DavidWolfe.comIf you’ve ever felt like your child is a wizard that understands puzzles long before you do, you’re not alone. Kids’ imaginations seem to allow them to solve problems that leave us adults scratching our heads for hours on end.
Check out these four puzzles that elementary school kids can solve in an instant and see how you fare.
Puzzle #1
First graders in Hong Kong were given this puzzle on an entrance exam. I know, right? An entrance exam, in the first grade?
Kids were able to solve the puzzle in just a few seconds.
Puzzle #2
Educated programmers took as long as an hour to solve this problem. Kids? 10 minutes.
Puzzle #3
Third graders in places like Singapore solve puzzles like this for fun in under five minutes.
Puzzle #4
This puzzle comes from a 12-year-old American math worksheet.
50 chocolate candies are in a box; 30 of them are caramel-filled; 25 are coconut-filled; 10 of them have both, and the rest are just plain chocolate.
Which image best represents the box of chocolates?
Answers
Did you solve any on your own? No? Me neither. You’ll be kicking yourself when you see how easy these puzzles really are.
Puzzle #1
The car is parked in parking spot #87. How? Just turn the image upside down.
Puzzle #2
The answer is 2. The answer comes from the number of circles in each four-digit number. For example, 6 has one circle, and 8 has 2.7777, and 1 has zero.
Puzzle #3
D = 1345, E = 2440
The numbers at the bottom level are connected to the upper level. Add the numbers in the bottom line: 198 + 263 = 461.
The number you get is greater than the neighbor above. Subtract the numbers: 461 – 446 = 15.
All other squares in the pyramid produce 15 so 1345 and 2440 are the only answers that work.
Puzzle #4
Diagram B is the one that matches. There are 20 caramel candies in the box, 15 coconut and 5 (50 – [20+15+10]) plain chocolate ones.