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#1: Tripper (TripperCR) on Jan 20, 2011

Search? Is it to much to ask to share a "link" for those who don't get it? I'm quite sure it's a lot easier than having to explain the whole thing yourself! :P

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Actually, I am amazed at the number of people who don't look things up themselves.

I read an article recently that breathlessly exclaimed that the average net user searches "76 times a month!". That is a paltry twice a day. I use google much more that that, and use other site-specific searches even more often. So to get to that average, I guess I'm compensating for a squadron of people who never search.

That reminds me of a statistic that the average American household owns 3 books. Judging by the number of books we and all or our friends have, how many millions of homes don't have any books at all?

BTW, Chris would prefer to know what folks think of his picture. :)

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"how many millions of homes don't have any books at all?"

Hopefully those that don't take advantage of the free library.

Wow, I can't imagine a home with no books. Sad.

Chris, ask your mom to fix you up with your own webpbn account. It is confusing when two people share the same ID. Almost as confusing as one person using multiple IDs. :-O

Kristen, a few suggestions from one mom to another:

Show Chris the forum topics on what makes a good puzzle. I'm assuming you have already shown him how to make sure it is solvable. That's good! Look at topics #6, #10, and #130.

To be a good puzzle creator, it helps to understand what goes on in the brain of the solver: Pleasure comes from completing a solve, but the real dopamine burst comes from the "Aha!" experience the moment the solver recognizes the image. It helps to understand that what is recognizable to the puzzle creator may not be recognizable to the solver. A week later, we still don't know what those two things on top are.

Show Chris how to google and how to share a link. Nine years old is not too young to learn that sort of thing.

One of the fun things about creating puzzles is reading other's comments (and hoping for lots of praise on our wonderful artistic creativity). When an image is really good, lots of people will say so in the comments. If solvers don't think the image is all that great, most of the time they just don't say anything at all. A few people will make positive comments on a child's puzzle just because it was created by a child and they want to be encouraging.

One last comment: I am VERY happy that you are sitting down with Chris and helping him learn this puzzle creation process side by side. This is how Jan does it with his kids. It's more effective in the learning process for the child, and it's less frustrating for the thousands of puzzle solvers who get to share in the child's learning experience (whether they want to or not).

You two both have lots of artistic potential, so keep 'em coming. :-)

I think he's gotten puzzle-creating out of his system, but I've changed the titles of his puzzles to include his name, as a warning to others. :)

It is more fun to understand an image without having to look it up.

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