Monday, September 22, 2008

Types of puzzles

The large number of puzzles that have been created can be divided into categories, for example a maze is a type of tour puzzle. Other categories include

construction puzzles,

stick puzzles,

tiling puzzles,

transport puzzles,

disentanglement puzzles,

sliding puzzles,

logic puzzles,

word puzzles,

picture puzzles,

jigsaw puzzles,

lock puzzles,

folding puzzles,

combination puzzles and mechanical puzzles.

A meta-puzzle is a puzzle which unites or incorporates elements of other puzzles. It is often found in puzzlehunts.

Find a Reason to Smile More with Fun Sites

Are we losing out the fun from our lives? Is the mad rat race squeezing out the humor from our lives? Humor is the all essential ingredient for leading a healthy, positive life.The monotony of existence, the same old routine of everyday-sprinkle humor onto it and the drudgery of life becomes more bearable. When we are hanging out with friends and having a good laugh, for those few precious moments we are able to leave behind all the worries, pains, and pressures of existence. So what do you do when you are badly in need of a good laugh? As it is the medium we turn to for almost everything, the answer here is again the internet. And the internet has plenty of sites that will bring an instant smile to your faces. Fun sites, as they are categorized as, are a treasure trove of humor videos, pictures, games, puzzles, riddles and tons more, that will entertain you and captivate you.

Once hooked on to these sites, you would not even realize how time will fly. It is like hanging out with your buddies again, laughing, enjoying and having fun. There is so much to choose from at these sites, from funny videos to music to games and more. Once you find yourself in the world of fun sites it is hard to let go. These sites have a legion of dedicated fans that are growing everyday. Sensing their popularity among net users, there are now tons of fun sites available and more are being added every day.

Fun sites not only provide hours of amusement for you, they are also a forum where you can meet and interact with other fans of such fun sites. Upload your funny videos and share it with other users or challenge them to a game and you will no longer feel starved for fun company.

Fun sites not only provide entertainment but can be educational too. There are a number of fun sites available for children that make learning fun, through games, puzzles etc. Do you need your daily dose of entertainment news? Well fun sites cater to that too. All that you need to drive the blues away, you will find at these fun sites.

As they say it costs nothing to smile, but it will brighten up your day, so smile more and spread the joy around.Fun sites give you the opportunity to bring the humor back to your lives and more and more people are turning to these sites to get their daily dose of fun. You can jump on the bandwagon too and enjoy the joyride -that is fun sites.

Jigsaw Puzzles, A Great Gift With A Lot To Offer!

Here comes the holiday season again, gasp! That means chasing all over town searching for that perfect gift for everyone on your list, fighting with the crowds for the latest "it" toy or newest electronic thing-a-ma-jig, right?

Why not try a different approach this year, and give some- thing special to your family and friends? Jigsaw puzzles could be the answer!

My love of jigsaw puzzles comes from my Grandmother.

My grandmother lived in a very small town in northern Minnesota where the moquitos out number the people. It certainly was a boring place to spend a summer vacation as a kid. What was worse I realized, Grandma didn't have cable TV! Out of sheer boredom, I sat down with her while she worked a puzzle.

Grandma was smart, she had an extra chair and some cookies waiting for me to join her.

There is one puzzle I remember clearly, it was a picture of a red and white quilt and it was huge! It must have been 2000 pieces and it took up the entire dinning room table. I was sure there was no way anyone could ever get that whole puzzle put together, it was simply too hard. It took some time but after I found a few pieces and had completed one square of the quilt I was hooked. Every day I looked forward to working on the puzzle, and every piece found was a triumph! It took a few weeks, but we finally finished that puzzle, and all of Grandma's famous sugar cookies too!

I felt proud of what we accomplished and that I was able to help. We left it on the table for a couple of days to admire our work. Soon I discovered the rest of Grandma's puzzle collection and I couldn't wait to dig into a new puzzle!

Looking back on this now as an adult and a mom myself, I realize that this simple pastime gave me many things. At first I didn't think it was possible to complete the jigsaw puzzle, but once it was done I felt a great sense of pride and accomplish- ment. More importantly, the real gift was quality time, great conversation and fantastic memories of my Grandmother. ( And I still have her cookie recipe!)

