Kids like to keep busy. Make sure yours have options other than the television and video games! development word quest puzzles for friends and family is one great hobby. But your kids don't have to make lowly puzzles with a random set of words. Use one of the ideas below for a puzzle with a twist! Kids can learn new words, custom their spelling, make cool gifts, and have fun while development these puzzles.
Puzzle Basics:
First, buy a packet of graph paper at your local office contribute store. Purchase graph paper with 4 squares per inch, for kids ages 8 and up. By beginning in one angle of a paper, you can make any puzzles from a singular page. One packet of graph paper can last for months! all the time think about who will be receiving/solving the puzzle before you make it. Pick easy words for young solvers and bigger words for older friends
A. Use Only One Word
Choose a word of interest to the man who receives it. Suppose, for example, that Grandma has apple decorations all over her kitchen. Your puzzle word could be Apple. Make a rectangular puzzle that is about 12 x 12 squares. Write the word Apple inside in separate directions about 4 or 5 times. Then fill the blank spaces with A, P, L, E until all the spaces are full. Cut out the puzzle. Glue it onto a piece of red building paper cut in the shape of an apple. Then ask Grandma, "How many times can you find the word Apple?" She will be delighted, to the core! You can think of lots more fun words like this to hide.
B. Theme-based puzzles
Choose a topic of interest to the man who will be receiving the puzzle. For example, if Grandpa loves to garden, use gardening or vegetables as the topic. Brainstorm to make a list of both long and short words related to the theme. For gardening, list soil, seed, plant, hoe, weeds, tomatoes, cucumber, radish, rain, sun and more. Place the words in a rectangular space of graph paper. Place the longest words first. resolve how large the puzzle will be and make sure your words fit inside that space. Make a list of the words as you hide them. Double-check the puzzle. Make your puzzle into a gift. Type the letters and word list on the computer and add some thorough clip art. Or naturally cut out the puzzle from the graph paper page, glue it onto a blank page, and write the word list on that paper. Tuck the puzzle inside a card or just hand it to the lucky recipient.
C. Word List Twists
Choose an captivating theme, make a word list, and then use only half the words in the puzzle. I once made a puzzle about roses for a newspaper. I called it "A Thorny Puzzle." I included a list of 22 words related to roses and then asked the solvers which 11 of these words were literally in the puzzle. Or, write a listless word search. For Grandpa's vegetable puzzle, for example, you could hide the names of ten vegetables and not tell him which ones they are.
Your puzzle-writers just might come up with their own creative twist on the popular word quest puzzle format. Maybe they will even start compiling their own word lists to use in the future. And they just might get the same puzzle-writing itch that this author has had since she was eight years old!
