Plenty of puzzling at the Prep

“A little birdie came in and told us that Principal McKinney finished a 1,000-piece puzzle on Family Day weekend, and the students found that pretty inspiring,” recalls Year 1 teacher Riley Carter. They’ve gone from completing 200-piece puzzles to five 500-piecers — and they’re ready to take on even larger sizes. 

At a dedicated table, the 20 students work on puzzling before class begins, and also as part of a block Carter has built into their day called “WIN time.”

“It stands for ‘what I need,’” she explains. “Every day after physical education, they have 15 minutes of WIN time: ‘Do I need a drink of water? Do I need mindfulness? Do I need to read a book? Do I need to have a snack?’ Or, ‘Do I just need to do something to reset my system?’ Many of them do puzzling during that time.”

This interest has led to a collaboration with the Prep’s new Brenda & Reid Chen Innovation Lab for the College’s youngest learners.  

“The lab is printing and laser-cutting a blank 100-piece puzzle on wood for us, so we can design our own puzzle,” Carter says. “The kids can sign it out to take home and solve with their families, then bring it back. Then we might challenge Mr. McKinney to see if he can solve it.”

The theme of one of the recent puzzles was the solar system, which tied into the class’ current unit of inquiry — the earth and the sun. 

Says Carter, “It has them working together as a team towards a common goal, and it shows them the importance of persisting, because puzzling is hard. It’s good at this age as a mindful activity; it’s very quiet at the table. And it’s something in which they take great pride. When they finish a puzzle, they’ll tell anyone who walks by in the hall, ‘Come see our puzzle!’” 

While jigsaws date back to the 18^th century, the students are also exploring the solar system with cutting-edge technology provided by the Chen lab. They’re using VR goggles to take a virtual trip to all the planets. 

“Next we’re going to be studying structures, and I’d love to get in there and get hands-on, using all the resources and experimenting,” Carter says. “We’ll be looking at what makes structures stable, focusing on math and shapes. The innovation lab provides us with the opportunity to engage in learning in a new way.”