Puzzles are great toys for kids not only because they’re usually very affordable, but also because they help strengthen important brain skills, like attention, visual processing, planning and spatial reasoning. They’re especially important for younger children, because a foundation of strong cognitive skills makes learning easier later.
You can buy puzzles at the dollar store (or very cheap at places like Walmart and Target) and when your child gets bored with one puzzle, either swamp with a friend or add the stopwatch element to see how quickly they can finish the puzzle. Have them try to beat their own time. This will improve processing speed, which is an important cognitive tool – especially once they get to school and start taking timed tests.
Here are some cool puzzle facts:
• Jigsaw puzzles originated in the 1760s when maps were pasted onto wood and dissected.
• In 2008, more than 15,000 people in Ravensburg, Germany assembled a nearly 6,500-square-foot puzzle in town square. The puzzle had 1,141,800 pieces.
• In the 1930s, puzzle manufacturer Einson Freeman convinced a toothbrush company to give away a puzzle with every toothbrush purchase. More than one million toothbrushes sold.
Dr. Ken Gibson, author of “Unlock the Einstein Inside; Applying New Brain Science to Wake Up the Smart In Your Child” (free as an ebook at www.UnlockTheEinsteinInside.com) suggests watching your child do a puzzle in order to gain some insight into which brain skills are already strong, and which need to be strengthened. “And the cognitive skills needed to assemble an age-appropriate puzzle in a timely manner – like visual processing, logic and reasoning, attention and processing speed – need to be strong to avoid issues in science and math later.”
• Puzzle strategies: Here are 4 tips to help your child finish a puzzle:
http://ezinearticles.com/?Jigsaw-Puzzle-Strategy—4-Main-Routes-to-Finishing-That-Puzzle&id=3442806
• Free puzzles online: Lots of free jigsaw puzzles for all ages that kids can do online:
http://www.thekidzpage.com/onlinejigsawpuzzles/animals/index.html
• Free “Games for Skills” Chart: Find out which common, inexpensive games build certain cognitive skills at www.UnlockTheEinsteinInside.com.
Some brain-training centers are also offering free or discounted cognitive skills testing (normally like $200 I think) for National Puzzle Day in the weeks before the 29th. I’m not sure which ones are participating, but start by going to www.LearningRx.com and do a search by your zip code.
If they’re not participating in the free or reduced testing for National Puzzle Day, ask to be put on the email list. (March is Brain Awareness Month, which is another good time to catch discounted testing at brain-training centers.)
