Family activities for a rainy day

Everybody is familiar with the situation: It’s pouring with rain outside, it’s the school holidays and the children are going out their mind with boredom, driving you out of your mind in the process! So what kinds of simple and affordable activities are there to keep them entertained and stimulated until bedtime?

• Play a game: Traditional games will never go out of fashion, so use the opportunity afforded by the rain to have some fun as a family. If the kids are feeling particularly raucous then go for a more energetic game such as Twister or Charades, which involves a lot of shouting and gesticulation. On the other hand, if it is nearing the evening and you want to quieten them down a little then jigsaw puzzles are a nice, soothing family activity. One of the great things about jigsaw puzzles is that everybody can take part, whether it is sorting pieces of constructing certain sections.
•  Watch a film: Today we are spoilt for choice with the range of family-friendly films available. Whilst you would not want your children to be slumped in front of the television screen every day, watching a film together is an easy and cheap way to while away a couple of hours.
• Paint pictures: If you can’t take your family outside then it’s an ideal opportunity to get the easels out. Painting is a great activity for kids as it encourages them to be creative – but do remember to supervise them otherwise you could end up with a bit of a mess on your (or their) hands.
• Set challenges: It requires a little effort, but one of my favourite things about rainy afternoons when I was a child was when my parents would put together a treasure hunt for my brother, sisters and I. You can make this as elaborate as you want – if the rain doesn’t look like letting up all day then the core complicated the better! Also, it needn’t cost you much as you can make the clues yourself and the ‘treasure’ can be whatever best suits your children’s preferences.
  
  

Go on a day trip: Of course, you don’t have to stay in the house to avoid a downpour. If all else fails and you have the time or money, take your family on an outing. If you want to go for something educational, then find out about nearby museums of galleries. On the other hand, if you just want them to use up their energy, or they are too little to have the patience for these kinds of places, then take them to a place such as a bowling alley or indoor swimming pool.

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What kind of jigsaw puzzle do I buy?

With its roots stretching back centuries, the jigsaw puzzle is a highly versatile form of entertainment with sizes ranging from two pieces to jumbo jigsaw puzzles. First making its appearance in the 1760s, when British map maker John Spilbury pasted maps onto wood and cut them into small pieces to be reassembled, it remains consistently popular amongst children and adults alike. Highly adaptable, you can buy jigsaw puzzles in with images of almost any subject that might interest you (and a few that might not!).

Broadly, however, they do fall into several main categories and the kind you buy depends upon who the puzzle is for:

For very young children such as toddlers, the most popular kinds of jigsaw puzzles are the ‘peg’ variety, which are made with large, thick pieces attached to a wooden peg for ease of use. More recently, sound puzzles have also become popular. These make realistic noises when the pieces are fitted and can be useful for educational purposes. Finally, there are bigger floor puzzles which are often made of cardboard but can be comprised of large pieces of foam. These kinds of puzzles are particularly helpful for encouraging group participation and problem-solving amongst younger children.

If your child is aged between three to five you may want to consider buying them a tray puzzle. These are set inside a boundary to avoid the pieces falling out and have a mildly challenging picture to complete. Older children, aged five and upwards, can begin to progress to the more ‘standard’ variety of flat puzzles, moving up to perhaps 500+ pieces by the age of 12 and with increasingly complex images to complete. 
Most adult jigsaw puzzle enthusiasts will be looking for a bigger challenge, so if you are stuck for something to get your parents this Christmas you should probably go for one of the huge variety of jumbo jigsaw puzzles out there which come in 1000+ pieces. Of course, if the person you are buying for is a serious puzzler, you can get even larger sizes. As it stands, the world record for the largest jigsaw puzzle to date is a whopping 24,000 pieces.

Of increasing popularity are 3D jigsaw puzzles. Depending on size or difficulty levels, these can be for either children or adults. They can come in many shapes and sizes, including representations of famous buildings, globes, spaceships, dinosaurs, food items or cars. These can make good presents as they offer the same challenges as more ‘standard’ jigsaws but are a slightly more unusual option.

