Riddle Me This! Celebrate National Puzzle Day

A Teasing Riddle
by
Augustus Leopold Egg, 1816-1863

January 29 is National Puzzle Day.

“The first jigsaw puzzle was created around 1760, when JohnSpilsbury, a British engraver and mapmaker, mounted a map on a sheet of wood that he then sawed around each individual country. Spilsbury used the product to aid in teaching geography.

After catching on with the wider public, this remained the primary use of jigsaw puzzles until about 1820. By the early 20th century, magazines and newspapers found that they could increase their daily subscriptions by publishing puzzle contests. ”
From www.cute-calendar.com

• Jigsaw puzzles use both sides of the brain.
• Puzzles improve memory, cognitive function, and problem solving skills.
• Word searches and crossword puzzles increase vocabulary and language skills. 
• Sudoku exercises the brain by testing memory and logical thinking and can improve number skills. Information found at: http://www.nationaldaycalendar.com/national-puzzle-day-january-29/

STORIES

Some riddle tales to keep them guessing.

A Bride for Khan Turali – Azerbaijan
http://tinyurl.com/cwvgm99

Clever Manka – Czechoslovakia
https://www.worldoftales.com/European_folktales/Czechoslovak_folktale_27.html#gsc.tab=0

The Clever Wife – China

http://tinyurl.com/d7d8clp 

The Devil and His Grandmother - German
https://fairytalez.com/the-devil-and-his-grandmother/

The Enchanted Princess – Russia
http://tinyurl.com/ot2pkwg

The Kind and the Bees
http://www.free-short-stories.org.uk/inspirational-stories/the-king-and-the-bees-inspirational-story.htm

King John and the Abbot of  Canterbury - England
https://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/eng/meft/meft30.htm

The Pumpkin in the Jar – Philippines

http://tinyurl.com/na4b57o

Rachel the Clever - Poland
https://literarytransgressions.wordpress.com/2009/12/11/fairy-tale-friday-rachel-the-clever/

The Riddle – Grimm
http://tinyurl.com/lq2mav4

The Riddle – Romania

http://tinyurl.com/no3t5ez

The Riddle of the Ox – Mongolia
https://taletellerin.wordpress.com/2010/04/19/4-the-riddle-of-the-ox/

The Three Dolls - Iran
https://worldstories.org.uk/reader/the-three-dolls/english/459

Weighing the Elephant - China
https://storiestogrowby.org/story/early-reader-weighing-elephant-english-stories-kids/

ACTIVITIES AND CRAFTS

Imagination Soup - 6 Ways to Celebrate National Puzzle Day with Kids 
https://imaginationsoup.net/national-puzzle-day-kids/

DLTK-Kids – Printable Jigsaw Puzzles – Make your own puzzle; many themes to keep the children guessing!

http://www.dltk-kids.com/type/printable_jigsaw_puzzles.htm

Puzzlemaker.com – Make your own word searches, mazes and more.

http://www.discoveryeducation.com/free-puzzlemaker/?CFID=355277&CFTOKEN=12766806

Puzzles Pieces: Arts and Crafts
http://www.artistshelpingchildren.org/puzzlespiecesartscraftsideaskids.html

BOOKS

The Riddle in the Tale: Riddles and Riddle Folk Tales by Taffy Thomas MBE
https://www.harvard.com/book/the_riddle_in_the_tale_riddles_and_riddle_folk_tales/

Riddling Tales from around the World by Marjorie Dundas
https://www.biblio.com/book/riddling-tales-around-world-dundas-marjorie/d/1469664593

The Twenty Best Riddle Books for Kids
https://bookroo.com/explore/books/topics/riddles

CURRICULUM

Busy Teachers: Riddle Me This - 5 Practical Uses for Riddles in the ESL Classroom
https://busyteacher.org/16142-riddles-esl-classroom-5-practical-uses.html

Education World – Teaching with Puzzles
https://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/strategy/strategy064.shtml

Free Printable Puzzles for Teachers
https://www.puzzles-to-print.com/

Mentor Education – Five Reasons to Use Riddles in the Classroom
https://mentoreducation.co.uk/11-plus-tutor/12-month-programme/five-reasons-to-use-riddles-in-education/

Puzzles, Activities, and Lesson Plans
https://mathigon.org/tasks

RECIPE

Egg, Sausage, & Cheese Breakfast Puzzle Sandwich
https://ncegg.org/recipes/egg-sausage-cheese-breakfast-puzzle-sandwich/
Easy Egg Recipes - NC Egg Association

RIDDLES

Looking for some riddles to share between your tales? Here are 40 riddles, and most importantly, the answers!

Bored Teachers – 100 riddles for the classroom your students will love!
https://www.boredteachers.com/post/riddles-for-students

National Institute of Environmental Health – Not So Hard Riddles
https://kids.niehs.nih.gov/games/riddles/not-so-hard-riddles    

Teaching Expertise - 50  Riddles To Keep Your Students Entertained
https://www.teachingexpertise.com/classroom-ideas/riddles-for-students/

Think.com – Forty Traditional Riddles
This site is now gone but you can still access it through the Wayback Machine at the link below.
https://web.archive.org/web/20061111123809/http://www.thinks.com/riddles/a1-riddles.htm

Please note, websites change at a rapid pace and weblinks may change or break without notice. I cannot be responsible for redirected or broken links.  At the time of this posting all links were in working order. Thank you for understanding.

