Addition Pyramid
The setup
A pyramid of 10 numbers placed in 4 rows is given with a target number.
The challenge
Find a path through the pyramid using one number from each row so that the sum of the numbers is the target number. The numbers on the path must connect to each other.
Example
The answer to this puzzle is 5 –> 4 –> 1 –> 7.
How to create
Make one of these puzzles by filling in the numbers that you want to form the path, and record the sum of those numbers. Then fill in the remaining decoy numbers in the pyramid.
Bonus Material
Introduction
A pyramid of 10 numbers placed in 4 rows is given with a target number. The challenge is to find a path through the pyramid using one number from each row so that the sum of the numbers is the target number. The numbers on the path must touch each other.
Make one of these puzzles by filling in the numbers that you want to form the path, and record the sum of those numbers. Then fill in the remaining decoy numbers in the pyramid. The number of possible paths through the pyramid doubles with the addition of each row, so making larger pyramids is a way to challenge a child who finds the 10-number puzzle easy. For a child who finds a 10-number puzzle hard, start with 6-number puzzles until they become easy and quick to solve.
For larger puzzles, it can be a challenge for the puzzle maker to ensure that there is only one correct path through the pyramid. Don’t concern yourself too much with that. Even though it’s nice if there is only one path, your child will enjoy showing you that there is more than one way to solve it.
Helping your child
Puzzles are meant to be challenging and to take time, so please don’t ruin the fun by telling your child how to do them. These puzzles are chosen so that you can create them easily and then have fun solving them together.
If your child gets stuck on a puzzle, you have several options. You can, of course, give very small hints, if you can think of things that won’t give away the puzzle. You can suggest looking at smaller or simpler versions of the puzzle. Encourage your child to be bold in their ideas, even if sometimes they lead to dead ends. We all learn a lot from our mistakes and dead ends! Let your child know that it is perfectly okay not to solve a puzzle on the first (or second or third) try, and that useful ideas may occur to them if they leave the puzzle alone for a day or two.
These puzzles are meant to be fun and to teach problem solving. One of the greatest mathematical pleasures is that AHA moment, after many false starts and much wrestling with a problem, when the answer is finally discovered – be sure to let your child experience that feeling of discovery as many times as you can!