WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2024 - JIGSAW PUZZLES

Yes, I spend too much time on my iPhone playing games.  I don’t buy things from the ads - so I get ads.  Recently, I’ve seen ads that say, “Solving Jigsaw Puzzles can help prevent dementia.” 

I’ve liked solving jigsaw puzzles since I was a boy.  I remember getting my allowance, and when at the Candy Shop (where my parents had a franchise, I could cross the street (3rd Avenue) and into Kreskes or Woolworths and get a 304-piece jigsaw puzzle for 29 cents. 

Well, I guess that was time well spent (doing the puzzles)

From Fortune Magazine:

“Studies have shown that jigsaw puzzles can help improve visual-spatial reasoning, short-term memory, and problem-solving skills as well as combat cognitive decline, which can reduce the 

risk of developing dementia. There are also mental health benefits to puzzling.”

Another site adds (some similar statements):

By doing a jigsaw puzzle, you get the same benefits as meditating. The stress of everyday life disappears and is replaced by a sense of peace and tranquility that lowers your blood pressure and heart rate.

Yet - another website:

Puzzles are known to improve hand-eye coordination. Piecing a jigsaw puzzle together involves looking at a piece, assessing its fit, and placing it in the correct spot on the board. This requires good eye-hand coordination.

There are many benefits to doing a jigsaw puzzle, including improved problem-solving skills. These puzzles require patience and concentration, which can help improve focus and attention span. They also require analytical thinking, as you have to figure out how the pieces fit together. The games help to improve cognitive skills, critical thinking, and logical reasoning. They also help to enhance patience and perseverance. This can help improve problem-solving skills and reasoning abilities.

Solving jigsaw puzzles can help you sleep better. Puzzles can help you relax and unwind, making it easier to fall asleep. The concentration required to complete a puzzle can also help your brain enter a relaxed state of mind, which can lower stress levels. 

Puzzles can also be a brain exercise that can strengthen your neuron connections and sharpen your 

*****

As a kid, I had maybe 60 such jigsaw puzzles.  I had favorites - like the snowy road picture - which I would do during the winter or Needles Highway (from South Dakota).  Some were real images, and some were artwork (like the Auction puzzle - with many figures, kids running, animals, and more).

When my parents moved, my mother asked me to take the puzzles.  I wanted to - but wasn’t sure I wanted all of them, so I took ten puzzles.  Looking back, I would have liked all of them, but I have no space to store them.

I have checked out puzzles from my local library and purchased some from thrift shops. It isn’t as big of a collection, but I have fifteen puzzles I could work on.  

I have a definite bias - I generally do only the 300-piece puzzles.  I have a folding table in my apartment, and I can do a 300-piece puzzle in about four hours.  I don’t want to tie up my table! I have tried the 500 and 1000-piece puzzles - and I feel like I spend too much time looking for the pieces, and I can go ten minutes and not put in a piece!!

I do JigZone puzzles on my laptop, and a week ago, I downloaded the Vita Jigsaw Puzzle app for my phone.  On the JigZone puzzles, I generally pick the 48-piece variety (pieces large enough to see and move and just challenging enough.  On the Vita Puzzles, I am going with 64 pieces.  (And, on my table - the 300-piece puzzles).  The computer puzzles have an advantage - they are already face up and arranged with the top of the piece on top and the bottom on the bottom!!!  And I never lose a piece online!!! <grin> 

I do other puzzles - word, logic, Sudoku, crosswords, and more.  (Yes, too much time doing games).  But, I view it as helping me.

LOVE WINS

LOVE TRANSFORMS

Karen Anne White, ©, February 21, 2024