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"For Those Rainy Days"
June 17, 2000
Jessie Coffey
Summer vacation is just around the corner and everyone is looking forward to endless sunny days spent frolicking outside. But what happens when it rains? When the refrain heard around the house is "I'm soooo bored!"? Let Puzzlemaker (http://puzzlemaker.school.discovery.com) help while away the hours.
Affiliated with the Discovery Channel, Puzzlemaker is a "puzzle and games generation tool for teachers, parents, and students." The site offers eleven different puzzle creation options to help occupy both young and old minds alike. There are two maze creation options: mazes that run through animal sketches and computer generated mazes. Word puzzles are available as word searches, word searches with hidden messages, criss-cross puzzles, double puzzles, cryptograms, letter tiles and fallen puzzles. To create the word puzzles, two options are available to the site user. The creator can supply specific words, the size, and the complexity of the final product. If creating a puzzle with a hidden meaning, the user can type in a sentence of relatively long length.
The Puzzlemaker site supplies word lists for those lacking inspiration on a wide variety of topics. Historical lists supplies words on events from Apollo's trip to the moon to historical figures such as Johannes Gutenberg. The Science lists provide material for puzzles on the atmosphere, the solar system and everything in between. A list of words associated with various holidays is available, as well as a number of vocabulary lists which have been designed to accompany Discovery Channel School lesson plans.
If you would rather work with numbers, Puzzlemaker creates number blocks and math squares designed to use and improve upon the knowledge of arithmetic and algebraic formulas. The level of difficulty can be varied within the creation of the puzzle by selecting different puzzle sizes and layers of complexity.
In order to create a puzzle that will present a challenge the site offers a "Hints" section detailing how to best utilize the site. There is also a free electronic newsletter available which acts to update regular users on site changes and new program options.
To occupy a bored child over the summer, to include in a gift to a friend, or to use in classes next year, Puzzlemaker is a site with something to offer everyone.
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