A baby learns to recognize objects by their shape and not necessarily what position the object is in. A chair is a chair whether it is upright, lying down, or upside down-it doesn’t matter. The simple puzzles produced for younger children develop more refined and defined skills and recognition.

One of the first things a young child will learn is that it does matter which way up the pieces to fit in the hole. A typical early childhood puzzle is wooden with a picture and has spaces where the pieces fit to complete the picture. With a street scene, for example, there might be a separate car shape, bus shape, and a truck shape that complete a puzzle. These puzzles are typically robust as the first response of a child is to try to force the piece into place taking no notice of its shape. With adult guidance the young child learns to manipulate the piece until it does fit exactly.

There are several learning experiences that can be drawn from these very basic puzzles. Firstly it’s the hand eye coordination to manipulate the puzzle piece into position. To get the piece in also involves observation of the shape of the hole and the shape of the puzzle piece. At first the child deals with the problem by trial and error. The example and guidance of an adult begins to solidify the thinking process. The child starts to apply spatial awareness and mental manipulation as well as physical. This comes however, after the child has learned to put the piece in correctly through trial and error and memory.

The role of the adult at this stage is very important. The conversation about the picture, talking and demonstrating the correct method to complete it, accelerates the child’s learning process. Puzzles can create a great opportunity for increase in vocabulary, and recognition of objects and situations outside the child’s immediate world. The fact that the child learns that the piece only fits one way is in fact a pre reading skill. A letter needs to be the right way up and not backwards or upside down in a word.

These early childhood puzzles can be purchased in varying degrees of difficulty as the child’s spatial and reasoning skills become more developed. The child also learns through puzzles the recognition of color and shape with, of course, adult conversation increasing the potential of the child’s understanding and development. The green shape only fits in the green hole. This type of matching activity develops early reading skills.

At this stage it is good to introduce a new puzzle and do it with the child at first. Make this a happy social time and lots of fun. Do the puzzles with the child long enough to maintain the child’s interest and attention, but be ready to move on to another activity. Eventually when the child’s dexterity and confidence has increased, he will want to do it by himself. With praise and encouragement the child will practice until the skills become familiar. Then is the time to introduce puzzles with greater challenge.

If you’re like most parents, you’re probably confused over the number of reports that argue against the use of video games as entertainment. Some of the information in these reports is quite convincing. After all, they’re written by psychology experts, child educators, and social science professors from esteemed colleges or other similar institutions. And the arguments presented within these reports make sense. They’re based on years of research and they may even resonate with experiences you’ve had with the children in your very own social circle.

On the other hand, it’s important that some of this information be taken with a grain of salt. Rarely will you see a report that argues on the side of video games, and that outlines the positive attributes that time spent with a Nintendo system or Sony Playstation generates. With all the negativity surrounding these products, one could easily think that Nintendo and Sony were evil manifestations of the devil himself! But this couldn’t be further from the truth. The Nintendo system and Sony Playstation are mere platforms for video games that range from educational lessons to downright questionable material. We can’t argue against the latter. There are some inappropriate video games in the public, but does that mean parents have ban the entire video gaming industry altogether?

Absolutely not – and to do so, in our humble opinion, would be detrimental to childhood development. That’s right – detrimental. We don’t believe this claim is a leap of faith, because just as there are reports that dissuade video gaming, there is a tremendous amount of evidence that suggests why video games are an important part of growing up. This evidence points to things like hand and eye coordination, the ability to focus, perseverance, and improving problem solving skills. This evidence should give parents a bit of comfort in knowing that the gaming industry in itself is not the issue. The issue is instead, the parents’ choice of video games that are allowed in the home.