So before you rush out to buy the latest "batteries not included" flashing light gadget, take a second look at this old fashioned gift. You may get more back then you expected.

Tips to make a jigsaw puzzle a hit this holiday season

Jigsaw puzzles are more fun when they are part of a bigger plan.

Give tickets to your local zoo with an animal puzzle, or tickets to an aquarium with an underwater puzzle.

Find a puzzle of your next vacation destination, or someplace you would like to visit someday.

Start a new family tradition and work a puzzle together.

Look for a puzzle with a fantastic winter scene, or holiday celebration to get you into that Christmas spirit. Turn off the television and turn on some Christmas music and enjoy some time with your family.

Jigsaw puzzles can add to a collection.

Perhaps someone you know collects dragons, dolphins, or roosters for instance, look for a puzzle with those things and you've got a great gift.

Jigsaw puzzles can be used to decorate your home.

Jigsaw puzzles can be easily glued together and hung up as artwork. Keep the theme of your children's rooms, and your dining room in mind as you look for a puzzle, you can fill your home with art work you made yourself!

Things to look for when purchasing a jigsaw puzzle:

1) Picture :

I think the most important thing to look for when purchasing a jigsaw puzzle is the picture itself. Puzzles are meant to be fun, so find a picture that makes you smile! Have fun!

2) Size and Piece count:

You should pay attention to the piece count, make sure it is appropriate to the age and skill of the puzzler. 500 pieces may be to hard for your 6 year old to do solo, but may be perfect for the family to do together.

The size of the completed puzzle is important. Make sure the area you will assemble the puzzle will hold the puzzle and have extra room for the un assembled puzzle pieces.

3) Quality:

A quality puzzle is well worth the price! Vibrant colors, tightly fitting pieces etc. will make assembling the puzzle more enjoyable.

It is frustrating to have the paper fall off the cardboard of a puzzle piece or to have thin pieces that break easily.

4) Challenge level:

While choosing a puzzle, keep in mind that a puzzle of a solid color or repeating pattern may make it more difficult then a puzzle with a variety of colors. Example, a puzzle of black cat on a black blanket even though it is only 500 pieces may be extra challenging.

Keep this in mind, but remember a puzzle is supposed to be a challenge!

5) Specialty Puzzles:

The first thing that comes to mind when you think of a puzzle may be a rectangle shape with a picture of a field of flowers. If this sounds boring to you keep looking! There are many unique puzzles out there.

Shaped puzzles are puzzles that have a unique border shape.

Such as in the shape of a dog or of an eagle in flight. These puzzles offer a a challenge to those who always work the border of a puzzle first. Round puzzles are some of my favorites to work because of the unusual way the pieces are cut!

Glow In The Dark puzzles look like a standard puzzle but parts of the design will glow in the dark making them a great choice to glue and save!
Tips for getting started:

Now that you have a puzzle, and a place to work it, you are a little overwhelmed by looking at that huge pile of pieces. Now what?

1) Lighting A bright place to work will reduce eye strain and make for a more enjoyable experience.

2) Sort your pieces I like to turn all the pieces right side up first as well as sorting the edge pieces right away. I have also found that using boxes or small containers to sort the different colors into is very helpful! ( The boxes of previously worked puzzles that you have glued together to display are perfect for this.)

3) Enlist help I have found that it is nearly impossible to walk past someone who is working a puzzle without stopping to find a few pieces myself.

Puzzles are a great way to pass time and you may have a wonderful conversation too!

4) Puzzle roll ups If you need to use the dining room table again, and you are not finished with your puzzle yet, don't despair! A puzzle roll up will help you move and store your unfinished puzzle for another day! Puzzle roll ups are available in a variety of sizes.

5) Puzzle Glue Once you have completed your puzzle it can be heart breaking to take it apart again. If you really like the design, or just want to show off your hard work, it is a simple task to glue the puzzle together and hang it on your wall! A good puzzle glue will dry clear so it doesn't distort the beauty of the colors. Puzzle glue is brushed on, and when it is dry you can frame the puzzle, or hang it up as is. Keep the decor of your home in mind when you are buying puzzles, and you can fill your home with art you made yourself!

6) Afterwards...

If you have completed a puzzle and don't wish to work it again here are several ideas for you. Pass it on! Know a friend that enjoys puzzles? Exchange your completed puzzles with them! Donate puzzles to local schools, churches, nursing homes etc.

