Jigsaw Puzzles
By Brenda Hyde
The first jigsaw puzzle was created as an education tool in
the 1700's and was made out of wood. In the early 1900's
cardboard puzzles were made available, but manufacturers
didn't hold out much hope for this new "cheap" puzzle. How
wrong they were! Putting together a jigsaw puzzle is an
activity for the entire family, from the youngest child to great
grandma. A lot of people use jigsaw puzzles as a solitary
activity, but in our family it's group fun! Where else, for less
than $3.00, can you entertain your family for an entire evening?
Our kids range from 3 to 10 and this is how we keep it fun:
Don't get too complicated OR too simple. 500 pieces is a
good one for families with varied ages of kids. It takes time
but not so much that the kids get bored.
Have everyone help pick out the edge pieces. Set these aside
and then look the puzzle over and have each person pick out
a certain color or part of the puzzle. Give everyone a bowl or
container to hold their pieces unless you have A LOT of room
where they can put them in a pile.
Everyone joins in on assembling the edge pieces, but then
have them work on their sections. As it goes along they can
start putting them on the puzzle and helping it each other, but
it's less chaotic for everyone to have a "mission" at first.
No drinks near the puzzle, and have snacks like pretzels or
crackers that don't have grease or toppings to mess up the
hands. If necessary take a snack break a few times. You
don't want to almost finish and end up with lemonade
spilled on the puzzle!
Puzzles range from a couple of dollars to fairly expensive.
Start cheap, even consider picking some up at thrift stores.
Also, once you put together a puzzle two or three times
you could trade with other family members or friends who
like to do puzzles. You could even start timing how long it
takes to put it together for each family and get a friendly
competition going!
The reason I love doing puzzles as a family is that we
turn off the television and the radio and we talk, we laugh
and we interact with no outside influences. It's amazing
the things you can learn about each other!
Puzzle Resources
Spilsbury Puzzles and Games
AreYouGame
About the Author
Brenda Hyde is a Mom of three, a freelance writer and editor
of Old Fashioned Living. For more family ideas and recipes subscribe
to one of our free newsletters; descriptions here.
