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Christmas problem solving activity

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Christmas sweater problem solving activity

I have a problem.

I’m a clip art addict.

Sometimes I buy clip art without any idea what I’m going to create … because it’s Just. So. Perfect.

That’s how I felt about this Christmas sweater clip art. How could I resist?

Thankfully, I thought of the perfect use for these adorable sweaters … problem solving!

Picture of Christmas sweater problem solving activity

I created a set of task cards. Each card has a set of clues to help kids determine the mystery sweater.

child doing christmas problem solving activity

As soon as my Six saw it, he was excited to play.

child doing christmas sweater problem solving activity with
As he read each clue, he covered sweaters that couldn’t be the mystery sweater with a poker chip.

Examples of clues:

  • The sweater has  a V-neck.
  • The sweater does not have polka dots.
  • The front of the sweater has something you can hang on a tree.

By the last clue, he had narrowed down the possibilities until he knew which was the mystery sweater. He wrote its letter on his recording sheet.

As he did the activity, I realized that the activity reinforces quite a few skills:

  • Basic reading skills
  • Close reading skills (detail is important here!)
  • Basic logic
  • Problem solving

It surprised me when my son didn’t always cover the correct sweaters. For example, with a clue like this one: The sweater does not have a face on it, he should cover the sweaters with faces because none of them can be the mystery sweater.

Instead, he left those sweaters uncovered and covered all the rest.

Since I was right there with him, I showed him how to read the cards more carefully and figure out which sweaters to eliminate.

I designed the activity for fluent readers in grades 1-2, but on reflection I think third graders could use it too.

As you can see in the above picture, my Four was thoroughly engaged. She wants to do the activity as well; she’ll just need me to read the clues to her.

I hope your learners enjoy this festive problem solving activity!

P.S. If you like this printable, you need the bundle of 50 mystery problem solving activities!

Get your free problem solving activity!

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IF YOU LIKE THIS ACTIVITY, YOU’LL LOVE THE BUNDLE!

Mystery problem solving activities

$24.00

Build critical thinking skills with 50 engaging mystery problem solving activities! Just print each picture mat and clue cards. Students will read the clues and discovery the mystery character or object.

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Reader Interactions

74 Comments

  1. Christine Doherty

    This is a great activity. But I think there might be a mistake on Clue 4. It has “The sweater does not have green cuffs.” Sweater F does have green cuffs. Should the clue say the sweater does have green cuffs. Was that a typo?

    Reply to this comment

  6. Janet HILL

    I have been following your site for many, many years. My son is a disabled adult. Even though he is not in school anymore; this is exactly the type of activity he needs to keep his brain sharp ( and mine too). Thank you so much!

    Reply to this comment

  9. Jean

    I admire your love for the meaningful creation of resources of teaching English. Thank you very much for the dedication you put in. I should call it passion. You, definitely, have that passion. One idea comes after another, and more it flows out of the need to create as long as you don’t stop. I see that through my teaching experience. It does consume with fatigue, indeed. But, it is the sort of fatigue that requires a moment of breathing, for more awaits behind to come en-suite and shower the spirit with surprising ideas that help so beautifully the learning process. I welcome this sort of fatigue. I look forward to more of your ideas. It is one of my favourite websites when I search for such inspiration.

    Reply to this comment

  10. Elaine Cornish

    This game is so successful. I am a retired teacher. I live in South Africa. I teach underprivileged deaf children pro bona. I use so much of your stuff and just love your games and ideas. I would LOVE to subscribe but the Rand dollar exchange is just so terrible. So $10 equates to about R150.00 just too much right now. So please keep your freebies coming for teachers like me. Merry Christmas to you and your beautiful family and a wonderful new year. I really admire you. Elaine Cornish.

    Reply to this comment

  12. Carol H

    This is exactly what my tutoring kids need. I was wondering how to teach how to slove problems for themselves. That is something they need to read and do MANY other things. Thank you for your neat ideas.

    Reply to this comment

  13. Lisa

    I have used the “Mystery Snowman” and “Mystery dog” logic games with a 3rd grade “reluctant reader” tutoring student. He will do these over and over as our warm-up…I’m SO thrilled to use this next week AND to know you have a whole set with many more themes! Thank you for being so generous with your freebies.

    Reply to this comment

    • Anna G

      Hi Pamela! I have a “guess the mystery dog” and “guess the mystery snowman” in the subscriber library. If you’re not a newsletter subscriber yet, you can sign up and grab those. 🙂

      Reply to this comment

  21. Amy Warner

    Hi Anna,
    I used this with my English Learners in grades 3-8 today. The grades 3-5 enjoyed it. They are Progressing English Learners and understood most of the vocabulary. It was a good exercise for their brain logic skills. My grade 6-8 English Learners are non-English speakers. It was a challenge for them with vocabulary such as “polka dots, cuffs, patches, and a set of 3.” It was good for them to learn. We used M&M’s as markers for fun and they enjoyed that of course. Thank you for a fun game! Love the graphics.

    Reply to this comment

  24. Cindy

    Hi Anna,
    This game is so cute and fun! I’ve used it with a 3rd grader and two learning challenged 4th graders today and they all liked it! The 3rd graders was sad that the Santa sweater (F) was never the one. Maybe you could change the clues on card 9 to end up being Santa?? (I was going to do that with her tomorrow – come up with our own clues to lead finders to F.)

    I use lots of your freebies and I really appreciate you sharing them with us.

    Merry Christmas!

    Reply to this comment

  25. Krystal

    My six and five adored this! They were a little confused about number 9, though. They counted the berries as a set of three (sweater B) and therefore crossed off all the sweaters! Great resource for them to practice on these “it’s almost Christmas!” days!

    Reply to this comment

  27. Lori

    Hi Anna! This is such a cute idea! My kids enjoyed it this morning! Just wanted to let you know about something that threw them off a bit. #9 has a clue about sets of 3, but the answer has 3 berries! I didn’t catch it originally. But just thought I would let you know. ?

    Reply to this comment

  31. Lata

    Thank you so much for posting this! We played this game today with my 7 year old and 5 year olds. My 7 year old hit all the right answers and well the other 2 just had fun. I love your resources and I feel grateful to have found your website. Merry Christmas and thanks again for spreading your good cheer!!!

    Reply to this comment

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