I have always treated and considered puzzles from an educational
standpoint, for the reason that they constitute a species of mental
gymnastics which sharpen the wits and train the mind to reason along
straight lines. Puzzles are a school for cleverness and ingenuity.
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<p>Nurturing Intelligence - The Role of Games, Toys and Puzzles in Development<br>
By <a href="http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Sharon_Roth" >Sharon Roth</a></p>
<p><i>I have always treated and considered puzzles from an
educational standpoint, for the reason that they constitute a species
of mental gymnastics which sharpen the wits and train the mind to
reason along straight lines. Puzzles are a school for cleverness and
ingenuity.</i></p><p>-Sam Lloyd
(1841-1911)</p><p>The above quote by one of the world's
greatest puzzle masters, written much before the emergence of the
fields of cognitive psychology and neurology, sheds light on what is
now being confirmed by advanced tools and research in the realms of
cognitive development.</p><p>Studies have confirmed that
the interaction with stimulating learning games along with objects to
explore, increases the number of branches on the nerve cells in the
brain and can promote better learning</p><p>[1].
Furthermore, a team led by Torkel Klingberg at the Karolinska
Institute, part of the Stockholm Brain Institute, has found signs that
the neural systems that underlie working memory (a cognitive function
related to general intelligence) may grow in response to
training</p><p>[2]. Regarding the neural basis for
development and plasticity of cognitive functions during childhood, in
particular the development of attention and working memory, this
information shows that correct training and educational exposure can
yield sustained attention, better impulse control and improved learning
ability, as well as correct critical learning
deficits</p><p>[3]. Historically, a person's IQ - a measure
of all kinds of mental problem-solving abilities, including spatial
skills, memory and verbal reasoning - was thought to be fixed by
<i>nature</i> - locked into a person's genes. However, Dr.
Beth Lucy Wellman (1895-1952), a professor of child psychology at the
Iowa Child Welfare Research Station was instrumental in advancing her
findings that a child's IQ and scholastic performance depend on the
quality of intellectual stimulation and social
environment</p><p>[4]. Leading the way for the type of
research currently being conducted as to what type of
<i>nurture</i> will provide the best medium to develop a
child's abilities. What, in particular, compose the "positive,
nurturing environments that encourage interaction and response - the
conditions for developing the more complex neural networks that appear
to be the 'hardware' of intelligence"</p><p>[5]. Many
psychologists and researchers have come to a decidedly intuitive and
simple conclusion, one that hearkens back to the words of Sam Lloyd:
Child's play - Fostering children at play through enriching games,
puzzles and activities - and in doing so, nurturing major cognitive
functions and crucial developmental stages. Children who are furnished
with construction toys, such as wooden cubes and geometric puzzles
develop visual-spatial abilities that are related to math and science
achievement.</p><p>[6]. These types of toys can stimulate
visual/spatial thinking and problem solving, demonstrating skills vital
to "future engineers, architects, pilots, mathematicians, scientists,
computer programmers or technicians, entrepreneurs, artists musicians,
mechanics, human relations professionals, or spiritual
leaders"</p><p>[7]. Furthermore, the skills developed
through the interaction with tangible 3-D toys and geometrical puzzles
that stimulate visual spatial learning are reinforced through haptic
perception - the tactile perception through the skin and kinesthetic
perception of the position and movement of the joints and muscles, a
developmentally important experience lacking in computerized models and
games. The development of executive function, the activity of the brain
that is responsible for the ability to manage organization,
priority-setting, time management, and decision making is dependent on
the high order processes of elective attention, behavioral planning and
response inhibition, as well as the manipulation of information in
problem-solving tasks.</p><p>[8]. It is crucial for
children as they mature into young adults and its function in
self-regulation is incredibly important. Poor executive function is
associated with high dropout rates, drug use and crime, whereas good
executive function is a better predictor of success in school than a
child's IQ, as well as effective development in almost every
domain.</p><p>[9]. Children develop executive functions
through "learning to be organized, using a routine, purposeful
scenarios for problem solving and higher order
thinking"</p><p>[10]. These are all features of many simple
wooden toys and brainteasers. Unfortunately, many of today's games and
toys are overly structured, goal-oriented, and push the child to follow
predetermined scripts, whether through guided computer activity, or by
actively directing the play of the child through talking, lights,
buttons and levers. To counteract this, in addition to giving the child
"unstructured" play time, toys that don't command the child, but rather
leave the child in command, can be very useful. Professor Hirsh-Pasek,
of Temple University, Philadelphia, recommends searching the "least
traveled aisles" in toyshops to parents who "really want to prepare
their children for life in next generation"</p><p>[11].
Traditional wooden toys make a pleasing change from the noisy, flashing
plastic equivalents that fill the shelves of toyshops today. It has
also been shown that toys and puzzles with distinct, ordered solutions
that require time, patience and planning to solve yield added benefits
to the learning process within the exciting moment of recognition in
which the correct solution is achieved. The authors of a review on
Engineering Education at Indiana University posit this "ah-ha!" moment
as an "important cognitive event" of the learning process.
Specifically it "enhances performance in creative problem solving and
creative design, and it can play a role in transforming learning from
an activity of drudgery to one of enjoyment.</p><p>[12].
The search for a solution to challenging puzzles produces such "ah-ha!"
moments, which in turn can lead to the development of students who will
find learning exciting later in life. On the macro level, toys, games
and child's play crucial to neural and cognitive development also have
specific functions within particular stages of childhood. Using the
Constructivist Theory of child development, advanced by Jean Piaget,
many psychologists have advised parents and educators to structure the
physical environment of children so that learning and development occur
naturally, and in appropriate stages, through the interaction with the
environment and people around them.
<br>Again, appropriate materials are necessary to this
structuring, including toys and games that stimulate interaction.
Various Mind Twisters, Brain Teasers, and Geometric Riddles and Puzzles
are essential to give children and students a chance to manipulate
objects and test out ideas and hypothesis as they progress to Middle
Childhood.</p><p>[13] board games and others with specific
rules have been shown to enhance discrete skills as well as
cooperation, understanding and logical thinking. For example,
researchers working at the National Association for the Education of
Young Children in Washington, D.C recently found a correlation between
math achievement and students' exposure to board games at
home.</p><p>[14]. Furthermore, in today's high tech world,
it is interesting to note that when it comes to games, toys and
puzzles, the more traditional, simple, tactile, loosely structured,
visual/spatial offerings can make a very significant contribution to a
child's intelligence and developmental well-being. Thus, it is not a
surprise that Sam Lloyd, speaking 100 years ago, is still relevant to
the discussion of education and the development of intelligence
today.</p><p>References for this article can be found <a
target="_new" rel="nofollow"
href="http://www.monkeypodgames.com/content/Nurturing_Intelligence.htm">here</a>.</p><p>Sharpen
the wits and train the mind @ <a target="_new"
href="http://www.MonkeyPodGames.com">http://www.MonkeyPodGames.com</a></p>
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