AN EASY HOMEMADE WOODEN PUZZLE

I believe that there are endless options and opportunities in our lives everyday for people who can see them. I especially respect people who can find their own practical and meaningful solutions to problems and also people who try to reduce the amount of their consumption of things in general. I find them inspirational.

I have recently come across with the picture above here and thought it was a brilliant idea to come up with your own puzzle at home using very simple (possibly recycled) materials. I have got some of those sticks at home as I generally collect them for my other handmade projects. I am looking forward to making my very own wooden puzzle sometime soon. I am sure Mr. Junior will appreciate it well.

Depending on your child's age and readiness, you can involve your child/students in making the puzzle from the very beginning to the end. For instance, if your child consumes some packaged icecream which come with a wooden stick inside just like the ones in the picture, you could encourage him to save the stick. Ask him to wash it and put it aside until ready. Alternatively, they are sold in packs of many in some hardware stores as well as at arts and crafts shops. They are quite affordable but you could easily utilise your icecream sticks if you already have them at home.

Your children/students or yourself need to paint a figure on them. In the example above, it is a tree but you could easily go for something that you prefer. The best way to keep the sticks together while painting would be using a sticky tape from top to bottom on each side. Once painting is complete, then, you could take the tape off, separate the pieces and voila! The puzzle is all ready in only a few easy steps.

It is a good idea to make sure that your child first sees it as a whole and then you change the order of the sticks so that your child knows what to aim for.

Have a fun day!