Puzzles a sign of being gifted?

[whoami]

Is this true?

[ErinYay]

Can you elaborate?

Are you asking if liking/doing/excelling at puzzles (jigsaw/word/logic) is a sign of giftedness?

If so, not in and of itself, no.

Here are some links to some sites that list some characteristics/traits of gifted kids- though some gifted kids show few of these traits, and some "just bright" kiddos can show a lot. (And take all this stuff with a grain of salt, as your mileage may vary!)


Hoagie's Gifted links

Bright vs Gifted

[no5no5]

Well, I guess I'd say that any skill that a child has that is far advanced over typical age-peers can be a sign of giftedness. Of course it isn't always.

[whoami]

Originally Posted by ErinYay

Can you elaborate?

Are you asking if liking/doing/excelling at puzzles (jigsaw/word/logic) is a sign of giftedness?

If so, not in and of itself, no.

Here are some links to some sites that list some characteristics/traits of gifted kids- though some gifted kids show few of these traits, and some "just bright" kiddos can show a lot. (And take all this stuff with a grain of salt, as your mileage may vary!)


Hoagie's Gifted links

Bright vs Gifted

What I meant was excelling, and really enjoying them. I was just curious since a friend was talking about this and I had not heard of that being a sign before. I didn't introduce puzzles to my son as a baby, but he was given two 24 piece cranium puzzles at 2.5 so I stuck them on his play shelf. The first time he opened the box we laid out the pieces he started making matches right away before I had a chance to explain how we do it. He finished within 30 minutes and I just watched kind of in shock without really helping.

A couple weeks later it progressed to him working on both at once, or doing one over a couple times pretty much trying to do it faster. So then I introduced a few more complex puzzles, 100 at most but then I put them puzzles though since he kind of got obsessive with it. Never thought anything of it until my friend brought up the topic of puzzles and giftedness.

[jenfl]

I think, on its own, it's just a sign of being really good at spatial relations. My DD loves and is very, very good at puzzles, but that's just a piece of who she is. Gifted? Probably not. Just my puzzle-loving kid.

If he loves them, I'd pull them back out for him! They're great things for kids to play around with (and the cardboard ones are nice and cheap!). My DD also goes through periods of puzzle obsession (we're in one now, in fact -- we've always got a few-hundred piece puzzle working on the puzzle table), but then she drops it for a while until the next time.

[eepster]

Yes. Though obviously, it's not a guaranty, it is a pretty strong clue.

Advanced puzzle skills are indicative of an advanced visual spacial ability. Gifted visual spacial thinkers are more likely to be over looked in early education than verbally gifted children.

[LaLaLaLa]

My kids have always been fantastic at puzzles; DD was doing the big floor puzzles right around a year old. At two, each of my kids could put together and identify about a third of the states in our United States puzzle. DD is now 6 and DS is 4.5.

At this point, I would consider them very average kids. They just love puzzles. Probably because DH and I do, too, and the kids know they can keep us very engaged when they pull out a puzzle and start to piece it together.

I bet being good at puzzles could be a sign of giftedness, but there's a whole constellation of additional evidence that would make a gifted diagnosis more likely.

[ejsmommy]

For my oldest DD yes, it was a sign. She has excelled at puzzles from and early age. When she was 3 she was doing 200 piece puzzles in very little time. At 4, she started having trouble in preschool and I was told that there was something wrong with her. I started looking into the possibility that she might be gifted. She didn't match too many of the characteristics on most of the gifted lists, she talked late, wasn't reading yet etc. but I knew she was amazing at puzzles so I found a psychologist who specializes in gifted kids and took her in for an evaluation. I am glad I did. If I had gone the route the preschool had wanted me to go I am sure my DD would have been misdiagnosed.

DD is 7 now and has tested HG. Her obsession with puzzles has waned a bit and building legos kits is the the latest passion but there is always at least one puzzle still on the dining room table. Recently, she did her first 1500 piece puzzle. I don't think there is anything wrong with letting your son have the puzzles as much as he likes and to keep going up in size when he is ready.

[KCMichigan]

Yes and no.

It could be an indicator- but is not an exclusive one. Gifted kids are often good at puzzles.

I have twin DD--both suspected to be gifted. One LOVES puzzles, the other does not.

Some of it is based on interests and some kids just are not that into puzzles, that makes them no more or less likely to be gifted.

[Marissamom]

It's a good indicator of understanding spatial relationships, which isn't by itself an indication of giftedness, but people with exceptional spatial awareness are often also strong in math, science, and logic.

[lovingmommyhood]

I came to search this exact thing. My DS who turned four in July does 200 piece puzzles in an hour. Seems like it's not a sign of much but I do have fun watching him! It's like he knows where the pieces go as soon as he picks them up. I guess I'll need to buy a 300+ one and see how he does.