Cool Jigsaw Puzzles

Ok so I am obsessed with cool jigsaw puzzles for adults and families! If you’re looking for good puzzles for your family to do together here are our faves!

I will start by saying this is NOT a sponsored post for this company, I am sharing all the ones I love that happen to all be from White Mountain puzzles because there are several reasons why I think they have the best and such cool jigsaw puzzles for adults and families to do together!

What makes for the best jigsaw puzzles for adults

• Nostalgia – I love it when puzzles have pictures on them that remind me of my childhood or/and I can share a story about with my kids.
• Larger pieces – ok I’m only 40ish but teeny tiny pieces don’t work anymore, these aren’t like Reader’s Digest large print kind’ big, but just a tad larger than traditional small ones.
• A stand – I share below what the simple paper stand looks like but it helps tremendously when you’re trying to see where each piece goes, helps kids too.
• Lots of different colors – I don’t know about you but jigsaw puzzles with large areas of the same color drive me nuts! These are good puzzles for kids and adults because the whole thing has different pictures so you’re not frustrated.
• 1000 pieces – if you’re doing it as a family or a stress reliever you need it to last a while and have some challenge, I find this size is best.
• This candy puzzle you see here above was one of our favorites and my kids really got into it because, well obviously…it was all about treats! You can find a similar 500 pcs. candy puzzle here if you want to start a bit smaller than 1000 pcs.

I’m always looking for cool puzzles for adults because I do them fairly often now.

Let’s backtrack to how I even got into doing jigsaw puzzles…..

I work from home, and I work a lot (yes blogging is really time consuming). I need to force myself to take a break and do something a bit mindless, but something I enjoy as well. Watching t.v. works if there is some reality show marathon on or something (obsessed I tell you), going to the gym is good but not always my favorite thing to do (ugggg), so I was looking for something new.

My youngest (10 at the time) said “we should put a puzzle together this summer”. I’m always up for ways to connect with my kids so I went searching and we started with this candy puzzle.

All my girls were into it until it was halfway done and then their attention was diverted but I became OBSESSED and would spend an hour or so in the evening trying to complete it.

I liked this one in particular for the reasons I shared above but the biggest reason I loved it was because the candy wrappers were mostly old school like they were when I was young, and there were some my kids hadn’t heard of. It gave me the opportunity to tell them stories about what this one tasted like, or where I bought my first package, or funny stories like sharing a package with a friend when we were young. I was hooked!! We are on jigsaw puzzle number 3 from them now, this Presidents puzzle here.

Here are a few more cool Jigsaw puzzles for adults and kids

I took this picture even though we aren’t done because I wanted to show you what I love about this brand of puzzles in particular. They each come with a stand so you can see the picture at all times! It is a small little thing but makes a big difference when you’re looking for small details, and much easier than finding something heavy for the top to lean against and try to keep it upright.

If I can find educational puzzles I like choosing those too, here are a few we’ve done and we’re looking at for the future.

• This Presidents puzzle is the one we are working on right now. I ordered it because my younger 2 are at the age where they’re learning about Presidents of the United States and I thought I could use a refresher about their order too. 😉
• Here is another history puzzle focusing on the civil war that might be of interest to you.
• This World War 2 poster puzzle is great.
• This United States puzzle is next on my list to do together.

If you’re looking for the best puzzles for kids here is one we did that the kids really got into and those they have on their list to get next.

• This cereal box puzzle was really fun because my kids recognized almost all of them but several were vintage style cereal boxes, what they looked like when I was a kid!
• These are great 500 piece puzzles if you’re looking for a smaller size to start with:
  • Camping puzzle that is a Where’s Waldo style with a lot of elements and little things to discover
  • This candy machine puzzle is super fun

Why should you start a jigsaw puzzle in your home

• It’s a way to connect – not only have my kids gotten into it but my husband will jump in too from time to time. When you’re doing puzzles together you are bound to talk and laugh. Nowadays with all the technology we really need a way to disconnect from that and find a way to reconnect with those right in front of us.
• It teaches cooperation – you have to work together to accomplish the end goal, finishing the puzzle. I have seen my girls jump in together and decide “you finish that corner, and I will work on this.”
• Puzzles teach patience – this was the first lesson when we started this whole thing. My 10 year old who is a very focused and determined gal kinda’ assumed she could finish it when it came in the mail…she had to learn that puzzles are a work in progress and the fun part is working on it here and there.
• It’s a stress reliever – maybe reading books is for you, I’ve never been a huge reader. I like being able to take a break from deadlines just for a bit to finish an area of my puzzle. Especially if I am having a rough day where my recipes aren’t turning out quite right I can succeed at a portion of the puzzle that day.
• Puzzles are a conversation piece – I suggest designating a table in your house as the “puzzle table” like you see here. It encourages people to sit down and do it for a bit on an ongoing basis, and when people come over I GUARANTEE it will be something to talk about…and they will probably join in if they’re visiting for long enough (and you let them). 😉
• Doing puzzles is great for your brain – my grandmother and father both suffered from dementia in their later years and in both memory care facilities they were in (different ones) they always had puzzles laying out on tables in the living rooms. It’s proven that if you keep your brain going by reading, playing memory games and doing puzzles you can help your brain (and in their case help their memory from dwindling as fast).

Looking for more indoor activities for kids?

• Make Kool Aid paint and start creating!
• Make some slime with shaving cream in any color you like.

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