Easy Puzzles – Your Kids Can Make

This easy puzzle craft came to my rescue last week.   I needed an activity I could do with a wide range of kids with different ages, crafting abilities, etc. We had a crowd at our house, the joy of an extra five kids to hang out for the day. Extra kids means extra fun – and the struggle of trying to find something that all the ages can enjoy doing together, without making a disaster of the house (as bored kids are apt to do). Painting is fun. Solving a puzzle is fun. Creating easy puzzles we make with paint are even more fun! We made puzzles out of wide Popsicle sticks.

How to create a puzzle for kids from popscicle sticks:

First, we taped the popscicle sticks together into a “canvas” of sorts. We used painters tape so the surface wouldn’t get gummy. Then we drew the outline of the picture we were going to create with permanent markers. If you know much about the quirky kids, you’ll know they LOVE paint. We painted inside the lines of the pictures we drew. We used shaving cream finger-paint as it doesn’t spill.   I love how the paint sticks to the cups!   It’s cheap, washable and smells nice.   Can’t beat that! To make the puzzles more difficult, we waited until the paint had dried, un-taped the sticks, mixed them up and taped the painted side. We made a double sided puzzle – it was simple enough that the three year old kids could make them, but once you mixed a bunch of the double-sided puzzles together, it was complicated enough to stump an 8 year old. I am thankful for this puzzle craft and other family activities, the kind that take a few hours to create (lots of waiting for paint to dry).   The delays added to the anticipation … who knows maybe puzzles and ciphers will replace board games for a family evening activity.

Do your kids enjoy puzzles?

I’d love to hear about them in the comments! Check out these Where is Waldo online activities!