Many people think of puzzles as fun ways to occupy children on a rainy day but experts now say they can be great for adults looking to become healthier. Putting together 300 piece jigsaw puzzles can do a lot to keep your brain and body healthy and happy. Here are some of the benefits of doing easy puzzles and hard puzzles:
- They are fantastic for your memory. Think about it, whether you are doing 300 piece jigsaw puzzles or 750 piece jigsaw puzzles, it takes more than just good eyesight to put the pieces in the right space. You have to get the image you are looking for in your head, think about that as you sift through all of the pieces, and then assemble them in the right configuration. When you do all of that, you help your brain cells interact with each other. This improves those connections and speeds up your thought processes. This process is excellent for improving short-term memory. This is what we use when we look at pieces, identify their shapes, and work out how to arrange them properly to get that images we want.
- Puzzles do wonders for a person’s ability to solve problems. Being able to come up with creative solutions to problems can help in just about every areas of life. From what you can accomplish at work to dealing with friends and family, creativity is always a good asset to have. When you are working on 300 piece jigsaw puzzles, for example, you need to come up with creative ways to complete the task at hand. This means you have to come up with different approaches to it, as there are a number of variables that come into play.
- They help people work through obstacles. It can be hard to deal with situations where you make plans for one set of variables but then things change and you have to readjust. For a number of people, this causes a lot of stress. When you are working through difficult puzzles, this happens all the time. By doing 300 piece jigsaw puzzles, you develop a plan and then work it but if that does not work out, you have to change it up and go a different way. This practice can help with other parts of life. It also gives people the evidence they need to show they can work through issues and problem scenarios when they try to.
- They can help with spatial reasoning. There are a number of professions that benefit from spatial reasoning. These include surgeons, artists, chemists, and engineers. This skill is also crucial for driving, parking, packing bags and boxes, reading maps, and organizing a space. Doing jigsaw puzzles can help with all of that. Even people who already possess this skill can benefit from doing a puzzle from time to time.
- Puzzles make you smarter. Doing puzzles can help increase vocabulary, general reasoning, and memory. This also means doing them can give you a bump for your IQ score. Research, done at the University of Michigan, showed that adults can increase their IQ by up to four points when they spend less than a half hour a day on puzzles and puzzle games.
- Puzzles can protect the brain from dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease. Multiple studies have shown that doing 300 piece jigsaw puzzles and other puzzle games reduces damage to brain cells and improves the connections between cells. Research also shows that the earlier a person starts playing these games and putting together puzzles, the less likely they will be to develop these conditions.
- They lower stress and make people happier. Doing jigsaw puzzles can put the brain into a state known as the “Alpha” state, which is where we are when we are asleep. That combined with the increased production of dopamine help the brain get to a place that of often associated with meditation. Spending time in this calm space makes us happier. Every time a piece is placed in the proper spot, dopamine levels go up.
Doing jigsaw puzzles does more than occupy our time. They really help the memory, make people happier and less stressed out, and improve brain health. Moreover, they can help us bond with friends and family.