Puzzles are excellent learning tools for children as they promote the development of numerous skills and mental growth. Research shows that puzzles activate our brains while relaxing us psychologically by putting our brains into a meditative state. Some of the vital learning skills that puzzles can help to develop include problem solving, hand to eye coordination, cognitive skills, and fine motor development. Jigsaw puzzles provide a great starting point. However, with colossal choices out there, choosing the best for your kid can be an overwhelming task.
While the 1000 piece puzzle is quite popular, they can be time-consuming. 500 piece puzzles are in the middle of the spectrum, and you can finish in one afternoon. It is suitable for children with at least six years. The children develop their problem-solving strategy according to color, shape or object. Below are some handy tips for choosing puzzle.
Degree of difficulty
Most adults have the physical and mental capacity to construct complex and hard puzzles. For children below the age of two years, 15 to 80 piece puzzles are suitable for kids between the age of 2 and five years. Children between the age of 6 and 12 years can handle 800 to 1000 piece puzzles.
Puzzles come in various piece counts. The most common include 300, 500, and 1000 piece puzzles.500 piece puzzles are an ideal choice for both children and adults.
While choosing puzzles for children should be based on developing their ability, the choice for an adult is based on enthusiasm of players. Aim to choose a challenging puzzle.However, it should not seem impossible for the players to solve.
The degree of difficulty depends on several things, such as the number of pieces. Some people think that 500 piece puzzles are twice as difficult as 1000 pc puzzle. But that is not the case. 1000 piece puzzles are four times as hard as 500 piece puzzle. 2000 piece puzzle is 16 times as difficult as 500 piece puzzles.
Artwork
The coloring of a jigsaw can make it simpler or more difficult. This means that a puzzle that has a picture that can be divide into let’s say four colors is much simpler than a puzzle that is colored totally in one color. Similarly, a painting puzzle tends to be more difficult than a photograph.
Some artwork, especially in bigger pieces, can be very easy to put together. Similarly, puzzles that have numerous small areas with different colors are easier to solve because you can quickly recognize individual pieces. Puzzles that have large areas of one color are very difficult and nearly impossible to piece together. In this case you have to use trial and error.
Piece size
Puzzles come in different sizes. It is much easier to put together large pieces because your brain can process more clues about where they fit in. Puzzles that have smaller dimensions also have smaller pieces, which make it difficult to piece together. If you have two puzzles that have the same artwork and number of pieces but different piece sizes, the smaller piece would be more difficult to solve. This is because the pieces would feature smaller artwork and details.
Shape of Each Piece
Easy puzzles have grid cut or matching corners on both sides. Pieces that have matching corners one way are medium-difficult, while pieces that do not have matching corners are the most difficult.
Importance of Puzzles
Solving Puzzles is a very important exercise for both adults and children. First, it improves memory-enhancing mental speed and short memory. Puzzles are among the best cognitive exercise. Another thing is that solving puzzles improves your problem-solving skills. This means that you can easily identify problems and find suitable solutions.
Did you know you can enhance your IQ by doing puzzles? Solving puzzles improves reasoning and memory. But that is not all. Solving puzzles can help prevent some diseases such as Alzheimer’s diseases and Dementia. Crossword puzzles reduce cell damage to people with this disease. Therefore, solving puzzles is not only beneficial for people suffering from brain problems but also it is helpful in prevention of mental related illnesses. What’s more, is that puzzles reduce stress and enhance productivity at work.
Puzzles are also helpful for children’s development. They improve concentration, fine motor skills, and hand-eye coordination.
