Christmas problem solving activity

I have a problem.

I’m a clip art addict.

Sometimes I buy clip art without any idea what I’m going to create … because it’s Just. So. Perfect.

That’s how I felt about this Christmas sweater clip art. How could I resist?

Thankfully, I thought of the perfect use for these adorable sweaters … problem solving!

I created a set of task cards. Each card has a set of clues to help kids determine the mystery sweater.

As soon as my Six saw it, he was excited to play.

As he read each clue, he covered sweaters that couldn’t be the mystery sweater with a poker chip.

Examples of clues:

The sweater has  a V-neck.
The sweater does not have polka dots.
The front of the sweater has something you can hang on a tree.

By the last clue, he had narrowed down the possibilities until he knew which was the mystery sweater. He wrote its letter on his recording sheet.

As he did the activity, I realized that the activity reinforces quite a few skills:

Basic reading skills
Close reading skills (detail is important here!)
Basic logic
Problem solving

It surprised me when my son didn’t always cover the correct sweaters. For example, with a clue like this one: The sweater does not have a face on it, he should cover the sweaters with faces because none of them can be the mystery sweater.

Instead, he left those sweaters uncovered and covered all the rest.

Since I was right there with him, I showed him how to read the cards more carefully and figure out which sweaters to eliminate.

I designed the activity for fluent readers in grades 1-2, but on reflection I think third graders could use it too.

As you can see in the above picture, my Four was thoroughly engaged. She wants to do the activity as well; she’ll just need me to read the clues to her.

I hope your learners enjoy this festive problem solving activity!

P.S. If you like this printable, you need the bundle of 50 mystery problem solving activities!

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Mystery problem solving activities

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Build critical thinking skills with 50 engaging mystery problem solving activities! Just print each picture mat and clue cards. Students will read the clues and discovery the mystery character or object.

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