Jigsaw
puzzles used to be boring.
The
pictures were limited to little houses in the country, or seascapes,
although over the years, what happened is that companies found that
the idea of slotting little pieces of cardboard together is popular.
What was not popular was the small range of pictures on the jigsaws,
which was something that was easy to put right.
I
have been doing jigsaws for years, not as much as my mother in law
or mother, though in order to capture the imagination of people like
me that want something more of a challenge than a simple puzzle, the
range that is available now is astounding.
Let's take the basic jigsaw.
The basic jigsaw puzzle is still a super idea for elderly people whose
sight is still good. My mother in law loves doing them, and the range
available on sites like Alljigsawpuzzles.com is amazing. What you need
to take into consideration is the ability of the person who will do the
puzzle. For example, for smaller children, large sturdy pieces will be
easier for little hands, whilst for seasoned puzzlers, the range from
1500 pieces to 5000 pieces are good. The traditional way of doing jigsaws
is starting by sorting out all the edge pieces, and here it's pretty
easy to distinguish these pieces on a traditional jigsaw, as they all
have one straight edge, and finding corners is simple.
What to bear in mind when buying one is the difficulty level. One of
the things that many people overlook when buying a jigsaw is that areas
which are much the same colour are a nightmare, as it takes hours to
sort out the pieces and to make them fit. What is better from a users
point of view is a puzzle with many colours because it keeps the user
interested, and in particular with older people, I always try and choose
a puzzle that doesn't have monotone areas, as these really are frustrating.
For younger children, there are always the puzzles made out of large
wooden pieces, and for the smaller child, I believe these really are
the best to buy, since they survive child treatment, and don't bend like
cardboard ones do, when little hands try to force the pieces together.
One of the nice things I have seen recently in traditional puzzles is
that you can buy them on themes that children enjoy such as maybe a television
series that they are interested in.
Blank Puzzles.
Buying blank jigsaw puzzles was a great treat to me. These are very small
and can be bought in high street shops or online, and capg.zoovy.com
have a good range in all sizes available. The ones I am accustomed to
using are greeting card sized ones and here I write my greeting and then
take the whole thing apart, and make the recipient work to get the greeting.
It's a super idea for kids, and I think that making their own cards in
this manner really is a good experience, plus getting the joy of watching
their friends putting them all together.
Make your own puzzles.
If you have a printer that will take a thick medium such as card, then
you really are in luck, because you can make presents that certainly
are personalized. Paper is available to print jigsaw
puzzles, which means that you can use your own family photographs
and send them as gifts to people for Christmas. I did this a couple of
years ago and paper is available for making your own puzzles from mcgpaper.com It's
fun, and one of the nice things about this is that not only are you printing
your own jigsaw puzzles, but you can involve the kids in learning how
to use the photographic programs on your computer at the same time, producing
something more interesting than just a picture, but a puzzle that can
be sent as a very good but cheap present for Christmas. They really are
superb, and look very professional, and here I kept all the best boxes
from chocolates to use for the box for the puzzle and covered them with
paper, topping the box off with a picture of the puzzle and a personalized
message.
For people that are awkward.
My mother was a jigsaw freak. She loved them, and the more difficult
they were the better. I found a variety of puzzles with pictures of millions
of marbles, or all the flags of the world, and topped it off with the
best one of the lot for difficulty, and one she never finished, though
by goodness she tried. It was a picture of a black cat, and all you could
see on the picture was the cats eyes and whiskers.
Catering for the masses.
Little by little makers found that traditional puzzles were not holding
the attention of the young. There were too many other distractions, such
as television or computers, and they needed to come up with a clever
idea to make children find their puzzles interesting. This they did a
couple of years ago, and on Alljigsawpuzzles.com, and in many of the
high street shops and supermarkets came the invention of the 3D puzzle.
These are amazing, made out of cardboard with a foam backing, and what
you were able to make was anything from the Eiffel Tower to a telephone
kiosk, again each one catering for different age ranges. I loved them,
and did mine several times, although what I found was that once you had
done the puzzle, it was awkward taking it apart and putting it back in
the box, and after having puzzled out all the placement of pieces, I
didn't want to destroy the model that I had made. Kids love them. They
range in price from 3.00 to 25 GBP, and the range is pretty amazing.
New on the market.
Since last year, puzzle manufacturers decided to go a step further, and
have excelled themselves, producing a new kind of puzzle, again available
in high street shops, and online, and these really are the latest kind
of puzzles, and although I am not supposed to know what Santa has bought
for me this year, believe me, I do. I chose it. It's a puzzle that finishes
in a globe shape, and that really is fantastic. The one that I chose
was a map of the world and I really am looking forward to making it,
and believe that many a child will be entranced by this version of jigsaw
puzzles because of the intricacy of design and clever use of curved cardboard.
I really am excited at the prospect of doing this jigsaw. Spherical 3D
puzzles really do make me wonder where manufacturers will go from here.
Online Jigsaws.
Taking the concept of jigsaw puzzles a step further, a site that I rather
like is Jigzone.com because they saw a gap in the market and grabbed
it with both hands. Jigsaw puzzles for computer users are amazingly good
fun, and moving the pieces with your mouse, you can do the puzzles on
a timed basis, and choose the difficulty level and shape of the pieces,
from traditional ones to all kinds of difficult ones. They have even
taken the site a step further than just presenting puzzles. You can subscribe
to a daily jigsaw puzzle and get it in an email daily. It's addictive,
it's fun and it really doesn't take up as much time as traditional ones
do, and are indeed less messy.
The idea that you can make your own photographs into puzzles online too
is great, and I have made and sent many to relatives all over the world,
for them to enjoy. This site is free and that's one of the benefits of
online jigsaws. They are an enjoyable experience, and I have even got
my computer illiterate mother in law having a go, and enjoying it.
Warnings on buying jigsaws.
Believe it or not, it really is important to gage your purchase for the
individual, and avoid buying jigsaws that will never get finished, have
boring pictures with loads of sky area or areas of the same colour, unless
of course, the person you are choosing it for wants difficulty. Think
of the age range, and look on the boxes so that you do not end up with
pieces that are too small for little children to handle. Ravensburg make
good quality puzzles, and for people who will do them over and over again,
these really do represent value for money.
Overall conclusion on puzzles.
The market for puzzles is ever changing with the times, and in the past
years has become innovative and fun. Kids don't have to be stuck with
boring puzzles, and for a few pounds, you can add something that all
the family can join in with that takes patience and gets the kids away
from the television and computer to construct something with the family.
I think they really do still have a place and that not enough people
think of them as a stocking filler. I know my sisters kids love them,
and in particular the new globe ones, and the 3D versions, and with the
3D ones, there are even very small ones available that take less time
and patience to construct, but can still be shared between children,
helping the child to develop patience, and to compete with their brothers
and sisters or even parents.
Super ideas, and I keep a lookout now for what will be the fashion next
year in puzzles. They really do give hours of enjoyment and are well
worthy of considering as a little gift to someone you care for.
Rachel |