Jigsaw puzzles have been around for centuries and come in all shapes and sizes. If you are considering buying one as a present, you need to decide which will be most appropriate for the age of the recipient. The puzzle needs to be suitably challenging but not frustratingly difficult

Jigsaw Puzzles, Great for Toddler Development

There are some great age appropriate jigsaw puzzles available for your tot. Jigsaw puzzles and learning puzzles can help with a number of learning areas including motor skills, reasoning, and problem solving skills as well. You can buy jigsaw puzzles online and there are thousands of different puzzles to choose from.

Small children can benefit from puzzle play in many different ways, such as learning and for entertainment purposes as well. They are one of the greatest learning toys you can invest in for small kids and if you take good care of them, you can pass them on to younger siblings, to cousins, or to family friends. Read on for some helpful information about doing puzzles with your child.

Doing puzzles together with little ones builds an interest in the problem solving attributes jigsaw puzzles bring. Smaller children generally enjoying doing new things, such as learning activities, with a parent first. It's a great one on one activity to do with your kids. It may begin with you showing your toddler how to put puzzle pieces together and before long your little one may choose to lead the way and eventually do the activity on their own.

There are some simple but stimulating puzzle options for small children that include board puzzles where numbers or letters are put into slots. By talking about the puzzle and identifying pieces you'll help develop early reading and letter / number recognition skills. Some puzzles can help with other areas as well, such as geography, telling time, learning about anatomy, nursery rhymes, alphabet letters, numbers, animals, and more.

If your child seems uninterested at first, don't give up. It may take a few attempts before the interest grows and /or before the skill is mastered. Once your child has done a puzzle several times you may want to rotate that activity so that he or she doesn't grow bored with it too quickly. Many parents will also share puzzles with other families and rotate these educational activities so that a puzzle that has been played with numerous times will get to be enjoyed by others. Keeping them in their box and encouraging kids to put them away promptly after play minimises lost pieces and the frustration of dealing with trying to complete a puzzle and realising you don't have all the pieces.

As your child grows, more advanced options exist to build on learning skills or to help promote new skills. And, puzzles can also entertain, as well, with your child's favourite hobby or television character.

The Manufacturing Process For Jigsaw Puzzles

It usually takes a few months worth of hours to make jigsaw puzzles. This seems like quite a lengthy process but once you see what goes into it, you will appreciate it, particularly if you're a puzzle aficionado. A lot of people enjoy doing jigsaws and there are some really intresting ones out there with varying levels of challenge.

1. Printing & Laminating

The first thing that is done in prepping to create a puzzle is that artwork is selected. This is often done via lithography, which utilises a plate that has been specially treated in order to absorb either water or oil. The same lithography sheet can be used for making several puzzles, thus saving on paper and press time. Once the litho sheets have been printed, they are laminated and allowed to dry for several days before being sent to a die cut press.

Die Cut Press

Die cutting of puzzle pieces allows for the mass production. This is done with a sharp and flat metal ribbon. These are then sent to a rule-bend expert in order to have razor sharp steel rules bent into them so as to create the actual puzzle pieces. You can imagine the time it takes to make a 1000 piece puzzle! This calls for extremely high pressure to be used.

Packaging

After the jigsaw puzzles are done at the die press, the sheets make their way to a breaker whose job it is to separate these pieces and then make sure that they are put into their packaging, which is usually some type of a cardboard box. Today, these boxes will usually feature a picture of what the puzzle will look like once it is completed, so that you can use it as a guide for when you are putting the puzzle together. This is a feature that manufacturers began utilizing in the mid-1930's. Once these puzzles are packaged, they are shrink wrapped and then shipped to be sold to the general public.

A puzzle can be a great gift. You'll find them in all sizes and styles and you'll find accessories, such as puzzle mats, that can be rolled away for mealtimes, etcetera. It's helpful for a child's development, can be a great family project, and if you have a hobbyist in your life, it's often possible to find a great jigsaw puzzle that would appeal to their hobby.