"Make Your Own" Sudoku Spelling Puzzles

Sudoku puzzles are a lot of fun - challenging enough to feel educational, but simple enough for children to solve.
With their 4x4, 6x6, 9x9 or greater grids, they are also a great way to sneak in a little spelling practice.

Print out a few blank grids (like these from www.sudoku.com.au).  Choose a 4, 6, or 9 letter word, depending on the size of the grid you are using - one without repeating letters (find appropriate word lists here).   And, grab your favorite sudoku book or website.

Copy out the numbered puzzles onto the blank grid, replacing the numbers with the 1st through 9th (or whatever) letters of your chosen word.  So for instance, for the word w-o-n-d-e-r-f-u-l, wherever the numbered puzzle had a 1, you would place a "w" into the blank grid, an "o" in place of each 2, an "n" in place of each 3, and so on.

Print the word across the bottom of the page for reference, and hand the puzzle over to an unsuspecting child - who after filling out each square, row and column of just one puzzle, will have practiced spelling the word 27 times...

...without even realizing they were spelling at all.

It's great to be homeschooler.