PuzzleMap

Important Update:

PuzzleMap™ will soon be available from its own web site at www.puzzlemap.fun.  Puzzles are launched from custom "atlases" and include many new features including subscriber-authored clues.  For a sneak preview, please feel free to try one of our latest puzzles.

A Spatial Kind of Magic

The world makes a bit more sense when we know where things are.  Books, maps and pictures are a wonderful way to expand our world but most of us learn best from hands-on involvement.  Manipulating things ourselves stimulates the spatial understanding and retention skills our ancestors relied on to survive.  It only makes sense.  This is how we will always learn to ride a bicycle, to cook, to solve equations or to play the guitar — by doing it.

Surprisingly, the whole idea of jigsaw puzzles was invented as a way to teach geography.  John Spilsbury (1739-1769), a British cartographer and engraver, produced the very first one in 1766.  That was an age of great exploration and discovery and his invention was immediately popular with people of all ages.  Jigsaw puzzles are still an entertaining and satisfying passtime.  They can still teach geography, too! 

PuzzleMap™ has been an on-going project to provide online geographic puzzles as a fun, self-directed learning experience.  One of our earliest puzzles of the US states was used in a 2017 Pilot Study conducted by the Washington State University College of Education.  It clearly had a positive impact!  A summary of the study results is available here.

Crystal Hayes, a 5th grade teacher involved in our early classroom trials, gave PuzzleMap this great review...

Watch the Video

The COVID pandemic interrupted a follow-up effort to align puzzle content with core curriculum standards and to assess the best techniques for presenting PuzzleMap in the classroom and as an at-home study guide.  We have, however, continued working on functional improvements and new puzzle ideas.  We have also developed a clue-authoring tool that is currently being beta-tested by a group of Education undergrads as well as a focus group of elementary teachers and students.

A Few Legacy Puzzles

It's always good to look back at early efforts to see how far things have progressed.  These are examples of the original PuzzleMap software — before marketing it to schools had even been considered!