Puzzles: Putting the Pieces Together for Fun and Well-being

Puzzles of all types remain quite popular today – jigsaw, crosswords, sodoku, Rubik's Cubes, mazes, word finds and more. Many of them have transitioned over to digital formats, but for me, nothing beats sitting down at a table and opening a fresh jigsaw puzzle.


Over the recent holidays, our family worked on a Springbok 1000-piece puzzle named “Macarons” – those deliciously, colorful French meringue cookies filled with buttercream (shown in the picture on this blog). This was truly a challenge to put together and turned out to be a picture good enough to eat!

All ages instinctively come together and respond to jigsaw puzzles. Just having a puzzle out on a table becomes a social gathering. Everyone likes to sit down and try their hand at the problem-solving challenge of it – some of us being completely captivated by it, such as myself. I can sit for hours until my eyes are crossed.

Beyond the social fun 
The benefits of working on a puzzle go far beyond social fun. Behind the scenes our brains are getting a real workout and we are learning or using important life skills at any age. Here are five good reasons for pondering over puzzles:

• Finer attentiveness to, and observation of details
• Increased dexterity and hand-eye coordination
• Sharper visual perception
• Stronger logical, sequential thinking
• Better short-term memory retention and recollection

When I worked puzzles as a child, I didn't fully appreciate the fact that the process was actually helping my brain to develop and cognitively learn these skills. Now that I'm older, I most definitely appreciate that puzzling can keep helping my brain as I age.

Just what the doctor ordered
There's medical evidence that people who consistently pore over puzzles in some form keep their brains more nimble and sharp. Puzzle pondering may even stave off mental decline and Alzheimer's disease as we age. 

Focusing on a jigsaw puzzle can also induce a state of well-being – much like meditation can do for people who simply sit quietly for a period of time. While working on a puzzle, the concentration of the mind as it searches for color, shape and fit can actually push thoughts off to the side. As worries move to the background of the brain, heart and breath rates slow. Even blood pressure can become lower. A puzzle may be just what the doctor ordered!

Celebrate International Puzzle Day with us! 
Whether you're looking to help your child learn cognitive skills or seeking to keep your adult brain cells actively engaged, puzzles are an enjoyable and skillful way to spend your time. International Puzzle Day is coming up on Thursday, January 29, 2015. Stop by and pick up a puzzle at FUNdamentally Toys to celebrate!

So you think you have a great puzzle picture? 
Do you have a picture you think would make a great puzzle? You can submit it to Ravensburger, USA, in New Hampshire. Joyce Bambach of Byram, New Jersey, did just that and recently had a puzzle entitled “Buoy Doorstep” published by Ravensburger – one of 50 new titles added last year. The winners get either a flat-fee or royalties and their name on the box. Pretty cool! 

The company gets roughly 500,000 images sent to them each year! About 500 are selected for review. The selection committee looks for bright colors, lots of detail, patterns and interesting subject matter. Don’t be deterred by the sheer volume of submittals – you could very well have just the right elements in your shot!

Read more about Ravensburger’s puzzle selection process in this article from the New Jersey Herald, January 10, 2015.

FUNdamentally Toys: Top Toy Picks for Holiday 2014

Not sure which toys will make the kids on your holiday gift list happy? Our Top Toy Pick List is a good place to start! 

 

While our store is filled with a great assortment of high-quality toys this season, we've narrowed it down to a selection of items we think will be the biggest hits that offer fantastic fun and learning.

From creative exploration to scientific discovery, from infant to adult, and from solo play to family fun, we've got you covered. Stop by and let us help you select the perfect gift for everyone on your list!

Arts & Crafts: Encourage your budding artist with these creative picks.

• Clay Charms by Klutz: Create adorable charms to wear and share. Age 8+.

• Fashion Plates by Kahootz: Mix and match to design cool fashions. Age 6+.

• Plush Crafts by Orb Factory: Make no-sew pillows in various designs. Age 5+.

