S
Sarah Carter
Guest
- Thread Author
- #1
This Santa hat pentominoes puzzle is the perfect hands-on logic puzzle for the Christmas holiday season!
Use a standard set of 12 pentominoes to form the shape of Santa’s hat. Pieces may be flipped or rotated, but they may not overlap one another.
This pentomino puzzle was created by yours truly (Sarah Carter). I have been trying to build out my collection of seasonal pentominoes puzzles.
This pentominoes puzzle is designed to print on 11 x 17 inch paper. I print all of my pentominoes puzzles on 11 x 17 cardstock for extra durability, but regular 11 x 17 copy paper will work just fine as well. (If you don’t have the ability to print on 11 x 17 paper, keep reading for an alternative printing option!)
All of my pentominoes puzzles are sized for plastic pentominoes made up of 1-inch squares.
If you don’t have a class set of plastic pentominoes, I do have a printable version of 1-inch pentominoes available to save and print. Please be aware that you MUST allow students to turn over the printed pentominoes pieces in order to solve the puzzle! This is less obvious than with the plastic pentominoes pieces.
MATH = LOVE RECOMMENDS…
Amazon offers several brands of plastic pentominoes which I recommend. Each brand is sold in a tub containing six sets of twelve pentominoes each for a total of 72 pentomino pieces.
Want each student to have their own set of pentominoes? I also offer a set of free printable one-inch pentominoes pieces which can be laminated or printed on cardstock for durability.
Since many teachers have told me that they do not have access to a copy machine or printer which prints on 11 x 17 paper, I have also uploaded a letter-sized version below which prints on 8.5 x 11 inch paper. You will have to trim and tape or glue the two letter-sized pages together to form the pentominoes puzzle board.
Pentominoes puzzles can be quite tricky to solve. It’s not unusual to hear that students have worked on a puzzle for over 30+ minutes without finding a solution.
While some students can handle this level of perseverance, other students might benefit from a few hints in solving the puzzle. I have created a set of 4 printable hint cards that can be used with students to give them (or yourself!) a small piece of the solution.
I do find that the more experience students have with working pentominoes puzzles, the less they need the hints!
This Christmas-themed pentominoes puzzle is available in PDF format and as an editable PPT. To edit the PPT file, you will need to make sure you have Microsoft PowerPoint installed on your computer.
11 x 17 Template
8.5 x 11 Template
(You will need to trim and glue these two pages together. Print 100% Actual Size with Adobe Acrobat Reader for best results!)
Hint Cards
Editable PowerPoint Files
Puzzle solutions are available on a password-protected solution page. I do not openly post the puzzle answer keys because one of my goals as a resource creator is to craft learning experiences for students that are non-google-able. I want teachers to be able to use these puzzles in their classrooms without the solutions being found easily on the Internet.
Please email me at sarah@mathequalslove.net for the password to the answer key database featuring all of my printable puzzles and math worksheets. I frequently have students emailing me for the answer key, so please specify in your email what school you teach at and what subjects you teach. If you do not provide these details, I will not be able to send you the password.
Not a teacher? Go ahead and send me an email as well. Just let me know what you are using the puzzles for. I am continually in awe of how many people are using these puzzles with scouting groups, with senior adults battling dementia, or as fun activities in their workplace. Just give me enough details so I know you are not a student looking for answers to the puzzle that was assigned as their homework!
This puzzle is just one of many printable pentominoes puzzles that I have created for my own classroom and am sharing with you!
Be sure to check out my entire collection of hands-on puzzles for the classroom.
Looking for more Christmas activities and puzzles for your classroom? Here’s just a few examples of the other holiday activities I have created.
Puzzle Instructions
Use a standard set of 12 pentominoes to form the shape of Santa’s hat. Pieces may be flipped or rotated, but they may not overlap one another.
Puzzle Source
This pentomino puzzle was created by yours truly (Sarah Carter). I have been trying to build out my collection of seasonal pentominoes puzzles.
Printing and Prepping the Pentominoes Puzzles
11 x 17 Version
This pentominoes puzzle is designed to print on 11 x 17 inch paper. I print all of my pentominoes puzzles on 11 x 17 cardstock for extra durability, but regular 11 x 17 copy paper will work just fine as well. (If you don’t have the ability to print on 11 x 17 paper, keep reading for an alternative printing option!)
