wooden puzzles

Wooden puzzles can be taken away to trains, outdoors, playing grounds, grandparents and offices. They change every environment into a brainy challenge and smart children into quiet children.

I like wooden puzzles that have three dimensions and that fit into each other. It takes me some time to learn how the pieces might fit. It took me more than one day to make a picture in my head of a particular cylindric puzzle. This type of three dimentional puzzles is called Burr's and they're great material for developping problem solving strategies. The same link gives a description how to make a knot puzzle. Some history lessons about Burr's will interest many children, maybe your child. The combination of books and puzzles is really the best. If you buy or make a puzzle (this is a very good idea for children, to make a puzzle and then to read about it), also read about the history of the puzzle or about it's particularities.