Submitted by: Lorenkg Russo

Here are a few tips for those wishing to buy puzzles for the classroom or home.

Kids jigsaw puzzles offer many benefits of helping kids to grow and develop their skills and talents. Here are a few of the ways they help kids:

o A great way to introduce teamwork and collaborative efforts as they work on the puzzles with other kids or family members

o Builds critical thinking skills as they match the colors and analyze the shapes.

o Manipulating the pieces helps to develop hand coordination, especially for younger kids

o Helps develop patience, especially for younger kids under age 6

o Strengthens relationships with others

o Increased attention to detail, ability to focus and concentration skills

o Develop social and communication skills

So with all of these great reasons to get a puzzle for your kids, the next question is how do you buy puzzles that will both entertain and challenge young minds? Here are some key things to consider when shopping for jigsaw puzzles.

o The level of difficulty must be appropriate for the child’s age. The younger the child the fewer the number of pieces in the puzzle. Anything too challenging will cause him to give up because of its difficulty and any puzzles you purchase that are too easy will cause him to quickly lose interest. For little ones under the age of 6, the bigger the jigsaw pieces, the easier it is for them to manipulate the pieces as they put them in place. After age six, kids have increased coordination skills and should be able to work with the smaller pieces that provide more of a challenge for both their dexterity and thinking skills.

o The puzzle theme should be a good fit for your child. Find a topic that your child loves then get puzzles which use the same theme. Is your eight year old fascinated with horses? There are literally thousands of jigsaw puzzles with images of horses. There are lots of themes available so finding one that works for your child should not be too hard. Their interest in the favorite topic will rub off on the puzzle activity, making it something they enjoy doing and want to do again and again.

o The puzzle material must be appropriate for the child’s age. Wooden jigsaw puzzles are available for toddlers and young preschool kids who need something that can take a beating and keep on working.

You can also get creative with kids jigsaw puzzles, using them as an event for the whole family or make it into a fun contest just for the kids. Here is an idea to make it interesting. Remove the puzzle pieces from the box that reveals the finished puzzle. Tell your children the first one to guess what it is after they’ve begun putting it together wins a prize. It’s a great incentive for them to work together as they eagerly anticipate the puzzle’s final look. But even better than any reward is for Mom or Dad to sit down with them, spend some time and provide a bit of help as they move forward with completing their jigsaw puzzles.

The benefits of jigsaw puzzles will stay with your family for a lifetime and the tradition can be passed down.

About the Author: I am the founder of

discount-puzzles.com

, bringing joy and confusion to the masses buy puzzles online, buy rubiks puzzles,

isnare.com

Permanent Link:

isnare.com/?aid=835850&ca=Parenting

Exercises to Help You Master the Sitting Trot

by

Josie Amani

Perhaps one of the most difficult tasks many riders experience is how to sit at the trot. The good news is that with time, anyone can do it; you just need to work on a few exercises. Horse riding just like any other physical activity requires a certain amount of physical fitness. You should work on strengthening your back and abdominal muscles through exercise if you want to achieve good posture easily when riding.

The best time to start your training on the sitting trot is after you’ve mastered the classical seat. Due to the fact that the classical seat permits you to sit securely and deeply you should try to master this seat before trying the sitting trot.

Here are a few exercises that will help you master the sitting trot:

1. Cross the stirrups over the horse’s withers and ask a friend to lunge the horse. By doing this you can focus on your posture and balance and not have to concentrate on steering your horse. Tie the reins in a knot over the horse’s withers so they are neither too tight nor too slack. Now think about your seat, focus on achieving a classical seat but don’t worry too much about dropping your heels. Concentrate on sitting deeply and keeping your legs far apart. Lightly hold the pommel with your outside hand and rest your inside hand on your thigh. Ask the person lunging the horse to get the horse started on a slow trot and concentrate on maintaining the classical seat as much as possible but do not allow yourself to tense up. Do not grip the saddle too tightly with your hand as this will cause you to become rigid. Focus on the horse’s forward rhythm while maintaining regular breathing. Try to relax as much as possible.

2. Once you begin feeling more confident about sitting to the trot you should start holding your hands as if they were holding the reins. Keep your upper arms to your side and your forearms should feel like the natural extension to the reins (even though you are not actually holding the reins). If you begin to tense up concentrate on relaxing. Breath, enjoy the ride, focus on how good the sun feels on your face and enjoy the scenery! Remain relaxed at all times while maintaining proper body position.

3. Once of the best exercises to perfect the sitting trot is to ride bareback. The classical seat will still apply but relax your heels and don’t try too hard to keep them down. Use a neckstrap to help maintain balance if you feel insecure. Instruct the person lunging your horse to cue the horse to gently trot for 4-5 strides then to walk a little, then to trot for 5-6 strides and return to the walk. Alternating walking and trotting helps your body relax if you’ve tensed up during the trot.

Practice frequently and you should be able to master the sitting trot in no time. Learning how to sit to the trot will dramatically improve your balance and riding skills as you will learn to balance and easily control your horse at the trot.

Stal Amani offers professional training and retraining services at competitive prices to help address any problems your horse may have. Whether your horse is untrained or needs retraining, Stal Amani can help your horse reach his full potential through expert assessment and handling. Please visit

stalamani.com

Article Source:

ArticleRich.com