Crossword Puzzles For Active Minds

Use it or lose it, most definitely applies to our brains. How many of us actually remember all we were taught at school. I know some would say that much of what we learned was pointless. I guess I don't really need to know how many millions of miles away the sun and the moon are.

One thing I do know is that most of the elderly people I come into contact with, who still have a spring in their step, have one or two things in common. They have kept their mind and bodies active.

Completing crossword puzzles is a popular way to keep the mind active in ones latter years. Crossword puzzles certainly keep our brains ticking over and the more it's used the better we become. The great thing with crosswords is that you can start work on easier puzzles and eventually progress to the more challenging.

Crossword puzzles are not just great mind activators for the elderly. Students can also benefit from themed crossword puzzles, as they are a great way to review a recently learned subject.

Word puzzles can and do sharpen the mind. As with anything, the more you do, the easier it gets. Keeping our minds and bodies active is a good way to ensure we are doing our best to prepare ourselves for a long and enjoyable retirement.

We are told that our brains have a tremendous capacity for learning and storing new information. Why not give it a regular work out with a good crossword puzzle and ensure that you are “Using It”.

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Teaching Reading To Your Child

One of the most effective teaching methods for children is to use materials that the child has a natural interest in. Teaching reading to your child is no exception. Our kids (as I’m sure most kids) have a natural interest in animals. Right from the beginning we had great success using their natural curiosity and affection for animals to teach the basic formations and sounds that are associated with the letters and pictures. This naturally progressed into using the same to aid in teaching reading to them as well.

There are several children’s magazines available for you that are dedicated to the animal child connection. As our kids got a bit older we even subscribed to a couple of the magazines for them. You talk about generating an interest! Just wait till the kids realize that every so often the mailman brings them a present. They couldn’t wait and it certainly helped us with teaching reading to both of the kids. If your kids, are struggling to read or maybe struggling to get interested in reading, use a tool that they are naturally interested in. For us, the animal stories and magazines were a great way for us to get started teaching reading.

Find a magazine that seems to fit the age level of your child. For younger children, I recommend one that has big bright colorful pictures with interesting facts. One of our favorite children’s magazines is Zoobooks. Some even have interactive puzzles and games the child can play and learn. A simple search on the internet of “children + animals + magazine” will turn up many choices for you.

Teaching reading to your child is 100 times easier when you employ the use of a subject that children naturally want to know more about. In fact, one thing that we discovered was that once the one of the magazines had been used and was no longer current, they made great tools for the kids to cut some of the pictures out and make bulletin boards, calendars, and it made a great start in getting to the next level of reading by learning to make up their own stories and adventures using the pictures they cut out and the information from the magazines!

Whatever you choice of tools you are considering using to teach reading to your child, I highly recommend the use of some good children’s magazines.

Giving Educational Toys

Toys that provide educational value as well as fun are generally more valuable to children and will benefit them better in the long run. If a gift proves to be practical and useful to the recipient, we as gift givers also get a special sense of satisfaction and fulfillment, knowing that we gave a good present that should serve its purpose fully. Lots of educational toys abound in shopping malls and on the Internet, and selecting the appropriate toys for your children can prove to be a chore if you don’t know what you’re doing.

Here are some helpful hints and tips to guide you in looking for the best educational toys for your toddler:

Let them puzzle it out – Puzzles are always favorites of children, whether 2 years old or 13. If your child is 2 years old or below, then alphabet puzzles and similar items would be best, as well as numbers, colors, or shapes-related puzzles. Audio and time-related puzzles work best for children between 3 to 5 years old. Older kids will prefer puzzles related to word forming, maps, space, and math.

Arts and Crafts – Develop your child’s creativity by giving them arts and crafts kits and supplies. Things like clay, drawing and coloring books, colored pens and pencils, painting sets, and even a basic children’s digital camera will work wonders. These gifts will allow them to use and develop their knowledge, imagination, and coordination.

Books – Books are never out of style, and the selection of children’s books that are available today keep getting better and better. They are just filled to the brim with valuable information and are arranged in a way that will be sure to provide your kids with hours and hours of reading pleasure and fun, while getting the knowledge that will later on prove to be invaluable. There are children’s books about science, math, reading, grammar, colors, shapes, etc. Older kids will also love inspirational biographies of famous historical figures.

