Sliding puzzle
The classic sliding tile puzzle, made for the interactive whiteboard. There is one empty space and only the tiles next to it can move. Depending on the challenge, you either get the yellow tile to the marked square or put the whole board in order. Both teams start from the same scrambled board and the first to solve it wins.
What children practise
- Planning several moves ahead before acting.
- Spatial awareness on a grid: up, down, left and right.
- Ordering numbers from 1 to 8, 15 or 24, depending on the board.
- Practising alphabetical order with the letter tiles.
- Logical reasoning: seeing how moving one tile changes where the others go.
Levels and settings
Easy
3 x 3 board. The challenge is to get one tile to its square.
Medium
4 x 4 board.
Hard
5 x 5 board, the longest one to solve.
Early years and Y1
Plain tiles, all red and one blue: move the blue one to the marked square.
Y2
Letter tiles, and the challenge is to get the yellow tile to its place.
Y3 to Y6
Number tiles. On Medium and Hard, the whole board has to be put in order.
How to play it in class
- Open Sliding puzzle and choose the year group and difficulty in the settings: the board and the challenge adjust themselves.
- If you like, change the board size, the challenge and whether tiles show numbers or letters.
- Choose two teams or a single player. In teams, each half of the screen gets the same scrambled board.
- Tap a tile next to the gap, or drag it in, and it slides across. The moves are counted underneath.
- The first team to get the tile home, or the board in order, wins.
Ways to play
In teams, at the same time
The screen splits in two and each team plays on its own half at the same time.
For one player
One child plays on the whole screen at their own pace: on the whiteboard, a computer or a tablet.
Frequently asked questions
Can Early years children play?
Yes. In Early years and Y1 the tiles are plain: all red and just one blue, which is the one to move to the marked square. No numbers or letters needed.
Can every board be solved?
Yes. The board is scrambled by moving the gap at random from the solved position, so it can always be solved.
Does the team with fewer moves win?
No, the first team to finish wins. Each team's moves are counted on screen, so you can talk about them afterwards.
Is it free?
You can play 5 free games without signing up. After that, a one-off payment of €9.99 unlocks all 78 games for ever, on all your devices. There is no subscription.
Do I need to install anything?
No. It opens in the browser of the interactive whiteboard, panel, computer, tablet or iPad. Once loaded, it also works offline.
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