Dear LPG, 

I spend a lot of time looking after my young grandchildren, and I can’t help but compare them with the children that my now fifty-something-year-old children were like at their age and, when I add how I remember myself and the children that my young friends were into the mix, there is a lot to compare.

One quality that has diminished somewhat through the generations is their small concentration spans.  

In the days when there were no computers and video games, I think we spent a lot of time doing things that seemed to have the power to keep us focussed.  One such example was a jigsaw puzzle which I remember being frightened to start if there were many pieces but getting a great sense of achievement out of when I put the last piece in.  They had the power to both frustrate and give a feeling of accomplishment all at the same time.  

I have been reading a bit about them and that, if you can get the children interested in them, they have the power to teach aspects of so many skills that they will fall back on as they grow up.  They can also be instrumental in improving the older, more forgetful mind.  The fact that they help keep the mind focused and enhance the concentration span is an apparent ability that can constantly be improved, and all the work that your fingers need to do to get the bits to fit is another.  

If you can get the children working on one together, collaboration and social skills are another positive aspect of their influence as they help children to learn to play fairly, unless the youngsters start fighting over the pieces and disagreeing about those ‘which bit goes where’ predictions.   

Even now, as I get older, I find them an excellent way of passing the time, although nothing is worse than getting to the end of one and finding that a piece is missing. 

That is always the risk once the pieces are lifted out of the box the first time, and nothing is more hurtful than coming back to a half-finished one to find that someone has jogged it or put something on it which has displaced so many of the bits that you spent ages putting together.  

I have heard of them before, but I recently found one solution that I think might work more for the person who likes to work alone: the online jigsaw puzzle.  You can leave them and know that nothing will get displaced while you are away (as long as you remember to save what you have done if required), and you don’t have to fiddle quite as much with the pieces as you put them into the puzzle.  It is a case of either it is obvious when they fit or they don’t, and another thing that might help the reluctant fan is that you can lock the pieces so that they don’t rotate, which makes things so much easier too.  

So, if you are an older jigsaw enthusiast, I have found a few free online puzzles that you might like to try…

CR, New Cross

CR shares some free Jigsaw Puzzle websites…

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