In between
reading a good book, a thriller or mystery (just finished “The Night Manger” by
John Le Carre, which is being made into a early 2016 mini-series), I love to do jig saw
puzzles. I also love the crossword
puzzle’s by Merl Reagle in the Los
Angeles Times.
I digress. Topic today is jigsaw puzzles.
My first
experience with jigsaw puzzles goes back to when I was a city parks recreation
aide in charge of a playground for a summer.
Many days, especially those hot San Diego August sols when the kids and
their families were off at the beach or on vacation, I’d be left to entertain a
handful of playground regulars and/or myself.
One of the board
game diversions we had fun with was an invention of mine. On one of those long
folding cafeteria tables we placed two Monopoly game boards at each end.
We’d link
the two with a brand new curvy street we drew with crayons. We’d make squares the same size as the game
and invent our own destinations. The
only way you could land on our improvised street was to land on the real
board’s “jail” square. We spent hours
inventing places along our made up “route 66.”
But, for
that enterprise you needed a handful of players. When left alone sometimes for an entire
afternoon, I put together jigsaw puzzles.
Looking back I guess you could call me a paid professional puzzle guy at
19 years.
Flash
forward a lifetime and I’ve rediscovered jigsaw puzzles. I’m amazed at the variety of puzzles
available at game stores, online, WalMart, Costco, Walgreen’s even flea
markets. I thought time would have
contributed to the demise of jigsaw puzzle.
Not so. Today, topics run from Playboy magazine (Aquarius) covers to
Pope Francis (Zazzle) and almost everything in between.
For those
new to jigsaws or those thinking about starting the pastime, I suggest starting
on the 500 piece sets. I find a 500
just the right size for the kitchen table.
I use a cardboard backing so I can lift my “in progress” puzzle back to
my home office when I’m not working at it.
And, smaller puzzles usually translates into larger puzzle pieces. A boost for those blind arthritics in the
audience.
My
preference in puzzles falls into travel or history categories.
Suggest the
Route 66 “Nostalgia” puzzle by Kate Ward Thacker of Buffalo Games, Inc. Other
favorites are two by Jeff Dowdle of Dowdle Folk Art puzzles. He’s created to local puzzles for “San Diego”
or “La Jolla Cove.” Both of Jeff’s jigsaws are entertaining at 500 pieces.
The 1000
piece puzzles are usually smaller pieces and take up an entire kitchen
table. USA made Eurographics produces a
WWII puzzle of Allied Aircraft bombers. Presently,
I’m working on a thousand piece “Classic novel covers” by White Mountain
puzzles.
The Brits
make excellent puzzles. I found Gibson’s
1500 piece “double” puzzle of London’s Waterloo station “before and after the
war totally fascinating
The 2000
piece puzzles take much longer to complete which isn’t a problem, but the
bigger size calls for a bigger table. I
find myself on the dining room table after adding three leaves. Don’t start a
2K puzzle a week before Thanksgiving or any time when you need the dining room
table.
Puzzles are
among life’s little pleasures. They’re a
challenge to solve and add a sense of satisfaction when completed.
Reason for
the good feeling one gets when wrapping up a tough jigsaw comes from research
by The MacArthur Study. Many articles on
the benefits of jigsaw puzzles on the Internet quote that study. MacArthur is a research network based in
Virginia.
Here’s a
quote from SelfHelp.com: “...Studies,
like the notable MacArthur study, have shown that keeping the mind active with
jigsaw puzzles and other mind-flexing activities can actually lead to a longer
life expectancy, a better quality of life, and reduce our chances of developing
certain types of mental illness, including memory loss, dementia, and even
Alzheimer’s Disease (by an amazing third)...”
My beloved
late mother was overwhelmed with dementia after 75. She watched her diet and weight but seldom
exercised nor did she do jig saw or crossword puzzles.
I’ve been at
jigsaws for about two years. At first, my wife would bring me home puzzles
because she noticed how much fun I had solving them. Soon, she took over the role of finding all
the “border” pieces and connecting them.
When she finished I took over and completed the interior of the puzzle.
It won’t be
long before we’ll be doing his and her puzzles at the same time.
Did I say it
helps to have a compulsive nature?—By
Thomas Shess, Editor and Founder of Pillar
to Post Daily Online Magazine.
MORE ON JIGSAW
PUZZLES:
Jigsaw Puzzles –
Benefits to Psychological Development
(Published
by: The UK's Mental Health Guide, Sat, May 18,
2013)
The
simplicity of jigsaw puzzles is deceptive. While the concept is very
straightforward – find the pieces and fix them together – there is a surprising
level of mental activity required to carry out the steps needed to complete a
puzzle. Psychological studies have identified a number of thought processes
that are required to undertake what is in fact a complex process of identifying
shapes and images and relating them to an overall pattern. More importantly,
solving jigsaw puzzles is a great work out for the brain and can actually have
therapeutic benefits. These benefits include:
Problem Solving Skills. Resolving the shapes and coloured
patterns that make up the overall pictures, including the revolving of the
pieces, relates to the kind of basic problem solving evolution has equipped us
to deal with on a subconscious level. Our ancestors relied on the ability to
recognise shapes and patterns in world around them and spot potential predators
and hazards as a key to survival. Completing a jigsaw puzzle taps in to the
same fundamental processes, but in a calm and controlled environment.
Enhances Self Evaluation. Trying to see how pieces fit and
re-assessing where they might go when they don’t fit is a good exercise in
checking and re-evaluating choices. Each piece can only go in to one place so
there is none of the compromising and trading-off that takes place in so many
other aspects of modern life. This forces the player to constantly re-evaluate
their decisions, and teaches patience with the process as it is an integral
part of the game.
Improves Learning Abilities. The more a person plays jigsaw
puzzles, the better they get at recognising shape, form and colour and the
quicker they become. This is a basic learning structure that then passes in to
other aspects of their lives. In effect the brain is like a muscle, and the
more it works, the stronger it becomes.
Helps With Overall Perception and
Understanding.
Learning to assemble an overall image from partial pieces when only part of the
image is in place, is a skill that translates in to many areas of life. Often,
only a certain amount of information about a situation is available and being
able to make judgements and draw conclusions is a fundamental practice in
coping successfully with the world around us.
Fulfillment. Our modern lives can often seem a
whirlwind of activity where we constantly move from one activity to the next
without seeming to draw breath. Completing a jigsaw puzzle provides a tonic to
this hectic pace, where a period of quiet problem solving ends with the
satisfaction of seeing the finished puzzle. This reduces stress and provides a
feeling of well-being.
Dementia Treatment. Dementia patients are suffering
from a disease where the brain tissue is deteriorating and the functions that
reside in those areas are lost. All of the above benefits amount to a workout
for the brain, causing the brain cells to work hard. This type of mental
activity slows down the onset of dementia by keeping more parts of the brain
active for longer.
This level
of cognitive complexity does much to explain why so many people are happy to
spend hours at a time working on jigsaw puzzles. What seems one of the simplest
of activities is in fact an extremely absorbing and therapeutic brain exercise
with many hidden benefits. Playing physical puzzles or jigsaw puzzles online is
a beneficial activity for kids and adults alike.
Jigsaw
puzzles made me a better recreation leader than I thought. Who knew?
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