Educational Puzzle

Below are some of the biggest advantages of puzzles.

• Everyone loves puzzles. Humans were made to problem solve, and we feel very satisfied and rewarded when we do solve that problem.
• Puzzles are probably the most efficient way to be motivated to problem solve and get that reward. They’re tiny, self-contained, with simple rules and a very reachable objective.
• We learn through problem solving. Puzzles are great at teaching and strengthening the specific skills needed for it.
• Even better, puzzles help learn critically. The best puzzles make the puzzler realize, by themselves, that their previous understanding was wrong or lacking. Because they can’t solve this next puzzle with their previous understanding of the topic, so they have to update it. They have to learn and grow. Which is much stronger than someone telling them they must learn something.
• Connected to that, children can play these puzzles on their own. Nobody needs to be around looking over their shoulder. They know if they’ve done it correctly themselves, and there are no fixed answers they can sneakily search on Google.
• They are cheap and easy to use. Simply print some papers and perhaps prepare some material. If you have any sort of pencil, you can play. (For some puzzles, merely having hands is already enough!)
• Especially for the youngest children, we try to make puzzles physical and visual. Actually move pieces around on a board; actually get a recognizable drawing out of it when you’re done. This is much more interesting to them than anything else.

Below are some of the common disadvantages of education through puzzles.

• No matter how physical and exciting we make them, puzzles are still very much a “sit down with pen and paper”-thing. Variety is the spice of life. Many kids will want to move around, do other things, challenge their brain or body in other ways.
• Because puzzles are such a pure measurement of a single skill, their difficulty varies greatly from person to person. A kid with a bit more math knowledge might find a Sudoku extremely easy, boring even. Another kid in the same class, with the same age, might think that same puzzle is dark magic and impossible to solve. There’s a chance you pick a puzzle that’s too hard or too easy right now, which you (or your children/students) find useless.
• There is less variety in a bundle of puzzles of the same type, than in, say, a game or even a quiz. In the end, you are doing the same kind of challenge over and over.
• We offer fewer puzzles in Educational Puzzles than in other puzzle products. Because they are harder to make, because the “levels” already change it up all the time, and simply because at some point you’ve exhausted the whole topic/skill and there’s no point continuing.

You always get a PDF file. When extracted, it contains

• An explanation of the rules and any setup needed.
• All the puzzles in order.
• An answer sheet (and/or hint sheet if applicable).
• A material sheet (in case it’s a physical puzzle that requires cutting).