
Are you hooked on to solving the cryptic crossword every Sunday morning? Do you love solving riddles, code words, and puzzles? Are you addicted to Sudoku? Well, then you are hooked on to something very beneficial to you, for solving puzzles stimulates the brain, tests one’s ingenuity and boosts the brain power.
Here are the benefits of solving puzzles:
For Kids
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Cognitive Skills
Puzzles in the form of alphabets, numbers, shapes, names of fruits and vegetables, etc., help towards increasing the visual spacial awareness.
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Fine Motor Skills
While solving a puzzle, the act of picking, pinching and grasping the pieces and manipulating them into the slots helps in developing the fine motor skills of the children.
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Problem Solving
Children at their level, have to think and develop strategies to solve the puzzles. This helps them to develop reasoning skills, developing solutions and solve problems which will go on to help them in their adult life.
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Hand & Eye Coordination
While solving a puzzle, the child learns to manipulate the hand and eye coordination which is essential for the development of the child.
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Self Esteem
Overcoming the challenge of solving a puzzle helps boost the morale of a child which is very good for the self-esteem.
For Adults
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Mentally Alert
Puzzles help to keep one mentally alert, active, and fit. The level of concentration and patience that goes into solving a puzzle helps in keeping the mind alert which in turn keeps one fatigue-free and reduces stress levels.
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Puzzles Inspire Education
Solving a puzzle helps enhance education as it includes the following factors:
- Developing research skills
- Improving spelling and language skills
- Developing the power of concentration
- Improving reasoning ability
- Increasing creative abilities
Puzzles such as Sudoku, Scrabble, etc. help in enhancing the mathematical and language skills of a person.
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Enhanced IQ
The action of thinking, reasoning, logic, problem-solving skills, and spacial imagery while solving a puzzle helps increase the IQ.
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Increased Concentration
Puzzles help increase the attention span and boosts the level of concentration. This helps the person to use this power of concentration in other activities too.
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Problem Solving Skills
Solving a difficult puzzle involves patience, determination, organisation and reasoning which will improve the critical thinking ability of a person.
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Puzzles Improve Social Skills
When there are partners involved in solving a puzzle, the act of coordinating, sharing, leading and following–fosters good social skills.
So grab that newspaper and crack those crosswords and Sudokus for they are doing you a world of good to you.