[blparent] Jigsaw Puzzles

[Brandy Wojcik]

What I do with kids when I do jigsaw puzzles is we start with a corner. We talk about how a puzzle is a picture cut into pieces, and our job is to put it back together. It is important in the beginning that the kid gets to see the puzzle together before they take it apart. You may want to take the puzzle apart so you can help them put it back together in the beginning by putting the pieces back in order because you took them out in order. Then once the child has begun to understand what you are doing with a jigsaw puzzle Sort the edges with the flat sides out first. Build the frame. Once the kids have the frame they seem to do a lot better with the middle. I pick one corner and we look for the pieces that fit on the 2 sides of the corner piece. I teach them to pick up a piece. If it doesn't fit we put it aside so we don't get overwhelmed, and we don't keep trying the same ones. I have 4 year olds who can do 48 jigsaw puzzles, but they should start small like with 12 piece puzzles.

Good luck,

Bran


-----Original Message-----
From: blparent [mailto:blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Jeri Milton
Sent: Saturday, October 27, 2012 12:32 PM
To: 'Blind Parents Mailing List'
Subject: Re: [blparent] Jigsaw Puzzles

I was just experiencing this same dilemma with my daughter. I went to Big Lots with her and picked up a puzzle book. It's the cutest book with a small puzzle on each page of Elmo doing different things. Well, it didn't work out so well! We spent an hour trying to do one page. I was almost in tears. Now my son on the other hand was always able to put a puzzle together lickity split. I was so excited! Where did you find the map of the U.S.? Is this a talking one? 

Jeri

-----Original Message-----
From: blparent [mailto:blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Jo Elizabeth Pinto
Sent: Friday, October 26, 2012 8:24 PM
To: NFBnet Blind Parents Mailing List
Subject: [blparent] Jigsaw Puzzles

I hope someone can give me a few pointers.  I’m at the end of my wits trying to help my daughter with jigsaw puzzles.  She really enjoys them, and her sighted dad has tried to show her how to look at the pieces and match them by what part of the picture they belong to, as well as shape and size.  She really wants me to do the puzzles with her, but we inevitably end up with a pile of pieces and a whole lot of frustration.  And these are fairly simple puzzles, some are the wooden 24-piece ones from Melissa and Doug, and a couple are small Veggie Tales or Bible story puzzles.  I tried to label one with braille letters on the back, but it didn’t help much.  Now the talking ones are great.  My little girl can put the puzzle of the fifty states together all by herself.  I hope there’s some ingenious way I just haven’t thought of to help her with the non-talking puzzles.

Thanks,
Jo Elizabeth

Truth is tough. It will not break, like a bubble, at a touch; nay, you may kick it about all day like a football, and it will be round and full at evening.--Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
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