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Boost Your Child’s Brainpower With Sudoku!
By Lindsay Small, Fri Dec 9th

In less than a year the Sudoku bug has infected huge numbers ofthe UK population, and it is fast spreading across the world!Why has a simple logic puzzle become so popular, and how canyour kids benefit?

Sudoku puzzles were first published in the US in the 1970s andare sometimes known as “Number Squares”. They have been popularfor many years in Japan, where the name “Sudoku” (meaning”single number”) was coined. The current craze was started latein 2004 when a UK newspaper started publishing the puzzles.Within weeks the puzzles were picked up in other newspapers andSudoku became the pastime of choice for commuters, parents - andeven kids!

From a parent’s point of view, Sudoku puzzles are perfect forlong journeys, waiting rooms, and rainy afternoons. They arebeing found more and more in the classroom as teachers wake upto their benefits and use them as time-fillers for children whofinish early, as whole class activity, or as “homework”. Indeed,the UK government-produced Teachers magazine has recommendedthat Sudoku puzzles are used in the classroom as brain exercise!

As well as developing your child’s logic and reasoning skillsand concentration, Sudoku puzzles, if done at the right level,build your child’s confidence. Children of all abilities enjoythe challenge of a Sudoku puzzle, if the puzzle isage-appropriate. Bear in mind that many of the puzzles publishedin newspapers are too difficult for younger children, so it isworth seeking out puzzles made especially for kids. Children asyoung as five years old can try the 4×4 grids, then build up tothe 6×6 grids and finally the traditional 9×9 grid.

Why are Sudoku so appealing? Firstly, although Sudoku gridsusually use numbers, your child does not need mathematicalskills to solve the puzzles - only logic. Using logicalreasoning appropriate to his/her age, your child decides how toplace numbers into a Sudoku grid. There is only one correctanswer for each puzzle, no guessing is necessary, and the rulesare easy to learn. The more puzzles you do, the better youbecome. Each puzzle typically takes a child about 20-30 minutesto complete, and gives them a real sense of satisfaction whenfinished!

And that, really, is the secret of their popularity. You feelgood when you finish one! And then you want to try another one,and another ….

About the author:Lindsay Small is the owner of Activity Village, packed full offun and educational activities for kids. Do you have childrenaged 2-10? Visit http://ww.ActivityVillage.co.uk to find freekids crafts, printables, educational resources, worksheets,coloring pages and puzzles, jigsaws and, of course, Sudokupuzzles!

Hand-eye Coordination And Visual Discrimination Key To Literacy
By Deanna Mascle, Fri Dec 9th

Sometimes the best thing you can do for your child’s earlyliteracy development is simply to let them play. Turn off the TVand anything battery operated then let your child pick up theirtoys, build blocks or duplos, or manipulate puzzles or gamepieces. Not only are you giving your child the gift ofchildhood, something we so often fail to do in today’s hectice,achievement-oriented world, but you are actually helping thembuild skills that are key to learning to read and write.

Hand-eye coordination is a necessary skill for written languageand the best way to help your child develop this skill is to letthem play with toys and activities that involve looking at,using, and discriminating a number of elements. Puzzles areobviously a great activity for this but so are manipulative toyssuch as blocks, duplos, and magnetix.

My son just spent over an hour this evening playing dominos withhis father — OK they weren’t so much playing as setting upcomplex pattterns and then knocking them down — but I didn’ttell them they were engaged in a preliteracy activity. They werejust having fun together.

Studies have shown that spending time on hand-eye coordinationactivities improves children’s ability to learn to read andlessens the difficulty they face during the process. In factengaging in a variety of craft activities, which most kids love,can be very beneficial so add play dough, stickers, and gluesticks to your list of educational supplies.

Research shows that early practice of hand-eye coordinationactivities reduces the risk for reading difficulties.

ACTIVITIES TO ENCOURAGE

Puzzles help develop hand-eye coordination because learning tocontrol hands and fingers according to information received fromsight is a coordination skill that aids children in earlyattempts at reading and writing. Determining out which piecegoes where, working to fit pieces into place by makingadjustments, and seeing a sequence develop in an organizedpattern can be a great learning experience as well as verysatisfying for children.

Puzzles, matching games, and the like are also important to helpchildren learn visual discrimination. Visual discrimination isthe ability of the brain to quickly tell the difference amongvisually similar letters, like “p,” “b,” and “q” or betweenwords such as “was” and “saw.” Students with difficulty makingthese distinctions often struggle with learning to read, write,and spell. Playing games, engaging in activities, or with toysthat help children discriminate among similar objects can be funfor the child and help them master an important preliteracyskill. My son loves to help his father sort change beforerolling it to be deposited at the bank. Sure we could use anelectronic sorter but our son loves to engage in the activityand it is a valuable learning experience for him.

Visual discrimination can often be learned with your child’sexisting toys. Matchbox cars, dolls, and action figures alloffer the opportunity for your child to learn visualdiscrimination.

Encourage children to work their wrist and finger muscles aswell as work on their coordination and small-motor skills tohelp prepare them for the handwriting practice in their future.Activities to help with these goals include legos and otherbuilding sets, playdough, puzzles, pegboards, beads and othertable toys. These fun, natural activities help children improvetheir cognitive and fine motor skills without frustration orboredom. My son engages in many activities every day thatencourage hand-eye coordination and visual discrimination. Idon’t suggest the activities to him. I make the toys andmanipulatives available to him and he chooses them on his own.The activities vary he may go an entire week building andrebuilding his wooden train set every day and then the next weekhis magnetix set dominates his play time. Some days he playswith both together and pulls in his duplos and wooden blocks foradded fun. It doesn’t matter to me which activity he choosesbecause I know he is having fun, challenging his imagination,andlearning.

About the author:Preschoolers Learn More newsletter offers afree tutorial to help you teach your child to read as well asother preschool resources at Teach YourChild To Read and TeachYour Child the Alphabet.