Daily Jigsaw Puzzle
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We tend to think of a jigsaw puzzle as a mental exercise we do during the holidays or when you are home sick for a week just to give your mind and fingers something to work on. Many of us love jigsaw puzzles but perhaps feel embarrassed to lay out all of the pieces to play them every day. Added to that problem is the issue that if you have a half dozen jigsaw puzzles in the house, you can get bored playing the same ones over and over again.
There are good reasons to justify playing jigsaw puzzles every day that you can use so you don't feel childish having a room or a table dedicated to the puzzle you are working on this week. Jigsaw puzzles are wonderful brain exercises that combine visual recognition with abstract thought and pattern finding for a satisfying recreational event. Scientists tell us that doing puzzles every day is outstanding mental exercise that can help keep our minds sharp far into our senior years. The mind is a muscle so you might think of that daily hour with your jigsaw puzzle as your workout period for your mind.
Unlike crossword or other solitary puzzles, jigsaw puzzles can be a relaxing social event for friends or family members to gather around and tinker with at their own pace. There is no time limit on a jigsaw puzzle. In many ways, the joy of putting together a jigsaw puzzle lies in the act of creating that fun or beautiful picture from all those small pieces even more than the pleasure of the finished product. The objective is the playing, not the final solution. There is no such thing as "winning" at doing jigsaw puzzles.
Because you can get lots of pleasure lingering over a jigsaw puzzles, many people can join in. While one person might complete dozens of matches to build up the puzzle, others might just find one piece that fits. But each tiny piece you successfully connect to the bigger puzzle landscape is a cause for excitement and celebration. A jigsaw puzzle can stay up for days or weeks and you can work on it over time, sometimes even while watching TV. Instead of becoming idle for hours at a time enjoying your favorite shows, you are doing something with your mind.
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Everything about doing a jigsaw puzzle every day is healthy. If you engage the kids in doing jigsaw puzzles, they will find the experience satisfying and educational. Jigsaw puzzles teach patience, planning, long term commitment to a goal and perseverance. Its great to see the kids learn to work toward that final goal of completing the puzzle even if takes many days or weeks. And the relaxed bonding and mental stimulation that doing jigsaw puzzles provides is a good kind of addiction to develop because becoming addicted to working on a jigsaw puzzle every day is a healthy addiction to have.
