Floor Puzzles in the Classroom: 10 Activities for Teachers

Using floor puzzles in the classroom is easier than it sounds, and it can be about much more than putting pieces together. When every piece has a joke or trivia question on the back, a floor puzzle becomes a reading game, a quiz, a team-building activity and a seek-and-find, all on one rug.

Here are 10 ways teachers can use our jumbo floor puzzles and life-size Large as Life puzzles, plus practical tips for space, storage and group size.

Which floor puzzles work in a classroom?

These activities are written for our kids’ floor puzzles, which all have a joke or trivia question on the back of every piece:

• Large as Life (ages 4+): the King Penguin, Koala and Red Panda. Each has 50 extra-thick pieces that build the animal at its real size, with animal trivia on every piece.
• Joke floor puzzles (ages 4–8): Animal Joke, Under the Sea, Christmas Joke and Halloween Joke. Each has 72 jumbo pieces, a joke on every piece and every joke drawn into the picture.
• Trivia floor puzzles: Dinosaur Trivia (ages 5+) and Christmas Trivia (ages 6–10), each with a question and answer on all 72 pieces and a seek-and-find in the art.

10 floor puzzle activities for the classroom

1. Read it before you place it

The simplest rule: before a student can place a piece, they read the back out loud to their group. Early readers get a short, fun reason to read, and the rest of the group hears every joke or fact. Pair a confident reader with a newer one so no one gets stuck.

2. Trivia relay

With a trivia puzzle, split the class into teams and give each team a pile of pieces. One student reads a question from the back of a piece to the other team. A correct answer earns the right to place that piece. The first team to place all its pieces wins.

3. Joke (or fact) of the day

Pull one piece each morning and read it at morning meeting. Kids love guessing the punchline, and a trivia piece makes a quick question of the day. Then add the piece to a “class puzzle” that grows a little each day.

4. Seek-and-find hunt

On our joke floor puzzles, every joke is drawn into the finished picture. Once the puzzle is built, read a joke aloud and challenge the class to find its picture. On the Dinosaur and Christmas Trivia puzzles, explore the picture’s seek-and-find together.

5. Life-size comparisons

Large as Life puzzles show each animal at its real size, which opens the door to measuring:

• Lie a student next to the finished King Penguin (3 feet tall) or Koala (32.5 inches tall). Who’s taller?
• Measure the Red Panda (3 feet long) with rulers, yardsticks or cubes.
• Make a class chart comparing the animals with each other and with the students.

6. Find the special shapes

Each Large as Life puzzle hides 5 special piece shapes related to its animal. Before building, ask the class to find all five. It’s a great observation warm-up for younger students.

7. Pick a fact, write about it

After building a trivia puzzle, each student picks the fact they found most surprising and writes or draws about it. Older students can research one more fact about the same animal or topic and share it with the class.

8. Build a STEM lesson around it

You don’t have to start from scratch. An Arizona STEM Acceleration Project fellow created a free multi-grade climate change lesson that uses our King Penguin puzzle, covering math with real-world data, map analysis, energy and ice, and reading and writing about penguins. Read about the lesson and find the link here.

9. Cooperative building groups

A 2-by-3-foot puzzle is the right size for a small group around the rug. Give each student a role (edge finder, reader, color sorter, checker) and switch roles halfway through. Talk afterward about what helped the team finish.

10. Indoor recess and early-finisher center

Keep a floor puzzle at a center for indoor recess days or for students who finish early. Because the jokes and questions are on the pieces, kids get something to read even when they’re building on their own.

Why use puzzles in the classroom at all?

Beyond the reading and the laughing, there’s some interesting research on puzzle play. A University of Chicago study led by Susan Levine followed 53 young children and found that those who played with puzzles at home performed better on spatial tasks, like mentally rotating shapes, at age 4½. The researchers note that more study is needed to show that the puzzles caused the difference. For more ideas, see our post on developing spatial awareness with jigsaw puzzles.

Practical tips for teachers

• Space: the 72-piece puzzles finish at 2 x 3 feet. Large as Life puzzles are life-size: 2 x 3 feet (King Penguin), 2 x 2.7 feet (Koala) and 3 x 1.3 feet (Red Panda). A rug corner works well.
• Group size: small groups give everyone a turn to read and place pieces.
• Durability: all of our kids’ floor puzzles have extra-thick, durable pieces.
• Storage: the 72-piece puzzles come in a box about 11 x 8 x 4 inches, small enough for a classroom shelf.
• Safety: our floor puzzles were safety tested by an independent lab and aren’t suitable for children under 2, so keep them out of reach in rooms with toddlers.

More free resources

• 18 ways to use Large as Life puzzles, a free activity guide for home and the classroom.
• Free joke coloring pages for the Animal Joke, Under the Sea, Christmas Joke and Halloween Joke puzzles.
• Our Christmas trivia questions for kids, a ready-made warm-up for the week before winter break.
• All of our free resources in one place.

Wrapping up

Floor puzzles in the classroom can be a reading game on Monday, a trivia relay on Wednesday and an indoor-recess lifesaver on Friday. Start with one puzzle that fits your students’ ages, try a couple of these activities and see which ones your class asks for again. You’ll find all of our kids’ floor puzzles in one place, each with a Buy on Amazon button.