KenKen: Puzzle For Elementary Math Students & You

I love puzzles specially those dealing with numbers. I have tried Sudoku and then Killer Samurai Sudoku. I then tried Kakuro but now I'm fed up with all of them! Just a couple of days ago I discovered this new puzzle that not only deals with numbers similar to Sudoku and Kakuro, but also that involve other math operations (addition, multiplication, subtraction, & division). This new puzzle is KenKen! I also found it to be very useful and entertaining to elementary math students. I introduced it to my son in the 2nd Grade and he absolutly loved it!

KenKen is a puzzle invented in 2004 by the Japanese math teacher Tetsuya Miyamoto (above picture), an innovator who says he practices "the art of teaching without teaching". He intends the puzzles as an instruction-free method of training the brain.

Like Sudoku, even though difficulty may vary from puzzle to puzzle, the rules for playing KenKen are fairly simple:

• For a X by X puzzle, fill in with numbers 1-X.
• Do not repeat a number in any row or column.
• The numbers in each heavily outlined set of squares, called cages, must combine (in any order) to produce the target number in the top corner of the cage using the mathematical operation indicated.
• Cages with just one box should be filled in with the target number in the top corner.
• A number can be repeated within a cage as long as it is not in the same row or column.
  

Now if you understand the simple rules, try to finish the above puzzle. I just quickly solved 4 squares. Try to find first how I figured out those numbers and then finish the game ;)

Read Also:
KenKen (KenKen.com)
KenKen (Wikipedia)