Game Schooling - Puzzles

I know many seasoned homeschool parents who will say that their number one must-have homeschool tool is puzzles. And there's a fair amount of research about the educational value of jigsaw puzzles. Puzzles provide practice in deductive reasoning, categorization, analysis, sequencing, problem solving, spacial awareness, and scanning - skills that transfer especially well to the "academic" subjects of reading, math, and science. For the kinesthetic learner, puzzles can also be a hands-on way to work with subject matter. Example: We recently picked up a puzzle map of New York City. We'll be visiting New York this summer, and the puzzle is providing all of us with a hands-on way of familiarizing ourselves with the city.  We're developing a sense of the direction, distance, and general layout of places in the city. The puzzle is a conversation piece, as we discover street names and buildings, and it's a starting point for new learning about the city.

AND, "puzzling" is a fun social activity: