Teach Your Child English Using Word Puzzle Games

Is your child poor in English?

No matter what you do, he or she is either just not willing to learn or is not able to grasp the subject.

This must be so frustrating for you!

Does this mean that your child is dumb?

Definitely not!

The same children happen to know about every detail about their favourite sports or their favourite TV show down to the last detail. So what is it that they find in TV shows and sports that they find lacking in studies?

Most of you have guessed the answer correctly. It is “INTEREST”. They don’t find the process of learning English interesting enough.

Interestingly, there is an interesting way of teaching your children English and that too, by generating their interest!  A word puzzle game for kids may just be the solution you are looking for.

A word puzzle game for kids consists of different types of puzzles which require children to form proper meaningful words using jumbled letters and meaningful sentences using jumbled words.  There are many such games available in the market. As a parent, it is your responsibility to find out those puzzle games that intend to develop your child’s vocabulary. Introduce your child to these games and get involved with them.

A word puzzle game for kids not only increases the vocabulary of the kids and helps them learn English, but also by inducing them to think, develops their analytical skills as well.

Nowadays children have become highly tech savvy as well. Put a mobile phone in their hands and see how they remain glued to it. So, why not use it to their advantage?

There are many word puzzle games available for download on mobile phones. These mobile puzzle games have highly interactive interfaces and engaging content which help engage the children and help them learn English while they also have fun. PunnyFuzzle is one such word puzzlegame for kids which helps your child learn English by solving puzzles.

By introducing your children to these games, you ensure that playing and learning English become synonymous. These puzzle games add the element of fun and generate their interest in the learning process

ESL Games – An Exciting Way to Learn English

Study and games hardly go hand in hand. They are in fact, in many cases, considered rivals. What people fail to realize is that both are complimentary to one another. This is especially true if the object of study is learning a new language.

 Learning a new language, especially if it is a language other than one’s mother tongue, is a difficult task. And if one doesn’t find it interesting, then it becomes all the more difficult. And being the lingua franca, the English language deserves a special mention here, when we are talking about learning a second language.

However, learning a language solely depends on one’s interest in learning that language. So, the question that arises is, “How to make the task of learning English interesting?”

Well, there are a variety of methods, but what I would like to highlight today is the effectiveness of ESL (English as a second language) games as a means to learn the English language.

So, what are ESL games?

ESL word games or simply ESL games are vocabulary building games that help non-English people learn English. Many English teaching institutes incorporate this method to teach English to the non-English speaking population. These games use images, photographs, and activities like charades to teach people new words and by using practical methods, help them frame sentences using those words.

How are ESL games helpful?

For some, learning English seems to be an intimidating task and conventional teaching methods may make them quickly lose interest. ESL games add the “fun” quotient to the learning process and make it interesting. Besides, ESL games also involve group activities that make the learning process an enjoyable and exhilarating experience. Also, it has been found that people learn faster when the learning process involves group activity.

Are these games only meant for children?

While the brains of children are more receptive to new information and this helps them learn a language easily, it becomes increasingly difficult to grasp a new language as one ages. Most of the times, the level of excitement shown by adults in the process of learning is lower as compared to children. So besides children, ESL games are beneficial for adults as well and many institutes which provide English learning courses for adults find these games highly useful.

Nowadays, our mobile phones and computers have also become tools for entertainment and learning. So if one does not have the time or the resources to attend an institute for learning English, he has the additional option of using the internet and mobile phones as tools for learning. There are many ESL gamesavailable as mobile applications and people can also use them as a means to learn English.

Learning English has become absolutely essential in today’s world and because of their effectiveness, ESL games are being widely adopted as a means to teach English.

Why Puzzle Games are So Important for Your Kids

As a child, I remember playing with puzzle games which included creating images of different animals by filling the empty gaps and building houses using a set of blocks. And I really loved them.  And as an adult, I am really thankful to my parents for introducing me to these games. This is because I have come to know and understand how a puzzle game for kids is so much beneficial for children. Here are a few areas where a puzzle game for kids can prove to be of immense importance.

1. Cognitive skills-  Puzzle games come in a variety of forms and include a variety of shapes and colors and hence, they help a child learn and differentiate between colors, shapes, alphabets and in this way, develop their cognitive abilities.

2. Problem-solving skills

     A puzzle game for kids induces a child to think and find connections between the various elements of the puzzle and find the right pattern and then joining all the elements to complete the puzzle. This, in turn, develops the problem-solving skills and analytical abilities of the child.

3. Hand and Eye Coordination- When children play with puzzles, they use many trial and error methods and try visualizing the correct placement of the various elements and then they use their hands to place the elements in the positions they visualize. This process helps them in developing their hand-eye coordination.

4. Fine motor skills-  Playing with a puzzle game for kids involves grasping and picking up small pieces and placing them in the gaps or fitting them in the right places. And all these activities improve children’s ability and strength to grab and hold objects and put them down and thus, help in developing their fine motor skills.

5. Social skills

       Puzzle games can be a great means of developing social skills in children.  Group puzzle solving activities involve discussing the proper positions of objects, correcting each other’s mistakes and also involve sharing the joy after solving the puzzle. All these activities help enhance their social skills.

6. Builds confidence

        Successfully solving the puzzle after overcoming the challenges gives children a sense of achievement and they feel proud of their achievement. This, in turn, helps develop their confidence.

7. Improves memory

        Kids often like solving the same puzzles again and again and in the course of time, they can easily remember the correct positions of the objects of the puzzle.  This exercises the kids’ minds and helps them develop a better memory.

A puzzle game for kids is thus, a fun and exciting way to develop these essential set of skills in your children early in their lives. You can also play problem solving game.

Why Problem Solving Games Promote an Enlightened Life

Since childhood, I was very interested in problem solving games. From the jigsaw puzzles and Rubik cubes, I gradually graduated to riddles and math based problems. To tell all of you frankly, problem solving games prevent brain cells to atrophy and actually build new neurological connections.

Now, why do these games deserve the credit for out-of-box thinking? Let us see the approach one has to take when trying to decipher problem solving games.

1. To classify the problem: First of all, we need to put the problem in a fixed mould so as to marinate it for cooking later!

·         Using Simple Language: In problem solving games we use simple precise and unambiguous language, like we may explain any event to a child. This develops our soft skills and body language.

·         Different Variety: What different way you approached the problem today than maybe five years ago? You have to introspect whether there is variety in your thinking.

·         Focus and visualization:  Our ability to focus increases substantially when we concentrate on problem solving games. Also, new ideas emerge when we visualize that the problem is already solved, and act from there! This leads to positive visualization in our overall lives.

·         Crystallize: To shrink the problems to a manageable and workable size is important. This dissection is important in life, to simplify falsely assumed complicated life situations.

2. To form a ‘Think Tank’: We can work as a collective force to deal with problem solving games.

·         Idea Generator: Lots of ideas are opened up with the potential for realization. We learn to respect and value others ideas, and learn that any idea can be good, even if it comes from others.

·         Ridiculous Ideas: Sometimes, the ideas we discard as invalid are the most useful to solve a problem. This is an important life lesson: To never underrate any approach in life, however stupid it may seem.

·         Various Combinations: Various N*N combinations can be tried for problem solving games. In life too, you should never give up until all the paths are walked.

·         From a Third Person POV: Imagine you are Mr. Picard, the neighbor. How will he approach the problem? What Would Picard Do? This is very important in life, as in each event of your life, you will be able to dis-attach from and approach from a neutral standpoint. When we see our own ‘problem’ in our lives through someone else’s eyes, we do not take it personally and it dissolves and gives a sense of relief and joy.

3. Finding the solution: In problem solving games, many times there is no right or wrong answer, and sometimes, no solution at all! It’s the effort that counts!

·         Idea Meeting: Also known as ‘brainstorming’, it involves forming committees to present ideas and agreeing upon one. This facilitates working in a group.

·         Mock up Encounters: This means testing a prospective idea. This allows many of the ‘cringe-worthy’ people to follow up on their promises.

·         Objective: Does the means of the idea satisfy the end? Problem solving games help us to clearly focus on our ultimate objectives in life.

·         Bringing ‘Fun’ to the Routine: When you bring humor to problem solving games, you inadvertently bring humor to your life and this makes living life easier.

4. Accepting the Solution: In problems: we are right or wrong. Similarly, in life we sometimes win and sometimes lose, but life goes on nevertheless!

Thus, problem solving games can act as a catalyst in living a lovely, joyous and peaceful life!