 

Karen Chace 2016 ©
This blog post was researched and compiled by Karen Chace. Permission for private use is granted. Distribution, either electronically or on paper is prohibited without my expressed written permission. For permission, please contact me at storybug@aol.com. Of course, if you wish to link to my blog via your website, blog, newsletter, Facebook page or Twitter please feel free to do so; I appreciate your support and personal integrity.

Stor e Telling: January, February, March 2014: Spiritual Stories

Stealers of Light
by
Edmund Dulac, 1916

Since we said good-bye to 2014 a number of months ago I decided it was time to begin sharing my Stor e Telling columns from the National Storytelling Magazine. The resources below are from the January/February/March 2014 issue. All of the links have been checked and updated where necessary. I hope you find something useful to add to your repertoire either now or in the future.

Please note that I only add my columns to my blog when the year has passed. To receive additional, timely resources, please consider becoming a member of the National Storytelling Network. Your membership includes the National Storytelling Magazine.

The theme for this issue was Spiritual Stories so I begin with these tales.

Buddhist Tales for Young and Old
Fifty-Five stories, many of which indicate the character trait symbolized in the story.
http://tinyurl.com/5jtj6l

Spiritual Stories.com – A variety of stories, Buddhist, Zen, Sufi, Jewish, Christian and Nasrudin are here.

http://tinyurl.com/6qv2eu

Zen Stories - Over fifty stories in the Zen tradition. "This web site is a collection of stories from the Orient, mostly Zen and Taoist tales. Think of these tales as conversation pieces, as handy tools that you can lift out of your pocket to help you and others talk, think, and laugh about the wondrous and mysterious details of this thing we call life."
http://tinyurl.com/yrj8hl

January 29, 2014 is National Puzzle Day; I offer some riddle stories to keep them guessing.

A Bride for Khan Turali – Azerbaijan
http://tinyurl.com/cwvgm99

The Clever Wife – China
http://tinyurl.com/d7d8clp 


The Enchanted Princess – Russia
http://tinyurl.com/ot2pkwg

Outwitting the Chimp – Congo
http://tinyurl.com/ors3eh3

The Pumpkin in the Jar – Philippines

http://tinyurl.com/na4b57o

The Riddle – Grimm
http://tinyurl.com/lq2mav4

The Riddle – Romania

http://tinyurl.com/no3t5ez

Looking for some riddles to share between your tales? Here are some riddles, and most importantly, the answers!

DLTK – Riddles for Kids

http://www.dltk-kids.com/games/general_jokes.htm 

February 26 is Tell a Fairy Tale Day.  Give them a try and their magic will sweep you away!

A Book of Fairy Tales from Many Places
http://oaks.nvg.org/fairy-book.html

Andrew Lang’s Colored Fairy Tale Books – They’re all here from blue to violet!

http://tinyurl.com/mjwgshe

The Golden Maiden – A public domain book from 1898 filled with Armenian folktales and fairytales. 

http://tinyurl.com/ldrf4r9

Fairy Tales by Howard Pyle, 1903.

http://tinyurl.com/n256x5b

Fairy Tales from the Arabian Nights by E. Dixon, 1893.

http://tinyurl.com/mgwn6nq

Fairy Tales from Many Lands by Katharine Pyle, 1911. The Evil One Who Married Three Sisters, The Seven Golden Pea Hens and other unique stories are found within. 
http://tinyurl.com/khnr5ow

Japanese Fairy Tales by Teresa Peirce Williston, 1911
http://tinyurl.com/l5jjwyj

Japanese Folk Stories and Fairy Tales - Thirty-three folktales collected by Mary F. Nixon-Roulet and published in 1908. 

http://tinyurl.com/ckvg49 

And to add to the fun, a book from 1910, Fairy Tale Plays and How to Act Them. While some of the language is antiquated it can be easily updated. The book also offers suggestions on costumes, props and scenery.
https://archive.org/details/fairytaleplaysa00bellgoog 

We celebrate the Chinese New Year on January 31, 2014. This year, according to the Chinese Zodiac, is the Year of the Horse, a symbol of travel and success!

The Dun Horse – Russia
http://tinyurl.com/66tm5m5

The Enchanted Horse – Persia
http://tinyurl.com/k5vlvzm

The Flaming Horse: The Story of a Country Where the Sun Never Shines -Czechoslovak Folktale
http://tinyurl.com/ljusjdz

The Horse’s Revenge
http://tinyurl.com/kuop2xf

The Magic Horse – Iran
http://tinyurl.com/43o238e

The Magician’s Horse – Greece

http://tinyurl.com/mfj2yqv

Horse Cursed by the Sun – South Africa
http://tinyurl.com/mocvm7u

White Horse – Native American
http://tinyurl.com/mdy2482

Below are blog posts filled with stories, curriculum, crafts and more to welcome the windy month of March.

The Wayward Wind: Folktales for March

http://karenchace.blogspot.com/2011/03/the-wayward-wind-folktales-for-march.htm

May the Road Rise Up To Meet You
http://karenchace.blogspot.com/2011/02/may-road-rise-up-to-meet-youcelebrating.html

Sláinte mhaith! (Good health)

http://karenchace.blogspot.com/2010/02/slainte-mhaith-good-health.html

Women’s History Month: Women in “Her”story

http://karenchace.blogspot.com/2010/03/celebrate-womens-history-month-women-in.html

Karen Chace 2015 ©

This blog post was researched and compiled by Karen Chace. Permission for private use is granted. Distribution, either electronically or on paper is prohibited without my expressed written permission. For permission please contact me at storybug@aol.com. Of course, if you wish to link to my blog via your website, blog, newsletter, Facebook page or Twitter please feel free to do so; I greatly appreciate your support and personal integrity.