One of the top benefits of doing puzzles is that they’re a super way to challenge your mind and put a HUGE smile on your face when you ‘win’ that puzzle. They can significantly boost your brain health and even delay cognitive decline. It’s true! A wonderful escape from our day-to-day stuff!
In this article, we will uncover the surprising benefits of doing puzzles. From enhancing your memory and problem-solving skills to relieving stress and anxiety, puzzles offer these benefits and much more.
Not only do puzzles enhance your cognitive abilities, but they also provide a great way to lose yourself in fun and engagement, even just for a few precious moments!
Before we dive into all the benefits, let’s explore some popular puzzle types that might surprise you.
Exploring the Different Types of Puzzles
Puzzles come in many different and exciting forms, each offering unique benefits and challenges. Whether you enjoy word games, number puzzles, or intricate jigsaw puzzles, there’s something for everyone. Let’s delve into some of the most popular types of puzzles and discover what makes each one special.
Word Search Puzzles
One of our favorites at Busy Bat!
Word search puzzles involve finding and marking words hidden in a grid of letters. This type of puzzle improves pattern recognition and increases vocabulary. Word searches are often themed, making them a fun way to learn new words related to a specific topic.
From a creator’s point of view, making these puzzles themed is very exciting and makes for a very engaging word search puzzle book
Word searches can be a very straightforward and relaxing activity, perfect for a quick mental break. Or they can be a little more challenging with the words being reversed within the word search grid.
Jigsaw Puzzles
Perhaps the most well-known type of puzzle. They consist of various pieces that need to be assembled to form a complete picture. These can vary from larger-piece puzzles to mind-boggling hard jigsaw puzzles that need a deep breath, a strong cup of coffee, and considerable puzzle ‘courage’ before starting.
The benefits of playing with jigsaw puzzles include improving your visual-spatial reasoning, enhancing memory and a superb sense of accomplishment when the jigsaw is completed.
Solving jigsaw puzzles requires patience and attention to detail, making them a great way to unwind and practice mindfulness. They’re also a brilliant puzzle type to enjoy solo or get others involved, which is brilliant for teamwork and having some much-needed family time.
Crossword Puzzles
Crossword puzzles challenge your vocabulary and knowledge across various subjects. They consist of a grid of black and white squares, where players fill in words vertically or horizontally based on given clues.
Crosswords range from quick ‘break-time’ puzzles to crazy ‘I’ll go back to that one later’!
The cognitive benefits of crossword puzzles include improved verbal skills, enhanced memory, and better problem-solving abilities. Regularly solving crosswords has even been linked to delaying the onset of dementia. These puzzles are great for exercising your brain and keeping your mind sharp.
Sudoku
Sudoku is a number puzzle that requires placing numbers in a 9×9 grid so that each row, column, and 3×3 section contains all the digits from 1 to 9.
When did Sudoku come out? These are quite new in the puzzle world and the modern game of Sudoko is recognized as being invented by a freelance puzzle inventor, Howard Garns, in 1979. Since then, they have become super popular and are excellent at enhancing logical thinking and problem-solving skills.
They promote mental discipline and focus, as you need to consider multiple possibilities and eliminate incorrect options. Sudoku puzzles range in difficulty from easy to expert, making them suitable for all skill levels. The size also makes it ideal as a ‘go-to’ travel puzzle companion, suitable for holidays, commuting or anywhere you can get away from it all for a few minutes.
Logic Puzzles
Types of logic puzzles include grid puzzles, riddles, and brainteasers. These puzzles require deductive reasoning to solve problems based on a set of clues and help to improve your ability to think logically and systematically.
They are designed to challenge your critical thinking and enhance cognitive flexibility which can be very beneficial in everyday decision-making.
Maze Puzzles
If you’re enjoying navigating through a complex network of paths to find your way from start to finish, there’s a good chance you’re deeply engrossed in a challenging maze puzzle.
But they can of course vary in complexity and there’s a wide selection of these puzzles available, suitable for both young children and the more senior adults.
They provide a fun and engaging way to improve hand-eye coordination and strategic thinking, and are super for developing spatial awareness and problem-solving skills.
Cryptograms
Cryptograms are puzzles where a piece of text has been encoded using a simple substitution cipher. The challenge is to decode the message by figuring out the substitution pattern. Cryptograms are excellent for enhancing pattern recognition, logical thinking, and cryptographic skills. They can be both educational and entertaining, providing a mental workout as you decrypt the hidden message.
The history of cryptograms is as fascinating as the puzzles themselves, with the use of substitution ciphers dating back to ancient civilizations. The Caesar Cipher, named after Julius Caesar, is one of the earliest known examples with Julius Caesar using them to communicate secretly with his generals. This cipher involved shifting the letters of the alphabet by a fixed number of places.
More famous, cryptography played a crucial role in the outcome of WW2, with complex codes and ciphers being developed and broken by both the Allies and the Axis powers. The Enigma machine, used by the Germans, is a famous example of such wartime cryptography.
Today, cryptograms have become very popular in the puzzle world, a great form of entertainment and effective mental exercise.
Benefits of Doing Puzzles
Improve Memory
Solving puzzles can require the remembering of shapes, colors, and positions and developing the ability to visualize the completed puzzles. This is great for improving your short-term memory and the ability to recall information.
