For parents, it can be challenging to find activities that are not only fun for their kids, but that are also educational.
From word searches to word unscrambles, there are plenty of puzzles that will force your kids to use their brains.
Here are 5 great puzzles for kids that you can either help them to solve or let them spend hours of excitement working through them.
Of course, it's important to make sure that the games you choose, whether they are classic board games or jigsaw puzzles are appropriate for the child's age.
Word Searches - The word search game has been around for a long time and there are just about as many different levels that you can play with your child as there are stages of development.
The best thing about word searches is that the child doesn't need to know what a word means to be able to find it in the puzzle.
And this leads to the second idea for puzzles that you can have your child play.
Word Search Maker - For many children, a part of the excitement about puzzles is being able to make their own.
There are many word search makers on the Internet that you can find, or you can simply create your own from scratch.
It's not a hard process, so have fun and create something together with your child.
Some times the process of creating is as fun as the puzzle itself.
Word Unscrambles - Regardless of what some people call this game, it's the same the world over.
You have certain letters that you can use to make other words.
It forces the child to think outside of the box and come up with solutions that may not be readily seen on the surface.
The more letters that you have, the more possible anagrams, and the more you may need to help younger children work through possible solutions.
Make Your Own Jigsaw Puzzle - There is barely a child out there who doesn't like solving jigsaw puzzles.
So why not help your child make his or her own jigsaw puzzle? All you need to do is take a picture (that is safe to cut up) and have him or her cut puzzle pieces out of it.
The younger they are, the larger the pieces should be.
To make things easier to put back together, glue the picture onto a thin cardboard or poster board first.
That way each piece will be strong and stay together.
Scrabble - Yes, that's right.
Scrabble.
There are Scrabble versions for kids of any age these days and this is one of the best ways to get your children to learn words, spelling, and solve problems.
There are so many games out there that are ideal for kids to play.
These are only 5 great puzzles that kids love.
We're sure you can come up with your own.