Puzzles are more than cardboard pieces to fit into a picture. These puzzles make fine motor and pre-reading skills fun for kids who struggle with school!
The first article in this series was Puzzles and the Mentally Retarded
What other activities are considered puzzles?
Paper-Pencil Puzzles
- Mazes Some mazes involve curving paths on a page, with surprise blocks, and finally the end. Mazes do not have to be so complicated. A simple, straight path across the page connecting two related pictures is a maze. So is a single curved path and one with zigzags .
- Connect the Dots These classic favorites can require following numbers in order, connecting dots according to the alphabet, or maybe just drawing from the dot of a horse picture to the dot of a bucket of oats.
- Word Scrambles The puzzle has the letters of a word in mixed up order. Child must write them in the correct order. A variation is to have the words written on a paper for reference, or to have squares of paper to arrange to form the word.
- Word Searches No explanation is needed on this classic puzzle type. An easy variation is to have one line of letters, and the child crosses out the unneeded ones to make the word. A B F C A R M -- Child crosses out letters to find CAR.
- Codes
Scissors Puzzles
- Cut the pieces apart and then arrange on the table or glue on paper to make the whole picture.
- Cut pictures apart and then arrange or glue to show the order of a sequence like How a Flower Grows
Visual Puzzles
- Picture Searches The child looks for pictures hidden in a bigger picture.
- Finding Things That Are Wrong in a Picture Perhaps a shoe is on the dinner plate; a flower is in place of the sun in the sky; etc.
- Extending PatternsThe child is given a pattern and verbally or in writing continues the pattern. A B A B A B What is next?
You may be thinking that puzzles are too difficult for your child.
My next article is Make-at-Home Puzzles for Kids with Special Needs.
The copyright of the article Coordination and Discrimination in Special Needs Parenting is owned by Lynn Moore. Permission to republish Coordination and Discrimination in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