All of my pentominoes puzzles are sized for plastic pentominoes made up of 1-inch squares.
If you don’t have a class set of plastic pentominoes, I do have a printable version of 1-inch pentominoes available to save and print. Please be aware that you MUST allow students to turn over the printed pentominoes pieces in order to solve the puzzle! This is less obvious than with the plastic pentominoes pieces.
MATH = LOVE RECOMMENDS…
Amazon offers several brands of plastic pentominoes which I recommend. Each brand is sold in a tub containing six sets of twelve pentominoes each for a total of 72 pentomino pieces.
- Learning Resources Rainbow Pentominoes
- Learning Advantage (edxeducation) Pentominoes
- Didax Colorful Pentominoes
Want each student to have their own set of pentominoes? I also offer a set of free printable one-inch pentominoes pieces which can be laminated or printed on cardstock for durability.
Letter Sized Version
Since many teachers have told me that they do not have access to a copy machine or printer which prints on 11 x 17 paper, I have also uploaded a letter-sized version below which prints on 8.5 x 11 inch paper. You will have to trim and tape or glue the two letter-sized pages together to form the pentominoes puzzle board.
Hints for Solving
Pentominoes puzzles can be quite tricky to solve. It’s not unusual to hear that students have worked on a puzzle for over 30+ minutes without finding a solution.
While some students can handle this level of perseverance, other students might benefit from a few hints in solving the puzzle. I have created a set of 4 printable hint cards that can be used with students to give them (or yourself!) a small piece of the solution.
I do find that the more experience students have with working pentominoes puzzles, the less they need the hints!
Santa Hat Pentominoes Puzzle Files
This Christmas-themed pentominoes puzzle is available in PDF format and as an editable PPT. To edit the PPT file, you will need to make sure you have Microsoft PowerPoint installed on your computer.
11 x 17 Template
Click here to SAVE the file to your device.
Santa Hat Pentominoes Puzzle – 11 x 17 (PDF)
5 saves – 43.23 KB
Santa Hat Pentominoes Puzzle – 11 x 17 (PDF)
5 saves – 43.23 KB
8.5 x 11 Template
(You will need to trim and glue these two pages together. Print 100% Actual Size with Adobe Acrobat Reader for best results!)
Click here to SAVE the file to your device.
Santa Hat Pentominoes Puzzle – 8.5 x 11 (PDF)
3 saves – 20.58 KB
Santa Hat Pentominoes Puzzle – 8.5 x 11 (PDF)
3 saves – 20.58 KB
Hint Cards
Click here to SAVE the file to your device.
Santa Hat Pentominoes Puzzle – Hint Cards (PDF)
3 saves – 50.74 KB
Santa Hat Pentominoes Puzzle – Hint Cards (PDF)
3 saves – 50.74 KB
Editable PowerPoint Files
Click here to SAVE the file to your device.
Santa Hat Pentominoes Puzzle – Editable Files (PPT in ZIP)
3 saves – 184.08 KB
Santa Hat Pentominoes Puzzle – Editable Files (PPT in ZIP)
3 saves – 184.08 KB
Puzzle Solutions
ANsWer key linkPuzzle solutions are available on a password-protected solution page. I do not openly post the puzzle answer keys because one of my goals as a resource creator is to craft learning experiences for students that are non-google-able. I want teachers to be able to use these puzzles in their classrooms without the solutions being found easily on the Internet.
Please email me at sarah@mathequalslove.net for the password to the answer key database featuring all of my printable puzzles and math worksheets. I frequently have students emailing me for the answer key, so please specify in your email what school you teach at and what subjects you teach. If you do not provide these details, I will not be able to send you the password.
Not a teacher? Go ahead and send me an email as well. Just let me know what you are using the puzzles for. I am continually in awe of how many people are using these puzzles with scouting groups, with senior adults battling dementia, or as fun activities in their workplace. Just give me enough details so I know you are not a student looking for answers to the puzzle that was assigned as their homework!
Similar Resources
This puzzle is just one of many printable pentominoes puzzles that I have created for my own classroom and am sharing with you!
Be sure to check out my entire collection of hands-on puzzles for the classroom.
Looking for more Christmas activities and puzzles for your classroom? Here’s just a few examples of the other holiday activities I have created.
