Skills puzzles develop

Puzzles build visual discrimination, which is noticing small differences in shape, colour and edge. They also build spatial reasoning, such as rotating a piece in the mind before placing it.

Just as important is the habit of working in steps: sorting edges first, grouping by colour, testing a few options. Children who learn these strategies on puzzles often apply them to other tasks.

Game 1: Make Your Own Jigsaw

Players: 1 to 2 per puzzle. Ages: 4 to 9. Time: 20 minutes. Materials: an old card, postcard or child's drawing on thin card, scissors (adult use for younger children), an envelope.

The child draws or chooses a picture. An adult or older child cuts it into pieces with straight or wavy lines. The child swaps puzzles with a partner, solves it, then stores it in an envelope for next time.

Easier: 4 to 6 large pieces with straight cuts. Harder: 15 or more pieces with curved cuts, or a picture with large areas of the same colour.

Game 2: Tangram Silhouettes

Players: 1 to 4. Ages: 6 to 12. Time: 15 minutes. Materials: one tangram set per child (seven pieces cut from a paper square), outline cards showing shapes such as a cat, a boat or a house.

• Show an outline and ask children to cover it using all seven pieces.

• Pieces may be turned and flipped but must not overlap.

• When a child finishes, they draw a new outline for a partner.

• Easier: show the outline with some internal lines drawn in. Harder: give a smaller outline so pieces cannot be placed on top.

Supporting puzzle play

Choose puzzles slightly above the child's current level and resist finishing them for the child. Offer a strategy instead, such as 'Try finding all the straight edges first.' Keep a few puzzles within reach so children can return to them during quiet time.

For a class, a shared puzzle table works well. Put out a 100 to 200 piece jigsaw on Monday and let children add pieces when they finish other work. By Friday the group has completed it together, and children who rarely speak up often become the quiet experts on sky or edge pieces. Talk briefly about the strategies different children used before starting a new one.

Key points

• Teach one strategy at a time, such as edges first.

• Let children make puzzles as well as solve them.

• Step difficulty up gradually through piece count and cut shape.

• Praise the method, not only the finished picture.

Ready-made resources

Printable session plans and materials for this topic are available from EduTrend Contents: G4C-110 Thinking Games.

Photos: Ross Sneddon, Markus Spiske / Unsplash