Lois Anderson
Why do jigsaw puzzles? It seems like a waste of time to take pieces of a picture, put them together, then break them apart before returning them to the box. However, it has been found that those who do jigsaw puzzles have good, if not excellent, cognitive (that’s being able to figure things out) skills.
To put together a jigsaw puzzle, one must be able to differentiate shape, color and size of each piece when compared to others in the box, as well as where that piece may fit when compared to the picture on the front of the box.
Those who feel that doing jigsaw puzzles are “time wasters” are correct. But, remember, one is also working one’s brain, and that is a good thing. Also, any time one must make decisions, and that is done repeatedly, that is using one’s brain and, at our age, that is important to be able to do.
We are fortunate that several people find jigsaw puzzles fascinating, since those are the folks who keep giving us all those boxes of puzzles the rest of us puzzlers enjoy doing. It would be nice, however, if those boxing up a puzzle would check the floor to see if any pieces are being left behind. In our library, if there are several pieces missing, we tape the box shut and put it into the recycle barrel. If you wish to donate a jigsaw puzzle to the library, give it to one of our volunteers or drop it by the HOA office. We appreciate all donations, especially those with all the pieces in the box.