Puzzling It Out in Pre-Primary

Puzzles present children in the Discovery Room intriguing challenges. As they move through cycles of trial and error to test what works and what doesn't, they use their fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, cognition, memory, and early math concepts such as one-to-one correspondence, geometry, and sorting. As puzzles become more complex, the stimulation can lead to frustration, which is a perfect time for teachers to nurture the child's social and emotional development. Teachers offer strategies for children to regulate their emotions and use guiding questions to prompt them to try something different. The piece-by-piece process of finishing a puzzle is one of care and focus. "When the picture of a completed puzzle fully appears, the child feels a wonderful sense of independent accomplishment!" says Pre-Primary Teacher Philip Mallari.