CDs and DVDs – Another favorite gift item for children that’s sure to be a hit is a CD or DVD filled with lots of fun and knowledge. Easy-to-follow and catchy songs, audio storybooks, rhymes, and much more can be found in these multimedia marvels for children. They can even start learning a second language, or know all sorts of fun and interesting trivia.

Block Them – Countless blocks of all sizes, shapes, and colors are easily found in your local shopping mall, toy store, or in specialty shops on the World Wide Web. Blocks are actually the first educational toys, and probably also the first to be played with by your children even when he or she is still a baby. They are invaluable for teaching kids all about the alphabet, colors, shapes, and numbers. Of course, blocks are also important tools for developing a child’s imagination, allowing him or her to freely build and stack according to his own whims and designs.

Board Games – There are plenty of great board games for children of all ages to play and learn with. Aside from providing them hours of fun and entertainment while learning, board games are also a great way for parents and children to spend quality time together. Parents can teach their kids all about fair play, following the rules, how to create strategies for winning, etc.

Our Skillful Skulls

It’s rather hard to imagine our lives without our minds, for I seriously doubt we could imagine anything. We would probably resemble all those mindless creepy creatures in us we need to nourish everyday; but since we realize we need them to exist, we shouldn’t mind.
However, I still don’t mind saying that a mind without an imagination will always remain a creepy thing...for without our imagination, we wouldn’t know what to do with the knowledge in our minds. Our minds and imaginations, when co-operating, make a very highly efficient and exceptional team – we blazon forth with an assortment of splendid, flashy, and magnificent speculative notions. Without them, we would never be capable of relishing the delight of a stroll in a warm summer rain, relaxing on a mesa or the desert contemplating a beautiful sunset, snoring in a forest
under the stars, watching the clouds roll by, noticing your tire is flat, nor any of the other wonders of life – and we surely couldn’t imagine what the hell this is all about. If we consumed more of our time exercising our minds and imaginations, there’s no imagining what we could imagine to accomplish with them. We could practice by imagining that politicians were honest, we won the lottery, the IRS sends us a refund instead of an audit notice, or that our blind date is perfect. But just imagine if we had the imagination of a child. When a child is playing with an imaginary friend, we imagine the child’s friend is imaginary – but in the child’s mind, his imaginary friend is not imaginary, it’s real! It’s real because we live our lives in our minds. Our biological mind is an ultra-elaborate, and magnificent conglomeration of genetic engineering. It embodies all types of neat stuff – nerve cells, synapses, glia, neurotransmitters, cortex, occipital lobe, thalamus, hippo campus, amygdala, and all enclosed by the cerebral cortex – of course; it has an abundance of other compact and tidy systems. It goes about its duty 24 hours a day, everyday, for every second of our lives. As with our other parts, it needs to be exercised. And how do we do that? This is the really great part – it’s easy!

We learn! It’s like a sponge; it has all this tremendous capacity and monstrous capabilities. It wants to soak up knowledge constantly, and show off what it can do. We need to read, play, write, word puzzles, figures, walk, run, think, tell good jokes, see, hear, taste, smell touch, be aware, eat healthy food, increase our morals, observe, learn new skills, talk, sing, orate, instruct, make decisions, and as you know, we could go on for months. Another amazing aspect of our mind is when we relax and read, write (or whatever), and concentrate on what we are
doing. The mind engages our imagination automatically –and when they work in tandem, we not only absorb and retain more data, we become more creative...for the imagination and mind search all the information in our data banks, and play with it. So, as we can see, the more data in our storage vault, the more creative we can be. Using deductive logic; the more we learn, the more creative we are, the more opportunities we will have, the more money we could earn, the better our
attitude, the more interesting we are to be with and converse with, the more capable we will be to help others – plus, it will be easier to relax due to less stress, all of which translates into more happiness...imagine that!

A magical mind (achieved through study), strengthened with an immense imagination (achieved through regular practice) plugged into a faultless faith (achieved through relaxing and doing what we should), and all operating in
conjunction with a clean character (achieved by having morals and principles), and encased in a single anatomy (already achieved), is a combination that absolutely knows no boundaries.