Summer Puzzling

    It's no secret that I LOVE doing puzzles.  LOVE THEM!  I've always enjoyed a puzzle and once my kids were all out of toddlerhood have pretty much always had one going during summer and breaks from school.  During quarantine back in 2020 my love really ramped up and this is when I was able to get my kids a bit more in love as well.  Today I thought I'd share some of my favorite kinds of puzzles, brands of puzzles and answer some puzzle questions I get ;)  With summer upon us it's time for puzzles!!!

We pretty much always do puzzles on our dining room table.  It's a big space, but doesn't interfere with daily life and we don't use a puzzle board or anything and it works just fine!

When we're done with our puzzles we take them apart, put them back in the box and keep them in our game closet.  Yes... we have quite the collection but we like to do them again and share with friends who love puzzles as well.  

This past Summer I gave the bulk of our puzzle collection to one of the 5th grade teachers at school - her family loves puzzles and their plan was to do them and then bring the puzzles to her classroom to keep on a puzzle table she has for kids who finish early.

I also put the edges in ziplock bags when we pack them away which my mom says is cheating but I say is smart ;)

As far as choosing puzzles I steer clear of landscapes and puzzles that have a lot of the same colors... we like puzzles that have lots of colors, sections, etc. as we find that they make them way more fun.

My FAVORITE time to do a puzzle is in the morning with bacon and egg toast and a cup of tea ;) 

A lot of the puzzles that I've been doing have been from 1Canoe2.  They are GREAT quality and they couldn't be cuter if they tried!

This one was a summer find that we loved...

... and panoramic puzzles are extra fun like this one from Mudpuppy....

... or this one.

I bought several of these Elena Essex puzzles last summer and was SO IMPRESSED!

White Mountain puzzles are some of our favorites - specifically the ones with lots of little sections like this.  I will say that these are the puzzles that I gave away this summer - they're super fun to do but not special enough for me to hold onto.

Galison puzzles are always GORGEOUS when they're finished but they can be a CHALLENGE!  Still super fun though. This one is great...

Mud Puppy 500-piece puzzles are so fun and perfect if you don't want a puzzle on your table for an entire week.  My kids can't help but jump in on these which I LOVE!

And I've been loving this brand as well...

Last, but not least - Magic Puzzle Company! These are unlike any other puzzles out there... they're weird and super detailed and have a really cook "magic surprise" at the end.  It's hard to explain without ruining the surprise but TRUST ME and give them a try ;)

HAPPY Monday and HAPPY PUZZLING!