Who Has Which Pet? A First Picture Logic Puzzle
- Grade band
- K-1
- Duration
- 25 minutes
- Skill
- Matching with yes/no picture clues
- Standards
- SL.1.2 — Ask and answer questions about key details in a text read aloud or information presented orally or through other media.
- MP.1 — Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.
- Materials
- Kid and pet picture cards (printable, included)
- Crayons or pencils
- Whiteboard or chart paper for a class-sized grid
Learning objectives
- Students will be able to identify the key detail in a clue read aloud (who, and which pet).
- Students will be able to apply a “yes” clue by marking ✓ and a “no” clue by marking ✗ on a picture grid.
- Students will be able to explain which pet is left over once the other matches are found.
Lesson procedure
- Warm-up (3 minutes) — I Do. Hold up two pet cards and one kid card. Say: “Ben does not have the dog.” Shake your head and push the dog card away. Then ask: “So which pet could Ben have?” Point out that a “not” clue tells you where something isn't.
- Model the grid (7 minutes) — I Do. Draw the 3×3 picture grid from Part 1 on the board (kids down the side, pets across the top). Read Clue 1 — “Ana has the dog.” — and put a big ✓ in Ana's dog box. Think aloud: “If Ana has the dog, nobody else can have the dog, and Ana can't have another pet.” Mark ✗ in the rest of Ana's row and the rest of the dog column.
- Solve together (7 minutes) — We Do. Read Clue 2 — “Ben does not have the fish.” Have students show thumbs-down and tell you where the ✗ goes. Ask: “Ben has only one box left. What goes there?” Then: “Which pet is left for Cal?” Students mark their own Part 1 grid as you go.
- Partner puzzle (5 minutes) — You Do. Read the two Part 2 clues aloud, twice each. Partners mark the snack grid and then circle each friend's snack.
- Show me (3 minutes) — Closure. Using the cut-apart cards, call up three volunteers to “hand out” the pets the way the clues say. Ask the class: “How do we know Cal has the fish? No clue said so!” (Because the dog and cat were already taken.)
Printable worksheet
Part 1: Who has which pet? Listen to each clue. Put a ✓ for YES. Put an ✗ for NO.
- Ana has the dog. 🐶
- Ben does NOT have the fish. 🐟
| 🐶dog | 🐱cat | 🐟fish | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 👧Ana | |||
| 👦Ben | |||
| 🧒Cal |
Part 2: Who has which snack? Listen to each clue. Mark the grid. Then circle each friend's snack.
- Cal has the banana. 🍌
- Ana does NOT have the cookie. 🍪
| 🍎apple | 🍌banana | 🍪cookie | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 👧Ana | |||
| 👦Ben | |||
| 🧒Cal |
Ana: 🍎 🍌 🍪 Ben: 🍎 🍌 🍪 Cal: 🍎 🍌 🍪
Part 3: Picture cards. Cut apart the 6 cards for the “hand out the pets” game.
Try it on your smartboard
Read the clues aloud — 1. Ana has the dog. 2. Ben does not have the fish. — then let students drag each pet to its owner. A wrong match wiggles back. Works with touch, a stylus, or a mouse.
👧 Ana
👦 Ben
🧒 Cal
Background for the teacher
This is the smallest possible logic grid: three people, three things, and a rule that each person gets exactly one thing. Adults usually solve it instantly, so it's easy to underestimate what young children are learning. The big idea is that a puzzle can tell you something it never says out loud — no clue mentions Cal, yet everyone ends up certain Cal has the fish. That “left-over” reasoning (process of elimination) is the foundation of every logic puzzle students will meet later.
At this age the hardest part is usually the word “not.” Many children hear “Ben does not have the fish” and remember only “Ben… fish.” Say the word “not” with emphasis, pair it with a head shake or thumbs-down, and have students repeat the clue back before marking anything. Reading the clues aloud (rather than asking students to read them) keeps the lesson about listening and reasoning, not decoding.
Differentiation
Support: Skip the grid at first and solve Part 1 with the physical cards only — hand out the dog, then physically take the fish away from Ben. Move to marking the grid once students can explain the card version.
Extension: Ask students to make up their own two clues for the snack puzzle that lead to a different answer, then test them on a partner.
ELL support: Pre-teach “yes / no / not” with gestures (nod, head shake, thumbs-down) and point to the matching picture every time you say a pet or snack name, so students can follow the clue without relying on the English words alone.
IEP/504 support: Provide the grid with the ✓ for Clue 1 already filled in, and let students answer by pointing to a picture card instead of writing or circling. Allow extra think time after each clue before marking.
Answer key (for teachers)
Part 1 — Pets. Ana: dog · Ben: cat · Cal: fish. (Clue 1 gives Ana the dog; Clue 2 rules out the fish for Ben, leaving the cat; Cal gets the last pet.)
Part 2 — Snacks. Ana: apple · Ben: cookie · Cal: banana. (Clue 1 gives Cal the banana; Clue 2 rules out the cookie for Ana, leaving the apple; Ben gets the cookie.)
Digital extension (optional)
For more practice with a grown-up, try a case in Sleuth Scouts. Each case is a picture-labeled logic grid where kids tap to mark ✓ and ✗ — the same moves from today's lesson. Start with the 3×3 Cadet cases and read the clues aloud together.