• Spyrograph Cyclex by Kahoots: Draw over 80 designs and patterns. Age 5+.

Books: Always a great gift! We have one fantastic pick.

• Ocean: A Photicular Book, takes readers on a deep sea journey. Age 6+.

Construction:

• Magna-Tiles: Build 3-D structures with colorful 32-, 48- & 100-pc sets. Age 3+.

• Creative Cars: Create cool vehicles with this 40-pc. Duplo set. Age 1 1/2 - 5.

Dolls: Big Fun with this Incredible Calico Critter favorite.

• Adventure Tree House: Endless fun with these cute creatures and features. Age 3+.

Educational: Toys that teach.

• Play Draw Create Kit by Innovative Kids: A reusable drawing and magnet kit. Age 3+.

• The Extraordinaires by Creatlvity Hub: Doodle, design and create imaginative things. Age 8-adult

• Sick Science by BeAmazing: Discover the science behind the fun! Age 6-96.

• Snap Circuits Motion by Elenco: Explore electricity and electronics with tons of projects. Age 8+.

• EM4 Robot by Elenco: Build four amazing motorized robots. Age 6+.

Games: Family Fun for ages 3-adult.

• Peek-A-Doodle Do by Fat Brain Toys: Find and hide chicks and eggs. Age 3+.

• Robot Turtles by Think Fun: Learn coding with multiple levels of play. Age 4+.

• Gravity Maze by Think Fun: Build a maze and watch your marble move with gravity. Age 8-adult.

• Pyramix by Gamewright: Strategically remove cubes. Age 8-adult.

• Simon by Hasbro: Conquer the colors with touch technology. Age 8+.

• Press Here The Game by Chronicle Books: Complete color sequencing for highly visual fun. Age 3+.

Infant & Toddler: Fun and learning for the little ones.

• Grapple by Boingy: Keep all of baby's toys together with this unique tether. Age 6+ mos.

• Crocodile Xylophone by Skip Hop: Make beautiful music with this clacking pull toy. Age 18+ mos.

• Roller Derby by Hape: Have a mountain of fun with balls and fast tracks. Age 12+ mos.

• DIY Trucks by Janod: Build and rebuild this colorful wooden truck with tools. Age 18+ mos.

Get your Hands Around these Two Finds:

• Kinetic Sand by Waba Fun: Squish this! It's 98% real sand and 2% magic. Age 3+.

• Boxing Set by NSG: Work on your moves and improve hand-eye coordination. Age 4+.

All these selections are available in-store. Some are available online.

Be merry. Stay bright!

Debbie School
Owner, FUNdamentally Toys

Pirate Speak: Truth be Told about Talk Like a Pirate Day

Arrr! It's that time of year again, mateys. Time to celebrate International Talk Like a Pirate Day!

The day was invented in 1995 by a couple of "dinghy-sized" (as they put it) racquetball players, John Baur and Mark Summers. As they huffed and puffed around the court, they simply got to talking like pirates at each whack of the ball. The two decided to make it an "official" day and chose September 19 to mark the occasion, simply because it was Summers' ex-wife's birthday and they could easily remember the date.

For seven years, Baur and Summers quietly celebrated Talk Like a Pirate Day on their own, which meant basically doing nothing about it. Then on a lark in 2002, they fired off an email to syndicated columnist Dave Barry, thinking he might be the "frigate-sized" celebrity who could help them bring their day to national attention. And that he did, indeed.

Barry wrote a hilarious column about Talk Like a Pirate Day in 2002, touting Baur and Summers as visionary, revolutionary, and "...individuals who should be on medication." With Barry's gifted gab, the pirate-talking duo went on to get much more than just their twenty minutes of fame. They got lots of interviews and fun press, and the two continue to keep up their informative website, www.talklikeapirate.com, which was my go-to source for planning FUNdamentally Toys' Talk Like a Pirate Day event. Thanks, you guys!

