A Puzzling Craft

This clever craft produces a nice gift or an educational kid's toy using recycled materials. You will need a sturdy, but not thick, piece of cardboard. The front or back of a cereal box is perfect. Choose a photo, a magazine picture, the front of a greeting card, etc. and glue it onto the cardboard. On the back of the cardboard, draw jigsaw shapes. Keep in mind the skill level of the person for whom you are making it when drawing the shapes. Cut out the shapes, put them in a ziplock bag or an empty card box covered with wrapping paper.

When my husband and I were dating, I enlarged a picture of myself, made the puzzle, and mailed the pieces to him with a note attached saying, "Do I puzzle you?" I think it would be a nice grandparents' gift. Enlarge a picture of the grandchildren and send it along to them. For a child's puzzle, you could use a pictures of the child or other family members, their favorite characters, alphabet letters, numbers, shapes, animals, etc. Great way to encourage problem solving skills and fine motor skills. When they are old enough, it would be a nice rainy day project.

By Sandy from Elon, NC