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 improves 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

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 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

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

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/

STEMGems: Weighing the Elephant - “This STEM Gem presents a problem from Chinese folklore that requires critical thinking and math to solve. The age appropriateness of the activity can be raised or lowered by changing the numbers being used to solve the problem.”
https://naaweb.org/images/STEMGems-Elephant.pdf
 

RECIPE

Easy Microwave Egg Puzzle – Bring the puzzle fun to the dinner table!
http://lajollamom.com/kids-recipe-easy-microwave-egg-puzzle/

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 greatly appreciate your support and personal integrity.

Stor e Telling March April May 2015: National Storytelling Conference

The Queen and the Crab

Illustration by H. J. Ford,

from the Orange Fairy Book, 1906

I am continuing to share my Stor e Telling columns from the National Storytelling Magazine. The resources below are from the March/April/May 2015 issue. All of the links have been checked and updated where necessary. You will notice that some of the links are about Kansas City since the 2015 National Storytelling Conference was held in that city. The conference will be held there this year as well so the links will hopefully be useful to you in 2016.

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 National Storytelling Conference will be held in Kansas City, MO in July. Here are some sites to explore so you will ready to enjoy the sites and sounds of the city!

Explore Kansas City – Information on concerts, events, attractions and more. There is also a monthly calendar of events.
http://explorekansascity.com/

Visit KC.com – This site will lead you to restaurants, hotels and events, including family activities, discounts, maps, transportation and more.
http://tinyurl.com/poxb7t6

KCParent.com - If your family is joining you at the conference this site offers over 500 family friendly attractions to entertain and delight everyone.

http://tinyurl.com/bqosq3x

TripAdvisor.com – Before you open your wallet visit this site for ratings and comments on events, restaurants and hotels from folks who have walked the walk.
http://tinyurl.com/ntvsvf9

May 18 is Victoria Day in Canada, in honor of Queen Victoria. To celebrate this special day I offer you some tales of queens from around the world.

Anait - Armenia

http://tinyurl.com/2bp2ual

Good Will Grow Out of Good - India

http://tinyurl.com/m9wtowz

Kings, Queens, Princesses and Earls: The Twelve Wild Geese - Ireland

http://tinyurl.com/muew9l6

The Lute Player - Russia

http://tinyurl.com/kxu8vjq

The Queen and the Mouse - France

http://tinyurl.com/m7dn5gg

The Son of Seven Queens - India

http://tinyurl.com/lmhvao9

The Snow Queen - Denmark

http://tinyurl.com/ygl7vdy

The Tale of the Sad Queen - China

http://tinyurl.com/mud7cuk

The White Doe – France
http://tinyurl.com/njkddvf

Continuing with the celebration of Queen Victoria Day I offer an article from jstor.org.

The Influence of Queen Victoria on England’s Literary Fairy Tales – The link will lead you to a preview of the article. To read the entire piece you are required to register but registration is free.

http://tinyurl.com/o2vzpr7

Time and Date/Canada - For additional information on the holiday visit

http://tinyurl.com/o3s972t .

GoCanada.com - If you plan to join the celebration in Canada here is a helpful guide.
http://tinyurl.com/o9jtg7

June 18 is Go Fishing Day in the USA so I offer some tales with scales. Have fun swimming through the stories!

A Fish Story – Australia

http://tinyurl.com/l8k4wnq

A Small Fish Story – Ireland
http://tinyurl.com/mdjul4p

The Fish and the Ring – Germany
http://tinyurl.com/o8qdjcw

The Girl-Fish – Spain
http://tinyurl.com/ol4xtny

How People Learned to Fish – Native American
http://tinyurl.com/62swhvz

The Fish God of Hawaii – United States
http://tinyurl.com/qf2d2yb

The Golden Fish - India
http://tinyurl.com/kyrfbee

The Heron, the Fish and the Crayfish –Ukraine
http://tinyurl.com/6js3u88 

The Old Man and the Fish – China
http://tinyurl.com/62buyb9

The Talking Fish – Armenia
http://tinyurl.com/6dxtmo8

That Pesky Fellow – Newfoundland
http://tinyurl.com/6gsw4jt 

Why the Fish Has Scales – Philippines
http://tinyurl.com/6zycomu

Why the Fish Laughed – India
http://tinyurl.com/lnfp7jo

And for those who spend their summer days seeking “The one that got away,” a link that leads to Tales of the Fisherman, filled with stories, crafts, curriculum and more.

http://karenchace.blogspot.com/2011/09/working-waterfront-tales-of-fisherman.html

And if you missed the January/February Stor e Telling blog, you can find it here:
http://www.karenchace.blogspot.com/2016/01/drama-stor-e-telling-january-february.html

In addition, this link will take you to all of the Stor e Telling blog posts from Storytelling Magazine from 2007 to 2014.

http://www.karenchace.blogspot.com/2016/01/from-1001-nights-to-2001-story.html

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 greatly appreciate your support and personal integrity.