Puzzles & Activities for Kids

Self-Made Puzzles

• Use familiar objects to create homemade puzzles. Take a picture of a family pet, your house or a favorite toy. Print the picture on a piece of paper. Attach the paper to a thin piece of cardboard for sturdiness. Trace around cookie cutters or a lid to create several parts to the picture. Cut along the traced lines to separate the picture into pieces. Mix the pieces and place them on a table or another flat surface. Allow the child to put the pieces together. As your child advances in her puzzle-solving skills, mix the pieces from more than one puzzle in a pile. To further advance her skill, mix two or more pictures of the same item in one pile.

Family Album Memories

• Turn memory skills into a game using your family photo album. Use a photo-editing program on your computer to make several family photos the same size. Select pictures of each family member as a child and as a grown-up. Print the pictures and mix them up. Lay them face down on a table or on the floor. Tell your child to pick up a picture and try to match it to another one. In addition to remembering where each picture is, he must figure out who the childhood pictures are. If he cannot identify the person in the picture, give him clues.

Detective

• Turn everyday objects into thinking puzzles for your child. On a piece of paper, write clues about objects in her home. For example, describe the family dog as "has brown eyes", "has black hair", "likes to lay on the couch". Include toys, furniture, people and other items. Write at her reading comprehension level. Give the sheet to her and ask her to name each of the items using the clues. Let her draw a picture of each answer.