Did you know that by the time the pregnancy test shows a positive line, your baby’s brain has already begun forming? Yes, the most complex part of the human body begins developing a mere two weeks after conception and continues to grow till the age of 25.
Among all the organs, the development of the brain is the most vital for obvious reasons – the brain controls every aspect of our life after all. There are critical periods in the growth of a child’s brain. Every parent tries to ensure that their child receives the best nutrition and avoids infections and toxins so as to ensure the best possible development of their kid’s brain.
Can playing games help in the brain development of children?
Scientific studies have proven that playing games helps in the intellectual, physical and emotional development of a child. Since 90% of the human brain develops within the age of 5, it is important to include activities that foster creativity, motivation, problem-solving skills and self-regulation. Mindful playing helps in development of fine motor skills along with cognitive skills in children. The lessons learnt through games help children grow into well-balanced individuals who have healthy self-esteem.
Are puzzles good for brain development?
Did you know that playing with puzzles is a great way for the development of a child’s brain? Yup… you read that right! Playing with puzzles is not just a fun activity to keep your munchkins off the screen and out of trouble. Puzzles help in improving visual perception, increasing IQ and enhancing memory. Playing with puzzles is a surefire way to keep both sides of your brain happy! The logical left hemisphere and the creative right hemisphere have to join forces to crack puzzles.
How do puzzles help in brain development?
Puzzles play a significant role in the brain development of children in a variety of ways.
1. Visual Perception
Visual perception refers to the brain’s ability to understand and process the information seen through the eyes. The eyes send a lot of information to the brain and this information must be sorted and interpreted appropriately. Visual perception is an important pre-literacy skill that helps a child learn reading, writing and arithmetic. Puzzles improve visual perception in different ways such as:
Improving visual memory, which is the ability to remember what is seen.
Acquiring visual discrimination, which is the ability to identify similarities and differences.
Promoting visual comprehension or understanding what one sees.
Distinguishing between different shapes.
Improving visual analysis and synthesis, that is recognising patterns and
Improving visual closure, which is the ability to figure out the whole object on seeing a part of it.
2. Cognitive development
Cognitive skills are the core functions of the brain that help a child in learning languages, improving memory and attention span and build thinking and reasoning abilities. Known as cognitive functions, these include problem-solving skills, spatial awareness and critical thinking. Solving age-appropriate puzzles helps children use their logic to solve the problem posed by the puzzle. Research has also proven that solving puzzles raises the levels of dopamine, which is a neurotransmitter that aids memory and learning abilities.3. Development of fine and gross motor skills
Jigsaw puzzles and other board games are perfect for developing fine and gross motor skills. As toddlers try to play with the small puzzle pieces or beads or wooden knobs, they learn to use their fingers and hands in precision. Rotating, picking up and fitting pieces improve dexterity as well as hand-eye coordination. Their grip strength is built gradually as they learn to grasp pieces better. As children grow, they can be introduced to larger puzzles which require more movements of the body, like walking, jumping etc. These help in strengthening bigger muscles.
4. Developing mathematical thinking and perception
How do puzzles help in the development of mathematical skills in children? The American Journal of Play reports that six basic math skills can be developed through puzzles.
Classification: Kids learn to sort according to shape, size and colour.
Magnitude: Kids can figure out how big or small a part of the puzzle is.
Enumeration: Children begin to understand the number of pieces that are missing.
Dynamics: Children learn to join, take apart or rotate shapes to solve the puzzle.
Pattern & Shape: Children learn basic geometrical shapes as well as to recognise and predict visual patterns.
Spatial Relations: Children learn size and ratio informally by fitting pieces in jigsaw puzzles. They understand the alignment of objects relative to each other.
5. Developing eye-hand coordination
Acquiring hand-eye coordination is what helps children perform important tasks such as writing, tying shoelaces and so on. Threading and lacing puzzles, jigsaw puzzles and the Melissa and Doug wooden puzzles are ideal for improving hand eye coordination.
6. Increasing executive function skills of the brain
While interacting with other kids is important, it is also important for babies and toddlers to spend some time on their own. Solitary playtime encourages thinking and solving a task using one’s own wits. Playing with puzzles do not require constant adult supervision or the inclusion of other children.
Independent playing begins as early as at 4 months of age. Toddlers around 2-3 years may sometimes prefer to play by themselves. This improves the executive functioning skills of their brain. Executive functioning skills are the relatively challenging abilities that involve abstract thinking. These skills help a person focus on a task, plan, prioritise, work towards a goal, self-regulate behaviour and emotions and adapt to new and unexpected situations.
Through playing age-appropriate puzzles alone, kids learn to manage their time, utilise their working memory, plan their strategy and prioritise the use of resources they have. The development of executive functioning skills is directly proportional to the growth of the prefrontal cortex. Thus, playing with puzzles literally helps in the growth of the child’s brain.
Children also learn to appreciate quiet time and learn to enjoy themselves without external stimulation.
7. Improving attention span
Puzzles are an excellent means of developing a child’s fickle attention span. Solving a puzzle requires time and attention. Being a fun activity, a child’s brain is motivated to keep trying to solve the puzzle without feeling stressed out.
Since children have lesser attention span than adults, introducing puzzle time on a regular basis will help them focus better. Cracking puzzles regularly will not only be a great bonding activity but also slowly increases the concentration power of a child’s brain.
8. Teaching problem solving skills
Puzzles require logical and critical thinking in addition to analysing information at hand. This is the first step to solving problems that crop up later on in life. Children who play puzzle games learn to patiently analyse the challenge they face and also to think out of the box to tackle an issue.
9. Building confidence and flexibility
Confidence and self-esteem are important traits that enable children to stand up for themselves, cope with challenges and have a positive growth mindset. These qualities help children grow into well-adjusted adults too.
When a child completes puzzles, she enjoys a sense of achievement and feels confident about her capabilities. It is important to provide age-appropriate puzzles that challenge the child and not frustrate a child.
Puzzles and brain development in children
Puzzles go a long way in making childhood happy, enjoyable and instructive. Investing in puzzles is a great way to ensure the holistic growth of your child’s brain naturally.
