By Michael Hartley
Here's a puzzle that was given to my niece when she was in grade two in Singapore. It had her stumped, and had her grandmother cursing the Singapore Education System for causing so much stress! I've rated this puzzle as suitable for grades 3 up, but who knows, perhaps your grade 1 and 2 kids are geniuses - or Singaporean!
This puzzle is simple to understand - it starts with the grid shown here :
Then, you need to arrange the numbers 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9, so that the top row, the bottom row, and the two side columns all add up to 16.
Can you do it?
If you'd like to give this puzzle to a classroom of kids, or pin it up on the office noticeboard, here's a printable version of the puzzle. Print it out, photocopy as many as you want, and happy puzzling!