Let’s make our own custom DIY puzzles with leftover greeting cards! If you’re like me, you just can’t get rid of all the cards that come in for Birthdays, Christmases, Valentine’s Day and beyond. So, don’t throw out the cards. Cut up those cherished cards and make homemade puzzles with cards!

Homemade Puzzles

You may be asking, “How do you make a puzzle with greeting cards?” Well, it is easier than you think!

Related: Make popsicle stick puzzles

Puzzles are super easy to make. Do you still have any valentines or old Christmas cards left at your house? We have a bunch leftover from our holiday season.

Video: Make Greeting Card Puzzles

Making These Homemade Puzzles Even More Educational

One of the reasons I love doing puzzles is because they are such great learning activities!

While You Put Your Card Puzzles Together You Can…

• talk about the shapes your child cut
• teach spatial concepts (next to, in front of, behind, around, near, etc.)
• practice problem solving skills
• discuss designs and pictures on the cards
• introduce new vocabulary (we talked about the words diagonal, curved, rounded, pointy, etc.)

Another Reason Homemade Puzzles Are Great

Another reason that kid-made puzzles are fabulous is because they can be adapted to fit your child’s individual needs/abilities.

Younger children can just create 3-5 piece puzzles and older kids could cut their cards into 20+ pieces and make them really tricky to put together.

You could even have an older sibling create a puzzle for a younger sibling. You can cut any of your cards up like this, or even do family photos!

Promote Pretend Play With Your Homemade Puzzles

In addition to playing pretend post office, I plan to laminate a few of our favorite card puzzles and add them to our puzzle shelf, this way my son can hold onto a few of his favorite cards… but they won’t be cluttering up my kitchen anymore!

We may also need to try this with several of the birthday cards he just received!

Make a Puzzle With Cards

Print

Don't throw out all the old holiday cards! Instead, recycle them and turn them into a fun homemade puzzle instead!

Active Time 15 minutes

Total Time 15 minutes

Difficulty easy

Estimated Cost under $10

Materials

• Holiday Cards
• Marker (optional)

Tools

• Scissors

Instructions

1. Have your child draw lines on the back of the card to make puzzle pieces.
2. Have your child start cutting along the lines.
3. Count the number of pieces cut while you are working together.
4. Put the puzzle back together.

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Tell use how your DIY puzzle creation project went! What greeting cards did you use?