Beyond Instructions: The Power of Exploratory Games in Child Development

The exploratory game is a game that captivates the child, in which he or she explores the world and develops enthusiastically. And also, this game is a good sign of whether our child is being nourished. After all, it is only out of being nourished by an attachment that such play emerges. As Dr. Neufild compares it, it's a luxury for our limbic system.

I observed it in the other day, in a completely unexpected activity of my kids.

Puzzles.

It would seem that there is no room for imagination. You have the pieces, you have the picture you will end up with. But, uh. The game doesn't care. In a game, a real game, anything can happen. We started to put the puzzle together, but he got carried away and I was just a bystander. And then he started putting them together in his own way.

He'd make new pictures out of different pieces of the puzzle. He'd make up stories about it.

For example, in the picture, the train driver went to the platform.

He invented the unimaginable, like a pipe attached to a wheel and spinning. It was interesting to watch and listen, because he was excitedly talking about his new "invention".

I must admit that at first I almost had to bite my tongue to keep from interrupting him. In fact, in my head, I kept thinking that I should tell him how to do it right. That, seeing as he brings the wrong piece and twists it and twirls it and spins, it is unnecessary to hint that this piece is not from here.

I'm not a "helicopter" parent, but the pattern from my childhood that the puzzle has to be put together correctly, and the apple should be colored in red sometimes pops up.

And the truth is, these limitations are actually sitting in our heads.

And we can compile the puzzle not as per the instructions, but it is no less fascinating and developing. It is better to let the imagination and thinking to develop, rather than honed skill to follow the instructions.

Do your children like jigsaw puzzles? Have they ever had such episodes?