Puzzle types that are great for this include:
- Jigsaws
- Crosswords
- Sudoku
- Rebus Puzzles
Depending on the puzzler, there are also some more specialized puzzles that can help with conditions like Alzheimer’s. These include dedicated puzzles like ‘Noodle Nudges’ and the ‘All About Us’ board game. If this is of interest, you can read more here.
Problem-Solving Skills
Choosing a puzzle that requires a systematic approach to identifying patterns and solutions is ideal for developing critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
The complexity of these varies and you can find puzzles that are suitable for the youngest children to more mature puzzlers. These skills are also transferable to real-life situations and can lead to work and social success, as we as having great fun.
If you’re looking for some great puzzles for children which can help develop these essential skills then take a look at this excellent article by Melissa and Doug.
Enhanced Visual-Spatial Reasoning
Puzzles that rely on the players visualizing how pieces fit together to form a completer picture are ideal for developing and reconnecting with visual-spatial reasoning skills.
A great example of this is with jigsaw puzzles where the patterns and shapes of individual pieces need to be identified to continue with the puzzle and eventually solve it.
Working out how these jigsaw pieces fit together spatially is a skill that translates naturally to real-life tasks as well. These include organizing spaces, understanding the layout of objects in a room and even reading maps.
Hand-eye coordination also benefits, where the physical act of placing puzzle pieces into the right position has a positive impact on the player’s fine motor skills and visual reasoning.
Increased IQ
Engaging in regular puzzle-solving can lead to an increase in IQ scores by stimulating various cognitive functions. Puzzles challenge the brain to think critically, enhance concentration, and improve reasoning skills, all of which contribute to higher intellectual performance.
Think of the Brain as a mental muscle! Like any muscle, the Brain needs exercise and puzzles can continuously challenge the brain to think differently and get some much-needed mental exercise. This engagement helps to form new neural connections, helping your brain to adapt and grow. This can lead to an increase in IQ.
Reduced Stress Levels
You’re deep in a puzzle! The noise outside is fading away and you’ve forgotten about something that was troubling you. Puzzles are a great way to get into a meditative state, feel relaxed and reduce those stress levels.
They help us get into that ‘zone’ by distracting our brain with something fun and challenging instead. The rest of the world can literally melt away when we are focused on a good puzzle. This distraction and focus triggers a hormone response in our body that lowers cortisol, relieves stress and anxiety, and can give us an overall good feeling.
This ‘good feeling’ is especially evident when a puzzle is successfully solved and our bodies trigger the release of dopamine, a neurotransmitter associated with pleasure and reward. Not only does this make you feel better, it also reinforces this positive behavior and can make you reach for another puzzle, never a bad thing!
Enhanced Attention to Detail
Attention to detail is an important but sometimes overlooked skill that is essential in may aspects of our lives. Identifying small differences in pieces or clues in a puzzle is a great way to develop this skill and improve overall focus.
This is true with jigsaws, where identifying slight variations in color and shape can be crucial for fitting pieces together correctly.
It is also very applicable to sudoku and crosswords where error detection and correction plays an important part in spotting and correcting these mistakes and completing the puzzles.
Attention to detail also had a direct effect on visual discrimination skills which are crucial for normal activities such as driving and reading.
Increased Productivity
Take a break! We know work can sometimes get in the way but how many times have you noticed your productivity level falling because you’ve been working too long or too hard?
Taking breaks, even for just a few moments, and doing quick puzzles, can refresh the mind, leading to a quick increase in productivity when you return to work.
This is where the smaller pocket-sized puzzle books come into their own, allowing you to find someone quiet for a few minutes and ‘reset’ your tired brain.
Delayed Onset of Dementia and Alzheimer’s
A quick look at the Alzheimer Society website will reinforce the thinking that by keeping your brain active and engaged, the onset of Dementia and Alzheimer’s can be delayed.
Many studies reference ‘Neuropsychology’, a process that covers the creation and strengthening of neural pathways. Solving puzzles promotes this process and can help the brain adapt and remain resilient against age-related cognitive decline.
They also help with reducing several of the risk factors associated with these conditions including depression, stress, and anxiety.
Benefits of Doing Puzzles Conclusion
Regularly solving puzzles can significantly boost your brain health and delay cognitive decline. This engaging activity challenges your mind and offers a welcome escape from daily stress. Throughout this article, we’ve explored the many benefits of puzzles, including enhanced memory, improved problem-solving skills, and effective stress relief. Puzzles provide a fun and engaging way to unwind and focus, even if only briefly.
Puzzles come in various forms, each offering unique challenges and benefits. Word searches enhance pattern recognition and vocabulary, while jigsaw puzzles improve visual-spatial reasoning and provide a satisfying sense of accomplishment. Crossword puzzles sharpen verbal skills and memory, and Sudoku promotes logical thinking and mental discipline. Logic puzzles boost critical thinking, maze puzzles enhance hand-eye coordination, and cryptograms improve pattern recognition and cryptographic skills.
Solving puzzles helps improve attention to detail, increases productivity, and can delay the onset of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. By keeping the brain active and engaged, puzzles build cognitive reserve and reduce the risk of cognitive decline. Engaging in puzzle-solving activities not only enhances brain function but also offers a relaxing and rewarding mental exercise.
Incorporating puzzles into your daily routine can significantly enhance your quality of life, providing both mental stimulation and a sense of achievement. Whether you’re a seasoned puzzler or just starting, there’s always a new puzzle waiting to be solved.
So, pick up a puzzle today and start reaping the surprising benefits it has to offer!