You'll get a hearty laugh out of Dave Barry's column about Talk Like a Pirate Day which was featured in the September 8, 2002, edition of the Miami Herald:

http://www.miamiherald.com/2002/09/08/100129/arrrrr-talk-like-a-pirate-or-prepare.html

It's the simple silliness of talking like a pirate that makes it so much fun. Who can ever keep a straight face saying stuff like, "Shimmer me timbers!" or "Avast, me beauty." No one knows if pirates really talked this way, but who cares, it's fun.

Aye, to be sure, pirates are and never were nice people. For some reason, they have been romanticized in books, films, tourist attractions, and more. Maybe it's because of their rogue personalities and devil-may-care attitudes. Or maybe it's the a horrid fascination with their shabby dress, rotten teeth, hook arms, peg legs, and parrots on their shoulders - not to mention the monkeys running around the decks. Now that shivers me timbers - not in a good way. Thankfully, Johnny Depp cleaned up the pirate look quite a bit in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies with his fancy clothes. I might even consider dating a pirate if he looked that good, puffy shirt or not.

So here's to a little nonsensical fun! 

Join us at FUNdamentally Toys for Talk Like a Pirate Day, Friday, September 19. We're hosting a pirate magic show at 7 p.m., plus kids can come in anytime to follow a treasure map through the store and plunder some FREE booty out of the treasure chest. Or they can pillage through our stash of pirate stuff. We've also been running tutorials on learning to speak like a pirate on Facebook all week. Say the right phrase and you'll save 20% on your pirate purchase this weekend!

Avast, me hearties, I must take me leave ... Happy Talk Like a Pirate Day!

Debbie Scholl.
FUNdamentally Toys

Math: The Numbers Just Keep Adding Up

Going back to school in the fall felt partly exciting and partly terrifying for various reasons when I was young.

The exciting part was having new school supplies - two sharp Laddie pencils, a shiny new box of crayons, a fresh, clean yellow pad of paper, and, of course, a nice, big, fat pink eraser. If I was lucky, I'd even have a new book bag to hold them all.

I looked forward to going to school and learning came fairly easily to me. Not to brag, but I learned to read well at an early age, had nice penmanship, and became an ace speller. I loved the subjects of geography and history, and I was pretty creative when it came to projects. This was the fun part of school.

Then there was math - the terrifying part. It started out easily enough with 1+1 = 2, then quickly accelerated to complex and difficult before I knew it. I was completely paranoid that everyone else was getting it except me. I would come home and go over and over math problems until I was bleary-eyed, but I eventually understood them. I knew I could not let myself fall behind. The numbers were just getting bigger!

Math is simply, or not so simply, one of those subjects in which you can't fall behind or you're seriously done for. Later in life, no one will care if you have sloppy penmanship or you can't name the capital of your state. You can live with those shortcomings. But math in some way, shape, or form will follow you around the rest of your life, so it's important to make sure your early learner understands math concepts and doesn't fall behind.

In ABC News this week there was a fascinating article about how kids learn math and what parts of their brains work while solving math problems. Memory-based problem solving is an important key to learning math.

Take multiplication tables. They're just one of those things you have to memorize. You'll never ever in your life count to 70 on your fingers. You just have to know and understand that 7 tens equal 70, meaning 7 x 10 = 70,  and inversely that 10 x 7 = 70, and also that 70/10 = 7, and so on. Forwards, backwards, and inside out, you just have to know it and be able to retrieve it in your brain.

Bottom line of the article is that it pays to drill your kids on simple addition, subtraction, and multiplication tables. It builds strong, stable, and efficient connections in the brain and develops skills they will use their whole lives.

Read more about math learning in the ABC News' article, Kids Brains Re-organize When Learning Math Skills.

Debbie Scholl
Owner, Fundamentally Toys

It's Not Whether you Win or Lose ...

NPR consistently presents interesting and fascinating stories. I sometimes find myself pulling off the road when I am driving so that I can listen more intently. Such was the case for me earlier this week with a feature piece called When Kids Start Playing to Win.

