New Puzzle & Activity Books

Use activity and puzzle books to keep your kids off screens while engaging their brains in fun thinking and learning. Here’s a selection of new choices for 2019; activity books that will make a great addition to your summer learning plans.

2019 Summer Puzzle & Activity Books

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: A Puzzle Adventure by Aleksandra Artymowska
We’re enjoying this search and find and spot the difference puzzle book where readers help Captain Nemo search for adventure and treasure. Each full-page spread is intricately illustrated so there is a lot to notice. Then use these illustrations to solve the tasks. For example, find a diving helmet that is different from the others. Or find identical seashells. Fun, right?
Added to: Best Seek and Find Books for Kids

Where’s the Llama? by Paul Moran, illustrated by Gergely Forizs
A group of ten llamas in the Andes in Peru decide to see the world. Can you spot them in each of the world locations like Miami Beach, New York City’s modern art gallery, a fairground in Canada, a Cambodian jungle, an ice park in China, and more? Answers are in the back plus more things to spot. We really like the artwork in this book!
Added to: Best Seek and Find Books for Kids

Build-a-Story Cards Ocean Adventure by Barefoot Books
Use these colorful ocean-themed illustrations for many learning activities. You can look for opposites, tell stories focusing on the story elements (characters, setting, objects), hunt for shapes, count things on the cards, make a mathematical word problem, look for patterns, or use as a story starter. SO many possibilities, the least of which is storytelling and writing. Lucious, diverse illustrations!
Added to: Best Writing Prompts for Kids

Paint By Stickers Unicorns & Magic
My fine motor skills and big fingers clearly are not meant for this book. But there are many kids like these paint by sticker books. (Mine aren’t interested.) Basically, you’re given a sheet of numbered geometric stickers that you match to the numbered shapes on another page. Shapes like a mermaid, castle, and fairy.
Added to: Best Sticker Books for Kids

Girl Power Brain Boosters (DC Comics) by Sarah Parvis
This activity book is SO INVITING! Flip open the pages and you’ll discover colorful puzzles with your favorite DC superheroes. You’ll find mazes, word searches, picture puzzles, quizzes, coloring pages, and much more!
Added to: The Best Superhero Books for Kids and Best Activity Books for Kids Ages 9 to 12

Super Mazes in Space by Loic Mehee
Can you do these complex tangles of spaghetti-like mazes in outer space on other planets and galaxies? A few extra goodies like lift-the-flap and unfolding pages — this is so cool!

Read All About It! 10 Mini-Magazines to Make and Share by Kristyna Backzynski
The pages of writing prompts and ideas tear out and fold into mini-magazines which are thematic — cooking, safari, dreams, all about me, and more. This looks fun!

EyeLike Trucks: 400 Reusable Stickers
Do your kids love truck and construction and emergency vehicles? Then they’ll love this sticker book! The front and back covers are backgrounds for your truck stickers which you can peel on and off. Personally, I just love the stickers and would put them everywhere and on everything!
Added to: Recommended Sticker Books for Kids

Eyelike Pirates: 400 Reusable Stickers
I was a weird kid with no television and a big imagination that always wanted to pretend play pirates. Was it because I always made my sister be my prisoner? Hmmm… Anyway, pirates hold a special place in my heart. Almost all these stickers are photographs which I prefer (marine life, treasure, weapons, boats) except the characters who are cartoons. The inside covers of the book are backgrounds — a ship and an island — for you to place your stickers.

Be a Super Awesome Photographer by Henry Carroll
20 easy-to-read tips with clear example photos and related challenges will teach your child (and maybe you) how to improve their photography skills. For example, tip number six is “Make a scene”. It is about creating a mini-scene using a David Levinthal Untitled photo in his Wild West series as an example. The challenge is to get low enough to take a picture of your toys so that they look bigger. It also has kids use a lamp to create dramatic lighting. I recommend this as an invaluable resource for children who want to become more artistic in their photography.