In “What’s the logic in that?” class on Tuesday, Instructor Dianne Wade began with a question to ponder, “I am a bird, a fruit, and a person. What am I?” Whispers of speculation filled the room. Finally, after ideas were exhausted, Wade said, “it’s a kiwi!” She went on to explain a kiwi is a person in New Zealand, a common fruit from the grocery store, and a type of bird.
The first series of puzzles entailed solving cryptograms. In this type of puzzle, text is coded where each letter of the alphabet is substituted for another value such as a number; the students must break the code to solve the message. Once campers proudly solved their cryptograms, Wade challenged them with rebus puzzles saying some schools refer to them as “wuzzles.” This type of puzzle combines words and images to depict words or phrases. One example is the letters “P” and “O” are to the left of a lightbulb image. The answer to the rebus is polite. Campers began working solo and then eventually teamed up and collaborated to get all the correct answers.
For the last challenge of the day, Wade provided a spontaneous logic game called “Pen Them Up.” Each team had a sack of supplies and was charged with creating a small pen in a designated area and with putting 20 ping pong balls into the pen without using their hands. Kids used their creativity and critical thinking skills to create the pens and tools to put the balls in the pen within a limited time. Teams proved to be very innovative in their pen designs and even more clever in how they moved the balls into the pens without using their hands. Way to go, campers!
