I had my niece Gaby use The Trip Clip website to create packets of Christmas-themed secret message puzzles (cryptograms) for kids to solve. We used jokes we found on Simplify Create Inspire. Puzzles like this are a fun way to teach problem solving that helps in math, science, and computer programming.
Gaby created the puzzles at 3 difficulty levels:
Beginner
These 72 puzzles are all at the beginner level to help young kids learn the rudimentary skill of using a code. They need to match the number below each box to the key at the bottom and then transfer the letter up to the top to find the answer to the riddle. In addition to cracking the code, they’ll also be practicing letter recognition and early reading skills.
Buy Beginner Cryptogram Puzzles on TpT
Medium Hard
These 72 puzzles are medium-hard, which means a few of the letters are filled in already to give kids some clues to help them solve the puzzle. These are a very fun way to help young kids learn about breaking a code. They’ll also be practicing letter recognition and patterns along with early reading skills.
Buy Medium-Hard Cryptogram Puzzles on TpT
Very Hard
These 72 puzzles are set at a hard level for kids who have some experience already with this kind of puzzle. Only one of the letters is filled in already so they’ll need to use their knowledge of common letter combinations and patterns to help them solve the riddle. These are a very fun way to help young kids learn about breaking a code.
Buy Very Hard Cryptogram Puzzles on TpT
I wrote a blog post about how to use these puzzles as learning tools that you can read here, and there are free cyrptogram puzzles that you can try right now here.
The Trip Clip website lets you create your own cyrptogram puzzles. You can choose from a set of pre-made puzzles and choose one of the 6 levels of difficulty from beginner to extreme. You can also create any message of your own (in any language!) to create a custom secret message puzzle just right for your kids. Each puzzle prints on a half sheet of paper. Print and play as many times as you want – there’s no limit!
You can read about how my niece Gaby (who has Autism) used The Trip Clip to make secret message puzzles books here.
The Trip Clip Blog 