Materials
Plastic headbands
Pipe cleaners
Scissors
White paper
Black marker
Crayons
Tape
Instructions
1. To renew the children's interest in puzzles, try this fun game. Ask the children
to sit in a circle and show them a puzzle.
2. Then dump the pieces of the puzzle into a pile in the center of the circle.
Mix up all the pieces.
3. Now it's time to scramble! Explain to the children that at the count of "1, 2,
3, GO!", they will scramble to get the puzzle back together again.
4. Once the children get the hang of this, put the pieces of two different puzzles
into the circle and mix them all up. Again, at your count, they will scramble
to put together TWO puzzles.
5. As the children get better at this game, you can add more puzzles to the mix.
6. For a challenge, play an upbeat song and encourage the children to try to get
the puzzle(s) together before the song ends. You can even do a "freeze" type
game by turning off the music and asking the children to freeze until you start
the music again.
More to do
You can play a similar game to practice sorting. Put a variety of objects, such as
crayons, markers, and glue sticks, into a big pile. Encourage the children to see
how fast they can get them all into the correct bins. Play this game in any center
where the children are having trouble putting things into the right place at cleanup
time.
Art: Put old, mismatched puzzle pieces in the Art Station for children to paint.
