Celebrate National Puzzle Day With an A-maze-ing Challenge
January 29th is national puzzle day.
National Puzzle Day celebrates puzzles in all its forms and variations. From jigsaw puzzles to Sudoku to the Rubik’s cube there are thousands of ways to celebrate and challenge yourself!
The recent surge in coloring books expounds their benefits for adults but, solving puzzles may have even greater benefits to keep your mind sharp.
Some of the most challenging types of puzzles are mazes. They improve decision-making skills, navigation, hand eye coordination, and much more. Mazes are used to understand our world and ourselves better. The Porteus Maze Test measure psychological planning capacity. Mazes continue to be used in laboratory studies to help us understand the functions of the brain. Rats and mice have been navigating mazes for over 100 years.
For thousands of years, dating back to the Egyptian Labyrinth in the 5th Century.
The mythological tale of the Minotaur features a maze as the key component of the story. Mazes feature in modern storytelling as well. Jim Henson’s Labyrinth, The Shining, and the Maze Runner series are just a few that feature mazes prominently. Mazes are a part of our landscape from the hedge mazes of England to the corn mazes of Pennsylvania.
Perhaps no one has a great appreciation for the art of mazes than Joe Wos.
Joe Wos is one of the world’s foremost maze artists. He created the record setting world’s largest hand-drawn maze in 2012.
Creators Syndicate currently distributes his feature MazeToons to newspapers nationwide.
Joe grew up in the 1970’s during the “Maze Craze” during which hundreds of maze books and magazines arose to satiate the puzzle minded public.
“I’ve always been fascinated by mazes. “ said Mr. Wos. “In some ways they are a metaphor for our lives. We face many twist, turns and dead ends, but through persistence we learn to navigate the path to our goals. I think that is the great lesson and skill developed by solving mazes.”
MazesToons offers mazes you can print and solve at www.mazetoons.com
It’s the perfect way to celebrate and A-Maze-Ing Puzzle Day!
You can view Joe’s mazes at www.mazetoons.com or via GoComics at www.gocomics.com/mazetoons-puzzle
MazeToons is also available to publications and newspapers from Creators Syndicate. Ask your local newspaper to carry MazeToons.
