making puzzles

I found these little blank puzzles at our local art supply store and included them in my tote bag of activities for a rainy day when we were packing up for our August vacation. The kids needed a little coaching on what makes a puzzle fun to do...e.g. coloring in each piece a solid color without crossing into the next piece is not the best plan. Once we talked about what does make it fun: looking for patterns or pieces of recognizable things, matching colors, etc. they got into it. I loved Lila's intensity (above) as she worked on hers.

 

I think this would be a great activity for a birthday party as well. I like to have something that the kids can do upon arrival since sometimes those first minutes are the hardest. Then they can take home their finished piece as a party favor. It definitely is a better activity for kids ages 5 and up though. 

Bea had a little trouble - you can see her trying her bird puzzle above. Since she had only used blue it was too hard but one we added some colorful borders and the word "bird" it was much easier.

Our young friend Ruby had fun participating too, but she did not exactly create a masterpiece. No waste though...Ben was happy to convert her scribbles.