Opposite Day is January 25th! Are YOU Ready to Celebrate in Your Math Classroom?
This silly holiday is a favorite among elementary and middle school. If you want to channel some of their opposite day enthusiasm into fun math learning experiences, then definitely do not share today’s fun opposite day-themed math puzzles for grades K-8 in your upcoming lesson plans!
Today is Opposite Day!
Actually, check that, today is not opposite day.
Or is it not not opposite day?
Confusing? Yes. But either way, Opposite Day, celebrated on January 25th each year, is a day when kids across the country rejoice as they get to indulge in fun and silliness, claim broccoli as their favorite food, and math as their least favorite subject ;)
Since my students love to make silly statements only to claim that the given day was indeed opposite day, I wanted to do something extra fun and special for them. So, I created some super fun (I mean extremely boring) Opposite Day Math Puzzles for Grades K-8, plus a very special Bonus Opposite Day Math Puzzle for Grades 4-8 that has two solutions (one when solved right-side-up and another when solved upside-down!).
These kinds of activities are perfect for mixing up your instructions, giving your students opportunities to think creatively about math, and adding some fun learning experiences into your lesson plans.
All of the math puzzles and activities share below are opposite day-versions from the puzzles featured in our best-selling workbook 101 Daily Math Puzzles for Challenging Students in Grades 1-8 (Volume 2)
HOW TO DOWNLOAD: You can download any of the puzzles below by right-clicking and saving the file to your computer and/or dragging-and-dropping the file to your desktop.
ANSWER KEY: Scroll to the bottom of this post to access the complete answer key.
1.) Opposite Day Puzzle #1: Grades K-2
(keep reading to access the answer key at the end of this post)
2.) Opposite Day Puzzle #2: Grades 3-5
(keep reading to access the answer key at the end of this post)
3.) Opposite Day Puzzle #3: Grades 6-8+
(keep reading to access the answer key at the end of this post)
3.) Opposite Day Bonus! (for Grades 4-8+)
This special opposite day puzzle has two solutions! Solve it once right-side up, then flip it and solve it again upside-down. Can you find both answers?
(keep reading to access the answer key at the bottom of this post)
All of today’s math puzzles are opposite day versions of the puzzles shared in our best-selling workbook: 101 Daily Math Challenges for Grades 1-8 Volume 2
Here are some samples from the book:
101 Daily Math Challenges for Grades 1-8 Volume 2 is now available as a PDF download. You can get yours today by clicking here.
ANSWER KEY:
Puzzle #1 (Grades K-2): Day & Night=5 Balloons=7 Toilet=4, ?=1
Puzzle #2 (Grades 3-5): Day & Night=12 Up & Down=18 Balloons=2 Toilet=12, ?=44
Puzzle #3 (Grades 6-8+): Day & Night=91 Up & Down=37 Balloons=9 Toilet=91 , ?=46
Bonus Puzzle:
Did I miss your favorite math holiday riddle for kids? Share your thoughts, questions, and suggestions in the comments section below!
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By Anthony Persico
Anthony is the content crafter and head educator for YouTube's MashUp Math and an advisor to Amazon Education's 'With Math I Can' Campaign. You can often find me happily developing animated math lessons to share on my YouTube channel . Or spending way too much time at the gym or playing on my phone.
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