If you thought that jigsaw puzzles were only reserved for the elderly and the very young, you couldn’t be more wrong. Puzzles are on the rise; households all over the country are kicking back and relaxing to a bit of puzzle action.
With the rise of mindfulness in an increasingly busy world, jigsaw puzzles in an array of guises and shapes are becoming popular gifts for men and women who struggle to relax. Before you dismiss puzzles as not your bag, check out some of the benefits that puzzlers enjoy.
Escape the Screens.
In age where we spend most of our days with some kind of screen within easy reach, jigsaw puzzles offer a complete detox. Perfect for all the family, you can spend a little time together with a common goal. Younger members of the family can focus on easier tasks, such as finding edge pieces, while the more experienced jigsaw puzzlers can focus on the more challenging areas.
Boost problem solving.
The whole concept of forming a bigger picture from many smaller pieces is great for problem solving. It exercises the brain, and the creation of the bigger itself serves as its own motivation.
Mindfulness.
Puzzling can have a meditative effect as your mind escapes from all other stresses, trials and thoughts, focusing only on the puzzle pieces. By focusing on the puzzle, your mind is being given a break from the bigger picture that is your life.
Boosting fine motor skills.
Doing a jigsaw puzzle as a family is great for promoting fine motor skills in children and babies. What’s more, it boosts attention span, too. Image Source: notonthehighstreet.com
A complete brain workout.
Completing jigsaw puzzles utilises both the left and right side of your brain. You aren’t just looking at one piece and wondering where it fits; you are, without realising it, mentally scanning and remembering previous pieces too. Long-term, regular puzzling can boost memory skills; in fact, jigsaw puzzling exercises the parietal lobe, whose job it is to process sensory information, spatial and visual perception, language and maths. Completing puzzles can even help to prevent age-related memory loss and Alzheimer’s.
Provides family time.
Families tend to lead busy lives: with work, school, clubs, homework, it can often feel as though you rarely get time to be together. Half an hour as a family completing a jigsaw is a great way to socialise, chat, and offers precious family time during which successes, concerns, events and aspirations can be discussed without pressure, in an organic way.
Makes a great gift.
A jigsaw puzzle makes a fantastic gift! You can get great personalised puzzles which can be framed once you complete them, so all of the puzzlers’ hard work will be rewarded with an end product that they can keep forever.
While jigsaw puzzles are fabulous fun for all the family, other puzzles have a similar effect, too. If you don’t have the inclination or space for jigsaw puzzles, sudoku, word searches or traditional puzzle books will help with brain function, memory, and problem-solving skills. So, don’t just go to the gym; find the puzzle for you and make sure that you exercise your brain, too.
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