3D Puzzle Labs

How a lab runs

Students work in pairs on physical 3D puzzles that increase in difficulty across the term. A facilitator circulates, asks questions, and deliberately does not give answers. The point is not the finished puzzle. The point is the fourth attempt after three have failed, made in front of peers, with an adult who clearly expected it.

Sessions run about an hour, on the same day each week, with the same group. Children who drop in occasionally get an enjoyable afternoon. Children who come every week get the benefit that the research on out-of-school-time programming actually documents.

What it builds

• Spatial reasoning and mental rotation, the underpinning of later geometry, engineering, and design work.
• Sequencing and planning: holding several steps in mind before acting.
• Productive struggle. Being wrong in public, and continuing anyway.
• Collaboration without a designated leader.

Puzzles for your classroom

We make our puzzles available to teachers, afterschool providers, homeschool groups, and families. Buy a single puzzle, or a classroom set in bulk at a reduced per-unit rate.

We also donate puzzle sets to community organizations running their own youth cohorts. If your organization serves children in Northwest Philadelphia and cannot fund a purchase, say so in the form below and we will tell you what we can do.

Every set purchased helps fund a set given away.

Bulk purchases directly subsidize the free programs we run in Germantown, West Oak Lane, and Mount Airy. Buying puzzles for your classroom puts puzzles in another child's hands.