Working a jigsaw puzzle is a great way to exercise your brain and boost your IQ. Solving jigsaw puzzles improves both cognition and visual-spatial reasoning. It also provides something tangible to show off when your work is done. However, if you’ve never tackled a jigsaw puzzle before, you might be wondering where and how to start. Check out this beginner’s guide to making the most of your first jigsaw puzzle experience.
Create a Comfortable Workspace
Don’t expect to finish your puzzle in a single sitting. If you set your puzzle up on a communal table, you may have to move it to accommodate other residents before placing the last piece. Instead, use a card table or work on a large private desk. There are also portable and freestanding puzzle tables for serious puzzle workers. If you intend to devote more time to this activity in the future, a puzzle table is worth investing in.
In a home with limited work surfaces, you can always build your puzzle on top of a sizable piece of poster board. This way, if you have to clear the area, you can easily take your puzzle with you. No matter where you sit, get good overhead lighting and a comfortable chair.
Choose a Manageable Puzzle for Your First Try
The difficulty levels for puzzles are determined by two primary things: how large they are or how many pieces they have and how easy it is to tell the images they include apart. You don’t want to start with a 1,000-piece puzzle that displays nothing but nearly identical leaves on trees. Instead, consider starting with a 200 or 500-piece puzzle with lots of bright contrasting colors and clearly defined images.
Get a Good Puzzle Glue
Don’t waste your first effort by building it and then breaking it apart. If you buy quality puzzle glue, you can glue your work when you’re done. Once framed, eautiful puzzles make excellent wall art.
Choose a High-Quality Puzzle
As you experiment with different jigsaw puzzle brands, you’ll find that some manufacturers cut their puzzles into just three to four distinct shapes. This often causes beginners to assemble identical-seeming pieces incorrectly. High-quality puzzles have many different shapes. Greater variety makes working on these projects more challenging while allowing for greater accuracy.
Sort Out All Edge Pieces
Set up the box cover for your puzzle in a visible place. This way, you can view the image that you’re building while you work. Then, sort out all the edge pieces and sort the center and edge pieces into small groups by color. If your puzzle shows a brown bear holding a bunch of red balloons, you’ll already have all of the pieces for these two images grouped.
Build Your Border
Use your edge pieces to build your border. Find your four corner pieces and lay them out. Corner pieces have two smooth sides and are easy to spot. When your border is complete, use the interior pieces you’ve sorted by image and color to fill your puzzle out.
When you aren’t actively working on your puzzle, put all unused pieces back in the box. Nothing is more frustrating than completing these projects only to discover that one or two pieces are missing or damaged.
