The jigsaw has been part of family fun time as well as a challenging hobby for intrepid individuals since the mid-1700's when John Spilsbury took a break from making maps in his shop in London to try his hand at a new adaptation for his map making skills, the jigsaw puzzle. At that time, jigsaw puzzles were painted images on wooden planks that were then cut into odd shaped pieces by a jigsaw; thus the name jigsaw puzzle.
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Fast-forward a couple hundred years and the puzzles are more complex, made from cardboard, and feature images from nature and art, to photographs and computer generated matrixes. However, the fascination with assembling the finished image remains, despite all of the many other pastimes and distractions offered by the modern world. The puzzle is still a mainstay in any toy or hobby shop in America and other countries around the world and interest in jumbling and then re-assembling their many designs shows no signs of abating anytime soon. Why? What is it about the jigsaw puzzle, so simple in concept yet so challenging to master, that continues to garner so much attention from jigsaw puzzle enthusiasts everywhere?
Well, for one thing, putting together a jigsaw puzzle is a subtly therapeutic exercise that draws you in without you even realizing why. In much the same way that children are drawn to puddles and mud holes, where they can spend endless hours playing, a puzzle has a similar allure for people of all ages. It is a soothing though stimulating activity that subtly eggs you on; luring you into the desire to find the next piece that will be the key to putting the rest of the puzzle together once and for all. Each piece gives the puzzle maker a small sense of accomplishment that feeds on itself and builds until the final tile is placed.
Puzzle making is also a terrific family activity and that has been the case through the ages. While many other activities are also popular with families and friends, puzzle making requires little more than a big table and a little patience. And it is something that the entire family can participate in at the same time. While other games and activities are either exclusively for youngsters or adults, everyone can help build a puzzle with the youngest members of the family helping to find the edges, while the more elderly can also work at their own pace and still contribute to the final assembly. Puzzle making is truly a family fun activity.
Puzzle making is also a good way to develop problem solving skills, especially for youngsters. With so many of their other activities focused on mass stimulation to the senses, their ability to reason and work through a complex problem to a final, satisfying solution is not always challenged in the same way that it is with trying to assemble a jigsaw puzzle. In addition, putting together a puzzle can be a great way for very young children to develop their dexterity as they try to fit pieces together to complete the image. Whether a puzzle is four pieces or forty pieces, they all require some degree of manual and mental skill to pull together, skills that can last a lifetime.
Jigsaw puzzles continue to be a popular pastime even in the modern era of puzzles because they also help to stimulate the brain. Just as other activities such as crossword puzzles and Sudoku puzzles are considered to be good food for the brain, so are jigsaw puzzles. This is especially true for older adults that might be concerned about debilitating diseases such as Alzheimer's.
To know more about Jigsaw Puzzles please browse Jigsaw Puzzles
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Article Source: http://www.upublish.info (Article by Alex Hammer)
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