Puzzles are wonderful! All sorts of puzzles: jigsaw puzzles, word puzzles, number puzzles, Rubik’s cubes, and plenty others all provide dozens of pleasant benefits. Said benefits include stress relief, improving short term memory, and even the sharpening of logic and reasoning skills. 

This is also a great hobby to pick up as we grow older (if you’re a teen you may be thinking “Ick!”). Imagine your brain as a hinge that gets really squeaky as it ages. Now imagine the act of doing puzzles is like applying oil to the hinges, causing less squeak. To top it all off, finishing a puzzle feels spectacular, because overcoming a tricky puzzle releases dopamine. Basically, puzzles make you happy.

If puzzles sound exciting to you but you have no idea where to start, here are a few suggestions. Jigsaw puzzles are usually pretty easy, just time consuming for the larger ones. Anyone new to puzzles should try smaller jigsaw puzzles. We even have some jigsaw puzzles in the Media Center! One of my personal favorite puzzles are Sudoku puzzles. These ones are number puzzles that require far more thought, but if that sounds fun, there is also a Sudoku puzzle with instructions in the Media Center. I would also recommend the many NYTimes puzzles, such as the Wordle, and the other activities. If you are interested in crossword puzzles, the Washington Post has plenty of lovely puzzles too.