Fine Arts: Visual Arts

K-8 Standard 3: Choosing and evaluating a range of subject matter, symbols and ideas

• K-4 Students select and use subject matter, symbols and ideas to communicate meaning.
• 5-8 Students use subjects, themes and symbols that demonstrate knowledge of contexts, values and aesthetics that communicate intended meaning in artworks.

Source: National Standards for Arts Education

Puzzles are exceptional learning tools that inspire analytical and critical thinking skills in people of all ages. It's amazing how quickly students grasp major concepts through games. Hands-on activities engage students as they not only create their own puzzles, but also have the opportunity to assemble puzzles made by their classmates. Colorful puzzles stimulate the brain and simple icons represent learning concepts.

Figure A

Figure B

Figure C

Figure D

Supplies Used: Construction Paper, Black Marking Pen

The teacher will die-cut the materials for student use prior to the lesson.

1. Die-cut several shapes from light-colored cardstock or construction paper.
2. Slightly offset five shapes at a time, and die-cut using LG Puzzle Maker #2 (Figure A).
3. Offsetting shapes makes each puzzle slightly different. To make matching harder, keep the shapes perfectly aligned. To make the puzzle easier, shapes could be cut from different colors. Keep the pieces with their correct pair.
4. To create english puzzles, write the present tense of a word on one half, and the corresponding past tense on the other half of each puzzle (Figure B).
5. To create math puzzles, write a multiplication problem on one half and the corresponding answer to each problem on the other half of the puzzle (Figure C).
6. To create social studies puzzles, write a state name on one half and the corresponding state capitol on the other half of the puzzle (Figure D).
7. Die-cut as many puzzles as needed for the desired lesson. Completed sets can be mixed up and correctly assembled by the students (see Main Photo).