Welcome To Our Puzzle Challenge Day Workshop
Raise your students' expectations of what they can achieve!
A Puzzle Challenge Day consists of between three and five programme sessions, with up to 60 students taking part in each session. Your students will encounter a variety of challenges, most of which can be solved within a few minutes, but which require collaborative learning skills with careful strategic planning, in order to find a solution.
If the temptation to give up starts to appear, the programme teaches students how to persevere, put their own skills to better use as part of a team and overcome difficulties by approaching problems from a different perspective.
The challenges include; balancing 24 penguins on a moving iceberg, creating a road map with logical route ways, colour coded jigsaws, tube connection challenges and moving optical illusions.
The programme lengths are flexible to enable us to fit into your school's timetable.
Generally though, each session lasts for between 60 - 90 minutes, spread across the day.
All of the challenges are age and ability appropriate and the programmes are also suitable, and especially beneficial to students with specific learning difficulties and for Gifted and Talented programmes.
At the end of Puzzle Challenge Day programmes, students are asked what they feel they have learned that will help them in the future. Almost always, we hear the same three answers...
How To Structure Your Workshop
Reception to Post 16
Fully DBS checked
300 students per day
60 students per session
Feedback On Our Puzzle Challenge Day Workshops
The workshop was arranged for More Able pupils who have English as an Additional language to give them an opportunity to problem-solve collaboratively with learners from other schools. The day was a huge success for pupils and staff! The pupils enjoyed the activities, especially the competitive element and teamwork. The staff loved that the learning objectives were achieved and the way pupils were communicating and collaborating with pupils from other schools. ”Julie Elliot, teacher
Ms Coulter,
Teacher
"The workshop was arranged for More Able pupils who have English as an Additional language to give them an opportunity to problem-solve collaboratively with learners from other schools. The day was a huge success for pupils and staff! The pupils enjoyed the activities, especially the competitive element and teamwork. The staff loved that the learning objectives were achieved and the way pupils were communicating and collaborating with pupils from other schools. ”
Julie Elliot,
Teacher
“It has been just over three months since our puzzle day with you. Your workshops have without doubt made our students, from Reception to Year 6, much more resilient and they are embracing new challenges with confidence. We have engaged, determined students as a result of the Happy Puzzle day. We want you here every week!”
Anthony Wolfson,
Head Teacher, Nancy Rubin Primary School
This workshop is great for developing...
- Persisting
- Thinking and communicating with clarity and precision
- Managing impulsivity
- Listening with understanding and empathy
- Creating, imagining, and innovating
- Thinking flexibly
- Thinking about thinking (metacognition)
- Taking responsible risks
- Questioning and posing problems
- Thinking interdependently
- Applying past knowledge to new situations
- Remaining open to continuous learning
Key takeaways from our workshop include...
"Never Give Up!"
"The importance of working as a team"
"That nothing needs to be impossible"
Schools Everywhere Are Hosting A Puzzle Challenge Day – Are You?
- As an activity to help develop thinking skills.
- As part of an activity week, maths week or enrichment week.
- As a team-building activity that will benefit students of all abilities, including those with specific learning difficulties.
- As a beginning/end of year activity for a class or year group, or for students visiting from other schools.
- As an INSET programme for staff.
