INSPIRATION CORNER
In pieces about puzzles!
Melanie Pilcher, quality and standards manager at the Alliance, takes us on a journey through the history of puzzles, the ways they can enhance early learning and shares some ‘puzzling’ activities
Melanie is responsible for resources that support best practice in all matters relating to the EYFS.
‘Willingness to be puzzled is a valuable trait to cultivate, from childhood to advanced inquiry’ - Noam Chomsky
Puzzles have been an early childhood staple for centuries; they’re one of the few childhood toys that ‘grow’ with us. The complexity may change, but the challenge remains the same: to problem solve, concentrate, and complete!
The first tactile puzzles appeared in 2250BCE, but it wasn’t
until 1790 that the jigsaw puzzle as we know it was created. European map makers pasted maps on to card and cut them into small pieces to teach about geography. In the late 1800s, puzzles were made of wood and cut with a jigsaw, which gave them their name. Jigsaw puzzles have been popular ever since as an inexpensive, reusable and enduring resource.
How do puzzles support children’s learning and development?
From birth, the growing brain solves puzzles as part of our cognitive development. From the time a young baby reaches out to grasp a toy for the first time, the brain is making connections.
Puzzles help to activate both the left and right hemispheres of the brain, encouraging both sides to work together. As we grow and develop, puzzles continue to stimulate the brain by lowering stress levels and improving memory. Emerging studies are also showing that puzzles have the potential to improve brain health and prevent the neuron decline that can lead to dementia.
Puzzles are such an integral part of our continuous provision that it's easy to take them for granted. However, they should always be intentionally incorporated into our educational programmes. Not only do they stimulate each of the characteristics of effective learning, but the skills being honed support their all-round development by:
- developing ‘problem-solving’ and ‘critical-thinking’ skills, as well as encouraging children to ‘have a go’ as they ‘play and explore’ (EYFS para 1.15)
- building pattern recognition and memory using gross and fine motor skills
- giving children autonomy over choice and technique
- enhancing visual perception as they interpret and make sense of what they are seeing
- hand-eye coordination
- early maths skills
- increasing attention span
- encouraging independent play
- shape recognition
- encouraging personal, social and emotional skills, including self-regulation, turn taking and self-confidence
Jigsaw puzzles also support children’s schemas, which are the repeated patterns of behaviour that help children to make sense of their world. The most obvious of these is the ‘connection schema’, when children join or attach things together. Puzzles that fit inside a frame, such as shape sorters or peg puzzles, support the ‘enclosure schema’. Educators can also observe schemas such as enveloping, orientation, positioning and transforming as children follow their natural impulses when playing with puzzles.
Reflect for a moment…
- Do we recognise and value the full potential of puzzles?
- Do we regularly change our puzzles to provide increasing challenge for young children?
- Do puzzles in our setting have an identified learning intent?
- Do we support and extend children’s mastery of puzzles, for example, using technology or exploring 3D puzzles?
- Do we recognise how puzzles support both babies’ and children’s emergent maths skills, and provide opportunities for this? For example, spatial awareness, space, size, shape, and measure?
- Do we care for our puzzles, replacing those that look a bit ‘tired’ or have missing pieces?
- Do we recognise the learning that’s happening when children choose to play with a puzzle?
Celebrate National Puzzle Day on Monday 29 January
National Puzzle Day is an annual event, so why not join in this year and dedicate a whole day to puzzling in your setting? You don’t have to restrict yourselves to jigsaw puzzles either; there are so many different types of puzzles just waiting to be solved!
Here are just a few activities to inspire you:
Have a puzzled snack time
Cut pitta bread into different shapes that can be fitted back together before being eaten. Or create a shape in the middle that fits a carrot stick or apple slice; vary the size and shape, taking care that smaller pieces don’t present a choking hazard.
For more challenge, create a fruit-and-veg caterpillar with segments that children can recreate. It will help children to recognise pattern and sequence – both of which are important maths foundations.
Make your own jigsaws
Let children select a picture from a magazine that interests them – better still, let them paint their own design. Fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination will be tested as children cut their chosen pictures into four or six pieces. Be aware that some children will be horrified at the idea of ‘destroying’ their artwork, so make sure they have options.
Puzzle time challenge
Challenge your children to race against the clock to complete a puzzle. Don’t make it too complicated and select puzzles that your children are familiar with. After giving them time to practise, set a timer and let the challenge begin. Record their best times and tap into the teachable moments as you talk about minutes, seconds and technique!
Baby shape-and-sort
Make sure that your youngest children can join in the fun. The two-way interaction between baby and educator promotes communication when shape sorters are being played with. Whenever the baby posts a shape into the correct hole, they begin to anticipate a response from the adult, usually a clap and a cheer.
Puzzle the week away
Introduce a different type of puzzle each day. Remember that there are many types, including word searches, mazes, Rubik’s cubes, crosswords, and many more besides. Get creative, changing and adapting to suit different age groups.
In almost every home and early years setting, puzzles are a staple of toy boxes and resource cupboards. In an age dominated by tech and plastic toys, we take the learning opportunities and progression of traditional puzzles for granted: every child will progress from the most basic chunky puzzle shape sorters and simple wooden board puzzles to jigsaw puzzles with more pieces. There are as many different types of puzzles as there are potential pieces!