Stick puzzles for children: move a stick, make a new shape

Stick puzzles need almost nothing: a pile of identical sticks and a table. You lay out a shape, then ask a question: can you make three squares by adding three sticks? Which two sticks can you take away? Children have to imagine what the shape will look like before they touch it, then check with their hands. This article offers stick puzzles to build at home, from very easy to tricky, with answers and tips for giving hints.

What you need, and staying safe

Sticks of the same length. Wooden craft sticks (the kind used for ice lollies) are ideal: big, flat and easy to hold. Cotton swabs or toothpicks with blunt ends also work.
Never use matches. Use sticks that can't light.
An adult nearby. Small children may poke or put things in their mouths. Count the sticks out and back in at the end.
A flat surface. A table or a tray stops sticks rolling away.

Building first (around ages 4–5)

Before moving sticks, children need to know what shapes sticks can make.

How many sticks? How many sticks do you need for a triangle? For a square? (3 and 4.)
Make a house. Build a square, then add a roof. How many sticks in total? (6: the roof uses the top of the square as its base.)
Copy my shape. Build a simple shape, such as a boat, a flag or a letter, and ask your child to copy it next to yours.
A bigger square. Make a square with 4 sticks. Now make one twice as wide. How many sticks? (8: two on each side.)

Add or take away (around ages 5–7)

Puzzle 1. Build two squares side by side, sharing the middle stick (7 sticks). Add 3 sticks to make three squares. Answer: add a third square at the end of the row, or on top of one square. Both need exactly 3 sticks.

Puzzle 2. Build three squares in a row (10 sticks). Take away 2 sticks so that two squares are left, with no loose sticks. Answer: take away the top and bottom sticks of the middle square. The two end squares stay.

Puzzle 3. Build the house from above (a square with a roof, 6 sticks). Move 2 sticks to turn it into two triangles. Answer: take the two walls and lean them together under the floor stick, making a triangle that points down. The roof is the other triangle.

"No loose sticks" is a useful rule: every stick must belong to a shape. Asking "Is that allowed?" and checking together is part of the game.

Harder puzzles (around ages 7–10)

Puzzle 4. Build a big square divided into four small squares (12 sticks, like a window with four panes). How many squares can you see? Answer: 5. Four small ones and the big one around them.

Puzzle 5. In the same window, take away 2 sticks so that exactly 3 squares are left, with no loose sticks. Answer: take away the two outside sticks at one corner. One small square disappears, and so does the big one.

Puzzle 6. Start again with the full window. Take away 2 sticks so that exactly 2 squares are left, with no loose sticks. Answer: take away two middle sticks that meet in the centre and form an L. One small square stays, and the big square stays around everything.

Puzzle 7: stick numbers. Build digits like on a digital clock, each from up to seven sticks. Lay out 9 + 2 = 8. Move one stick to make it true. Answer: in the 9, move the top-right stick to the bottom-left. The 9 becomes a 6, and 6 + 2 = 8.

Puzzle 8. Lay out 3 + 3 = 8. Take away one stick to make it true. Answer: take the top-right stick from the 8. It becomes a 6: 3 + 3 = 6.

How to give hints

Let hands do the thinking. Children often find answers by trying. Undoing a move is free.
Shrink the search. "The stick you need to move is in the middle." "Look at the corner."
Ask about the goal. "How many squares do we have now? How many do we want?"
Count after every move. Counting the squares again is the best way to check.
Accept other answers. If your child finds a different solution that follows the rules, it is a real answer. Some puzzles have several.

Once your child knows a few puzzles, swap roles: let them build a puzzle for you. Making a puzzle that works is harder than solving one.

In Dologi, "Shapes inside a figure" puzzles in the Space topic ask children to count the squares or triangles hidden in a drawing made of lines, much like the window in Puzzle 4.

In short

Stick puzzles practise imagining a shape before changing it, then checking it by hand.
Use craft sticks or blunt sticks, never matches, with an adult nearby.
Start with building shapes, then adding and taking away, then trickier moves and stick numbers.
Give small hints, count after every move, and welcome other correct answers.