Free Printable Sudoku for Kids: Picture, 4x4, 6x6 and 9x9
Updated November 2026 · 31 free printables
Free printable sudoku for kids, from a first picture puzzle for a four-year-old to a large print 9x9 that makes a grown-up think.
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About these printables
The youngest start with 4x4 picture sudoku: instead of numbers the squares hold four pictures, such as apples, bananas, grapes and oranges, and the child draws or glues the missing ones so that each picture appears once in every row, every column and every box. There are twelve picture sets, six of them themed (Christmas, winter, Halloween, ocean, farm and space), four cut-and-paste pages with exactly the pieces each puzzle needs, and a dot sudoku that uses dice dots for children who count but do not write numbers yet.
Next come numbers: a how-to-play sheet with the three rules and a worked example, a beginner ladder of nine 4x4 puzzles that goes from 2 to 10 empty squares, 6x6 sudoku in easy and medium plus a Christmas page, and finally 9x9 sudoku printed one per page in large type, in easy, medium and hard. Every puzzle has exactly one solution and was checked by computer to be solvable with logic alone, so no child is ever stuck needing to guess. Page 2 of every PDF is the answer key.
At a glance
- Pages
- 31 free printables, one PDF each
- Ages
- 3 to 10
- Levels
- Easy, Pre-K, Medium, Hard
- Answer keys
- on page 2 of every PDF
- Paper
- US Letter and A4
- Complete pack
- all 31 pages in one PDF, free with an email sign-up
- Price
- free; every single page downloads with no sign-up
Free Printable Sudoku for Kids: Picture, 4x4, 6x6 and 9x9, One by One
A closer look at the pages that belong to this collection itself. The other pages in the gallery above are described on their own theme pages, linked from each card.
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1. Large Print Medium Sudoku for Kids
One medium 9x9 sudoku printed large: the grid fills the page, each square is about three quarters of an inch, and the numbers are big and bold, easy on young eyes and room for pencil notes. 29 of the 81 numbers are given. Kids will need both sudoku tricks, the missing number in a square and the only spot for a number in a row, column or box, but never a guess. For ages 9 and up; answer key on page 2. It is the medium level, for ages 7 and up who finish the easy pages quickly. No guessing needed. Start with the row, column or box that has the most numbers filled in.
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2. Large Print Medium Sudoku for Kids (Set 2)
One medium 9x9 sudoku printed large: the grid fills the page, each square is about three quarters of an inch, and the numbers are big and bold, easy on young eyes and room for pencil notes. 30 of the 81 numbers are given. Kids will need both sudoku tricks, the missing number in a square and the only spot for a number in a row, column or box, but never a guess. For ages 9 and up; answer key on page 2. It is the medium level, for ages 7 and up who finish the easy pages quickly. No guessing needed. Start with the row, column or box that has the most numbers filled in.
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3. Large Print Hard Sudoku for Kids
One hard 9x9 sudoku printed large: the grid fills the page, each square is about three quarters of an inch, and the numbers are big and bold, easy on young eyes and room for pencil notes. 26 of the 81 numbers are given. It cannot be finished with the first trick alone: solvers must hunt for the only square where a number fits, again and again. Still no guessing. For ages 10 and up and grown-ups; answer key on page 2. It is a real challenge for ages 10 and up, and for grown-ups too. Start with the row, column or box that has the most numbers filled in.
Tips for free printable sudoku for kids: picture, 4x4, 6x6 and 9x9
- Match the size to the child: picture 4x4 at 4 to 5, number 4x4 at 5 to 6, 6x6 at 6 to 8, 9x9 from about 8.
- Solve the first puzzle together and say the thinking out loud: This row has 1, 2 and 4, so this one is 3.
- Use a pencil with an eraser; mistakes are part of sudoku.
- Stop while it is still fun. One puzzle a day is plenty for young children.
- Let kids check their own answers with page 2 one row at a time, so they find their own mistakes.
Fun math facts
- The puzzle we call sudoku was first published in 1979 in a US puzzle magazine as Number Place.
- The name sudoku comes from a Japanese phrase meaning the digits must remain single.
- A 4x4 sudoku grid can be filled in 288 different ways; a 9x9 grid in about 6.7 sextillion ways.
- A 9x9 sudoku needs at least 17 given numbers to have only one solution.
Fun ways to use your printables
- Laminate a picture sudoku and solve it with dry-erase markers or small toys on the squares.
- Make your own picture sudoku with four kinds of stickers.
- Time a large print 9x9 each week and keep a chart of the times on the fridge.
- Have an older sibling teach a younger one with the How to Play sheet.
How to print
Click Download PDF and print at 100% on US Letter or A4 paper. Page 1 is the worksheet and page 2 is the answer key, so choose “page 1” in the print dialog if you only want the practice page. Every worksheet is free for home, homeschool and classroom use, so print as many copies as you need.
Frequently asked questions
At what age can kids start sudoku?
Around age 4 with 4x4 picture sudoku, where the child only has to notice which of four pictures is missing. Most children can move to 4x4 number sudoku at 5 or 6, to 6x6 at 6 to 8 and to 9x9 at about 8. Go by the child, not the birthday: if a puzzle takes more than about ten minutes and causes tears, step back one size.
What are the rules of sudoku?
Each row, each column and each box must contain every number (or picture) exactly once. On a 4x4 grid that is 1 to 4 and the boxes are 2 by 2, on a 6x6 grid 1 to 6 with boxes of 2 rows by 3 columns, and on a 9x9 grid 1 to 9 with 3 by 3 boxes. There is no math in sudoku: the numbers are just symbols.
What is picture sudoku?
Sudoku with pictures instead of numbers. A 4x4 picture sudoku uses four pictures, for example a cow, a pig, a sheep and a chick, and every row, column and box needs all four. It teaches the same logic to children who do not know their numbers yet, and it is easier to talk about: Which animal is missing in this row?
How do the cut-and-paste sudoku pages work?
Two 4x4 picture puzzles sit at the top of the page and the pieces for each one are printed underneath, exactly as many as there are empty squares. The child cuts the squares out along the dashed lines, tries them in the grid and glues them down once everything fits. Lay all pieces out before gluing so mistakes can still be fixed.
Do the puzzles have answer keys?
Yes. Page 2 of every PDF is the answer key. On picture pages the squares the child had to fill are shaded pink, and on number pages the missing numbers are printed in red.
Are the puzzles solvable without guessing?
Yes. Each one was checked by a program in two ways: it has exactly one solution, and it can be finished using only the two basic sudoku moves, finding the one number that fits a square and finding the one square where a number can go. The hard 9x9 needs the second move many times, but never trial and error.
How is this different from the sudoku in the logic puzzles section?
The logic puzzles section has number sudoku with several puzzles per page (six 4x4, four 6x6 or two 9x9). This section adds picture sudoku, cut-and-paste and dot sudoku for preschool and kindergarten, themed holiday sets, a how-to sheet, a beginner ladder and 9x9 sudoku printed one per page in large type.