Pre-school Topics, Block 7, Week 62: We have a brain that can solve puzzles

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Cognition

Week 62
We have a brain that can solve puzzles

Cognitive skills, or cognitive abilities, are the ways that your brain remembers, reasons, holds attention, solves problems, thinks, reads and learns. Logic and reasoning skills help you solve problems and generate ideas. This cognitive ability is part of the preciousness of our humanity. God has endowed us with the ability to think logically well beyond any animal. There is a huge gulf between our cognition and that of animals. Animals mostly live by instinct and inborn behaviors.

Point to emphasize
From an early age we can fit the small pieces together to make the whole picture.

Sample content and conversation with children:

  • We have been discovering how God made us so differently than the animals. Now we will discover that God made us with a marvelous brain that is so far above any animal’s brain.
  • Today we are going to talk about how we can use our brain to think about how to solve jigsaw puzzles.
  • [Show the children a simple shape puzzle, similar to picture #1 below.] What is this? [Let children answer.] Let me empty the pieces. Now, you can help me put the pieces where they belong? Where should this shape go? Why? That’s right! This is a cow, and the cow goes into the cow-shaped spot. What is this? This is a horse, and it fits into the horse-shaped spot. When you first learn to do puzzles, you learn to match the shape to the cut-out space.
  • [Show the children a puzzle that has straight edge pieces, similar to picture #2 below.] And when you grew a little and got a little older, you learned how to do a puzzle like this. See how there is only one picture, but this picture is made up of many pieces. Can you count how many pieces? [Let children answer.] Now, I’m going to mess it up and see if you can tell me where to put the pieces until the picture is all together again. [Get the children to talk about which piece should go where and why.] God made you so that as you grow, you can learn to do more complicated things, like this puzzle.
  • And now that you are even older, some of you can even do a puzzle like this! [Show the children picture #3 or a jigsaw puzzle you have that does not have any Disney or entertainment figures. Show them the picture on the box and then open it to show them all the many, small pieces that make up the picture.] What is difference between this puzzle and the last one we did? [Let children answer.] See this number? What does it say? Yes, 24! That is more than we can count on our fingers. Are the pieces different? Yes, they are not all the same size and shape, are they? As you grow more and get even older, you will be able to do a jigsaw puzzle like this, maybe even with more pieces! Isn’t it amazing that God made you so that you can grow and learn how to fit all these pieces together to make this big picture?
  • [Show video #1.] What is happening here? [Let the children tell you.] Watch carefully. What happens each time the pig fits a piece in the right place? Yes, it is rewarded with a treat. Do you get a treat every time you put a piece in a puzzle? No! This pig has been trained to fit large colored wooden pieces into the same-colored cutout spaces. [Show picture #1 again.] A pig can put pieces into a space, but it does not understand this puzzle. And it must to trained and get a treat each time because the pig does not do puzzles because it enjoys them. But you do! We know what the finish product the picture will look like, and we have a good time doing them. God made us with a brain that can solve puzzles! As we grow we can put together even bigger puzzles!

Songs
Would You Like to Thank the Lord
Singing, Praying, Praising, Thanking (with motions)

Suggested activity

Puzzle making (Pictures #4-10)

  • Supplies
    1. 8 1/2 x 11 paper (a heavier weight paper would be best)
    2. Markers or crayons
    3. Letter-sized envelopes
  • Directions

Have each child draw and color a picture on a piece of paper. Then on the back side of the paper (the blank side), have the child draw squiggly lines in such a way so that the picture can be cut into puzzle-sized/shaped pieces. Try to limit the number of pieces so that there are not too many and they are not too small. After cutting along the lines, turn the pieces over to the picture side, mix up the pieces, and put the puzzle together. Give each child an envelope/bag to hold their puzzle pieces.

  • Optional: Have each child gets the address of another child and send them their puzzle.

Video
#1: Trained Pig Doing Puzzle for Reward


(https://www.youtube.com/embed/cxZsAaRmYqU?rel=0)

Pictures
Puzzle Examples
#1: Simple shape puzzle
#2: Straight edge puzzle
#3: Jigsaw puzzle
Puzzle Making Activity
#4: Activity (1) Needed items
#5: Activity (2) Drawing for puzzle
#6: Activity (3) Final-Drawing for puzzle
#7: Activity (4) Draw puzzle pieces in the back
#8: Activity (5) Cut pieces for the puzzle
#9: Activity (6) Puzzle
#10: Activity (7) Keep-it-to-play-later

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