A story began with banter between a mom and her five-year-old son as they were playing Monopoly. Suddenly the son screamed, "Noooooo!" as his mom started buying some properties. He felt like he was losing and was not happy about it.

This exchange particularly struck me because Fundamentally Toys was putting together a Family Fun Game Weekend for August 8 - 10, 2014 and I thought, Hmm ... what could I learn here?

The story went on to discuss how by age five kids start to categorize - such as fast/slow or big/small, for example. They develop the ability to compare and start making judgments that fast is better than slow, or that small is not good. Between the ages of seven and eight kids begin comparing themselves to other kids and making decisions about where they personally think they rank on the totem pole. A kid might think, "If I'm not at the top, I must be a loser."

Unfortunately, at this tender young age, the part of the brain that helps children deal with the emotions of losing or not being on top is the last to develop. As parents we may try and shield our children by not allowing them to compete in any way. But that's a bad thing as well. Trying and failing holds valuable lessons for children, such as learning from mistakes and moving forward with confidence.

If you have young ones dealing with comparison and competitiveness, I encourage you to listen to or read more about this NPR story: When Kids Start Playing to Win.

A good way to prepare your child for the competitiveness of life is through playing games as a family. Keep the competition friendly and fun. Behind it kids are learning new skills, experiencing the joy of winning, and coping with losing as well. Try and teach your kids not to focus on winning and that comparison really is not the point of playing games, or life, for that matter.

Let the games begin!

Debbie Scholl

"STEAM" Heat: Creativity is Key

There’s been much in the news lately about the importance of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) in our education system. There are fears that America is falling behind many other countries in training young generations to fill jobs that will keep our nation on the leading edge of job creation and economic prosperity. It seems hard to argue against STEM and many people are fully on the bandwagon about it.

However, some folks do argue that with a heavy focus on STEM learning, the arts are being ignored. They lobby for adding “A” to STEM for STEAM because STEM is nothing without creativity and innovative thinking. Can't argue against that either. The STEAM idea is definitely heating up.

Think of the many everyday products we use that may not have even existed had companies not created and presented them with innovative design, clever marketing and advertising, and striking presentation or packaging. The mesh of tech and creativity is all around us.

But let's step away from the education arguments and focus on what parents can do to help children supplement their education and learning outside of school.  Hands-on activities and family educational outings often lead to “aha” moments in which kids realize what it takes to create something from scratch, or come to understand how things work in real life.

Games and toys have also always been a huge part of learning. The added element of fun takes the pressure off formal education. Games can quietly convince kids of their skill levels and help them realize how much they do know and use in real life. At Fundamentally Toys, we take a strong focus on toys that teach in addition to providing fun. Even purely fun toys can teach kids simple things.

I know I learned a lot by playing as a child. I built structures with Lincoln Logs and Tinker Toys. I got a fascinating bug book for Christmas one year that I clearly remember to this day. My family played board and card games in which I used mathematical skills and strategic thinking to try to win. School art projects gave me ideas to try other artistic endeavors at home – from coloring books to paint-by-number sets to free-form painting. Piano lessons never made me a musical prodigy, but clearly helped me understand choral singing later in life and how to dance and move to music and to even better appreciate musical performances.

Kids are naturally going move toward their strengths and interests. While it's great to encourage them toward what comes easily, it’s important to notice if your child might be shying away from a subject because she or he thinks they are not good at it. Don't let them give up without exploring what the issue is. It may all be in the learning approach. I remember my daughter struggling with fractions. She liked to bake, so I got an idea to help her learn. I pulled out the measuring cups and spoons. Suddenly, she had an “aha” moment in which fractions clicked in her mind. She easily understood and in the process turned out to be an excellent baker, too!

It won’t be long before kids will be heading back to school in Houston. Time to get minds back in shape. Stop in this weekend, July 18 – 20, 2014, and save 20% on all educational toys and games at Fundamentally Toys.

Full STEAM ahead!

Debbie School, Owner of Fundamentally Toys