Avivah Werner

Tip for organizing puzzles

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Avivah

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Years ago I used to get frustrated when somehow several puzzles would all get dumped out on the floor, and I’d spent a huge amount of time painstakingly separating them.  One day I had a brainstorm, and from that day on I never had an issue again.

As soon as I bought a puzzle, I would turn over all of the pieces and mark the back of each with either a colored marker (eg red) or the same number (eg 1).  The next puzzle would be marked with a different color marker (eg blue) or the next number (eg 2). And so on, and so forth.  (I found markers easier because within about a half a minute I could mark the back of all the pieces, and writing the numbers down took a little longer.  But when you have more puzzles than colors in your collection of markers, you have to move to something else since if two puzzles shared the same color markings, it would no longer be helpful.

Then, the next time puzzles would end up getting jumbled, I could quickly sort through them by glancing at the ‘key’ on the back of them.  And it was easy for me to get the kids to help with this as well (who were all young at the time and asking them to independently sort would have been beyond their ability).

Avivah

 

Comments

7 responses to “Tip for organizing puzzles”

  1. Ellen Z.G. Avatar
    Ellen Z.G.

    Groovy! That sounds really helpful! I also take all our kids’ puzzles out of the box and put them in quart-size zip-top bags. I cut the picture off the side of the box and the number of pieces.

    Reply
    1. Avivah Avatar
      Avivah

      I also put them in quart size ziploc bags, and include the cut out of the picture on the front. The exception to this are the puzzles I buy from Ravensburger; the puzzles as well as the boxes are made to last. At this point, I hardly ever buy anything that’s *not* Ravensburger!

      Reply
      1. Sara Avatar
        Sara

        I was also really impressed with the quality of Ravensburger. Where do you buy them? They’re so expensive.

        Reply
        1. Avivah Avatar
          Avivah

          The thrift store, naturally! 😛 I pay up to $2 for a puzzle (it’s more for the 500 – 1000 pieces, cheaper for the smaller ones).

          Reply
  2. Ita Abrahamson Avatar
    Ita Abrahamson

    That is soo smart.. I have to try that!

    Reply
  3. Jennifer in MamaLand Avatar
    Jennifer in MamaLand

    Sounds great, and educational, too! My own “system,” such as it is, has miraculously never failed – some of our puzzles are 16 years old and only 1 or 2 are missing ANY pieces. It’s hardly a system, just a hard-and-fast rule that only one puzzle comes out at a time. Puzzles are stored in baggies; puzzle boards, if they have them, are kept upright beside the toy drawers. I’m the most disorganized parent, but disproportionately proud of holding onto puzzle pieces. :-)))

    (perhaps it runs in the family – the other day, at my mother’s house, my kids did a 200-piece puzzle my father bought for me on his way to India in 1974 – every piece present and accounted for!)

    Reply
  4. Sara Avatar
    Sara

    I didn’t think the thrift store carried Ravensburger 😉

    Reply

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