Puzzler

Everyone loves a jigsaw puzzle. This activity gives your child a close-up “look” at the pieces!

What You Need:

• Jigsaw puzzle (of 100 to 1,000 pieces)
• Paper and pencil

What You and Your Child Will Do:

1. If possible, remove the cover from the puzzle box and hide it so that your child can't see the printed number of pieces. (Alternatively, tape a piece of paper over the number on the cover.)
2. Spill the contents of the box in a pile on the table.
3. Challenge your child to estimate the number of puzzle pieces in the pile by making an “educated guess” as follows.
   
   

   (For 100- to 250-piece puzzles):

   • Have your child count out two or three groups of 10 puzzle pieces.
   • Tell your child to estimate how many more 10s could be made with the pieces in the remaining pile.
   • Write down the estimate.
   • Tell your child to add, counting by 10s to estimate the total number of pieces in the puzzle.
   
   
   

   (For 500- to 1,000-piece puzzles):

   • Have your child count out 10 groups of 10 puzzle pieces.
   • Offer help in counting the 10s, pushing the groups together, to determine that there is a total of 100.
   • Tell your child to estimate how many more 100s could be made from the pieces in the remaining pile.
   • Write down the estimate.
   • Tell your child to add, counting by 100s to estimate the total number of pieces in the puzzle.
4. Reveal the number of pieces printed on the box cover. Talk about how close the child's estimate was to the actual number of pieces.