Science Puzzles for Young Einsteins

I used these puzzles as extra credit assignments in my junior high science classroom and found that students really enjoyed them. Some are more challenging than others, but they expand students' science vocabulary and knowledge of animals.I could also see parents using these as enrichment for their children at home. They would also be appropriate for upper elementary students.

This 96-page book of puzzles proves perfect for little fidgeters who also love science. We were hard-pressed to help our child through transition periods during his school day, and at the suggestion of teachers, bought a series of word find books to help. They were great, but the scholastic edition of this volume, a gift from school, is even better. It includes five word-find and crossword-like criss-crossing puzzles, as well as word scramblers, sentence scramblers, suffix puzzles and clued games of hangman--all of which use science as the central theme. So the puzzles both calm the fidgets and teach something, a rare combination in puzzle books. One puzzle includes the names of 24 tropical and temperate-zone trees that kids must place into a crossword gird, thereby learning names as varied as sequoia and cypress, nutmeg and mimosa. Another coded riddle lets children unwind the meanings of a bunch of explanation points, hyphens and stars. The puzzle decodes into a joke: "Where do Martians leave their spaceships? At parking meteors!"Other puzzles include the names of various creatures (antelope, badger, bobcat, coyote, hamster, leopard, jaguar, shrew, tiger, wildebeest, chimpanzee, gorilla) etc., the planets, cooking ingredients (did you know cooking involves chemistry?) and various kinds of jobs for scientists. Some of the puzzles are a bit too challenging. But a whole lot of fun and learning are packed into this book. Alyssa A. Lappen

This book is perfect for kids. Whether they're an "einstein" or not, they'll enjoy the puzzles in this book and feel smart too. Not intimidating at all.