practice reading comprehension!

Goal:
Each group must give each character 1 gift AND the correct gift box/ribbon color.
Based on the hints given, they can narrow down the possibilities!
Get students to read about what the characters want and work out the puzzle. (There is a little Japanese-English word bank at the bottom to help)

Grammar Points:
(Character) wants a(n)_____.
(Character) likes _
______.
The (gift) is in a (color) box.
(Character 1)'s box is the same color as (Character 2)'s box.

How To set-up:
1. Split the class into groups. 3-4 students works well~
2. Open the PPTX and explain the rules to the puzzle (Japanese instructions inside).
Rules to the puzzle:
- There are 7 characters but not every character is used every puzzle.
- The characters want a gift for their birthday. Use the hints to figure out what the characters want.
- Each gift must be wrapped. Use the hints to figure out the wrapping for the gifts!
- When your characters have their gifts/gift wraps all sorted, call the teacher over to check!
- If they got everything right they get the next puzzle!
3. Hand out the materials and get reading!

There is some prep work involved:
- Print a character puzzle board PDF for every group. (A3 is best)
- Print puzzle hint pages PDF (A4). Make copies for every group.
- Print answers to puzzle PDF (A4) for teacher(s) to give hints to kids if they get stuck.
- Print the cutout items PDF (A3) front to back. There are enough pages for 10 groups. I assume most teachers will only need 5-7 groups if they have 30 kids. Cut out the gifts and gift boxes. If you are doing this with an English camp and need to kill time, have the kids cut out the boxes for you lol.
I laminate my stuff but it's up to you!

Files:
Small files
  • PREVIEW spyxbirthday puzzles.png (897 KB)
  • Answers to all puzzles.pdf (445 KB)
  • A4 Puzzle Hint Pages (make copies for all groups).pdf (934 KB)
  • Medium files (requires an account to download) -
  • A3 Character Puzzle Board.pdf (1.28 MB)
  • A3 Cutout Items (10 groups).pdf (2.17 MB)
  • PPTX Spy Birthday Puzzle (Presentation).pptx (26 MB)
  • 31
    Submitted by CarpenterBee May 24, 2024 Estimated time: 20-45min
    1. laylamay521 September 13, 2024

      This looks wicked fun, and Im looking forward to it! One thing is I believe the files for the hint pages and answers are the same file right now. You can see the answer sheet in the preview if you zoom in (because you made such a lovely and detailed game! :D ) but I dont see any other way to download that file right now

    2. CarpenterBee September 16, 2024

      Should be updated now!

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