Printable sudoku for kids — four 4 by 4 puzzles
Four 4 by 4 sudoku puzzles on one sheet, with four 2 by 2 boxes and only the digits 1 to 4 to place, and the answers on the second page. A 4 by 4 is small enough to finish in about a minute, which makes it a first logic puzzle rather than a test of patience.
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Sudoku for kids — four puzzles
Name: ______________________ Date: ______________
Puzzle 1
| 2 | 1 | ||
| 2 | |||
| 3 | 4 | 2 | |
| 3 | 1 |
Puzzle 2
| 1 | |||
| 1 | 3 | ||
| 4 | |||
| 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
Puzzle 3
| 1 | 2 | 4 | |
| 3 | |||
| 4 | 3 | ||
| 3 | 4 |
Puzzle 4
| 4 | 3 | ||
| 3 | 2 | 4 | |
| 1 | 3 | 2 | |
Fill every row, every column and every 2 by 2 box with the digits 1 to 4, each once. There are only four digits, so every box has four possible answers.
Sudoku for kids — the four answers
Each puzzle has exactly one solution.
Puzzle 1
| 4 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 1 | 3 | 2 | 4 |
| 3 | 1 | 4 | 2 |
| 2 | 4 | 3 | 1 |
Puzzle 2
| 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 |
| 2 | 4 | 1 | 3 |
| 3 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
Puzzle 3
| 3 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| 2 | 4 | 1 | 3 |
| 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 |
Puzzle 4
| 1 | 4 | 2 | 3 |
| 3 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| 2 | 3 | 4 | 1 |
Why a 4 by 4
A full 9 by 9 sudoku asks for about twenty minutes and a lot of patience. A 4 by 4 uses the same rule — each digit once per row, per column and per box — but there are only four digits and sixteen cells, so the whole puzzle can be finished on one side of a page. That is the point: the child learns the rule and the habit of scanning before the size of the grid becomes the problem.
Every puzzle on this sheet is generated the same way as the 9 by 9 sheets, with the solution checked for uniqueness, so there is no puzzle that can be solved two different ways and nothing that requires a guess.
How to teach it in three steps
- Start with a box. Point at a 2 by 2 box that already has three digits in it and ask what is missing. That is the only technique a 4 by 4 needs, and it is the same idea as the 9 by 9.
- Then a row or a column. Once boxes are easy, look along a row that has three digits and find the fourth.
- Check, do not erase. Ask the child to point at each completed row and read the four digits out loud. A wrong answer shows up immediately, and self-checking is the habit worth keeping.
How to print
- Print at 100 percent. Four 4 by 4 grids fit easily on one page at full size, so there is no reason to shrink them.
- Print page one twice for two children and keep page two yourself.
- A pencil is the right tool. Most children change at least one answer, and rubbing out is cheaper than reprinting.
- Photocopy as many as you need for a class or a club. No attribution is required on the copy.
What to print next
When the 4 by 4 becomes too easy, move to the starter sheet with one 4 by 4 and one full 9 by 9, then to four 9 by 9 puzzles on a page. On a screen, the sudoku game has three difficulties and explains a hint instead of only giving the number, and the daily sudoku is the same puzzle for everyone on a given day.