Making the Pieces Fit
Discover the power of puzzles
I started M on 16-piece puzzles, then 24, then 50—until he could sit down for hours to finish a 100-piece puzzle challenge. We pieced it together in the beginning and then he did it all by himself.
There was a time when my son M could not sit still. At two, sharing a meal was impossible and hearing mass together unthinkable. He would always be distracted and seemed to have too much energy. I would look at other kids his age as they sat inside restaurants and I would observe toddlers staying put in the pews inside the church. Why couldn’t my boy do that?
Trips to different developmental pediatricians revealed very little. “Don’t worry, Mommy. There’s nothing wrong with M. He’s perfectly okay.” I was told many times over. One doctor said, “Remember, a child’s brain is like a sponge. You have to feed him with as much interesting information as he is able to absorb.”
So I bought “Brainy Baby” books and put up charts of colors and shapes on our walls. But reading only took a few minutes and he would be distracted again. Then during a week-long trip to Singapore, I saw a puzzle of opposites at a toy store. I bought it, took it back to the hotel, and in just two days my kid learned 25 pairs of opposite words! I was amazed at what the puzzle was able to do. It made M sit for 20 minutes, focused and attentive.
When we got back to Manila, I bought some more puzzles. I started M on 16-piece puzzles, then 24, then 50—until he could sit down for hours to finish a 100-piece puzzle challenge. We pieced it together in the beginning and then he did it all by himself.
I researched about this amazing tool and found out that solving jigsaw puzzles uses both the left brain and the right brain. The left side is analytical, logical, and rational. It is stimulated by problem solving. The right side is creative and allows a person to see the big picture. Using both sides allows a person to remember color, shape, size, and increases short-term memory. More important, when a child is successful in completing a puzzle, his body produces dopamine, which regulates mood, concentration, and motivation. And while puzzle solving stimulates the brain, it also relaxes it. Studies show that looking at a puzzle and pondering solutions helps the brain stay calm.
Soon after, I discovered ISpy and Can You See What I
See books by Walt Wick. The books were full of picture riddles that delighted us all! “M, where’s the blue star? What about the boy with a cowboy hat?” At first he just pointed to the correct objects and then he started saying the words. I felt like I won the lottery! M was almost three years old when he found his voice.
I never thought that I would be so challenged as a mom in my first years of parenthood. I thought babies crawled, sat, and spoke on cue. But that wasn’t the case with my firstborn. His brain needed complicated problems in order for him to learn simple tasks like sitting and speaking.
Looking at my 13-year-old son now, (a high school academic scholar, writer, and debater), nobody can guess the struggles he had to face as a child. But that’s the beauty of it all. M is living proof of the silver lining behind the dark clouds.
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