Stretch Your Brain

I recently attended a class where the teacher presented us with a puzzle. It was a square, evenly divided into sixteen smaller squares. He asked the question, "How many squares do you see?"

          

At first, the answer seems easy. But then with a little more time to look at it, and a little more thought, it becomes clear that there are more squares than you initially see.

What do you think? How many squares are there?

Here is another one for you. The five pieces below must be put together into a square.

It's deceiving because four of the five pieces are already in a square. How on earth can you squeeze the fifth piece in and keep it a square? It can be done... try it, and then click here for the answer. But do try it first!

If you enjoyed these puzzles, here is a link to try one more I found...

What is the point to all these silly square puzzles? Well, normally I wouldn't spend my free-time on things like this because I wouldn't have qualified it as productive. However, lately life has reminded me to look a little closer, think a little longer, and try things in a way that may not have been apparent at first. And besides, it feels good to solve problems that are not related to housework and child discipline every once in a while! At least these puzzles have definite answers...

What do you do to stretch your brain once in a while?



ps. The answer to the first puzzle is 30. Can you see them all?