Jigsaw puzzles are probably those games that will never disappear. Besides being fun, they help people develop their skills. Jigsaw puzzles come in different sizes, with different number of pieces, in different colors, shapes and best of all they put together beautiful collectable pictures. Some students find it hard to work on puzzles but once they develop the different skills they need, not only will they want to start building a new one, they will most certainly improve their concentration time, their ability to identify shapes, they will be a lot more patient and they willl be able to organize their thoughts or ideas in a clearer way. What time is best for a jigsaw puzzle? We would recommend including a jigsaw puzzle in class as a rewarding activity. Try it, on your student free time or as an after school activity, while parents arrive. Children that finish first or have been well behaved during the week can be your winners during class time too. You can even divide them into teams and have them play as a group; the team that finishes first will be rewarded. If you are already working with teams, whichever team gets more points, stars or stickers can be rewarded by putting a jigsaw puzzle together. Not only can you use them as rewards you can use them whenever your kids are very distracted, bored or just need a change of activity to calm them down. Start with puzzles that have few big pieces. Once your students feel they can handle more pieces, let them try with bigger ones. Remember that students need achievable activities, if they feel it is too hard they will probably loose interest or end up hating puzzles. Work your puzzles from the lowest level of difficulty to the highest one. Try to have your students work with the same level at the same time, so that students that fall behind do not feel less. You do not want unmotivated students in your class. What puzzles are best? If you are going to include them in your class, you have to take your student age into account. Little children love cartoon pictures and colorful ones. Older children do not mind pictures but do care about difficulty. Try some Melissa and Doug puzzles they come with all kinds of pictures, shapes and sizes. Just remember the more pieces it has the higher the difficulty gets. If puzzles are something you think it is worth trying but not in school, recommend them to parents. Let parents know that their kids will develop good skills with puzzles. Tell them puzzles can work as a fun family activity and that, it will help their kids develop strategies, patience, organization, shape and color recognition, and achievable goals among other things. Do not forget to congratulate your students when they finish a puzzle. Have small prizes or significant ones, all prizes work as long as you make them feel you recognize their effort. Motivation works with everyone especially when they feel they have achieved a difficult task. Puzzles are great! Help your students enjoy them but better yet, try to get the best out of this brilliant game.
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