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Jigsaw Puzzles: Pieces
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Jigsaw puzzles can be done by the child alone or as a team effort. If you notice your child is having a lot of trouble finding the correct pieces be sure the puzzle is not too hard. For the child just starting to do puzzles keep the piece count low. A general guide is that children are not ready for a 100 piece until about age 6 or 7. Be sure the picture is not too complex and the pieces are sturdy enough for them to pick up and manipulate.
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Jigsaw puzzles date back to the 1700s. John Spilsbury, a renowned mapmaker from London, had the idea of mounting one of his maps on a hardwood sheet and then cutting around the borders of the countries. The result was an educational aid, for teaching geography to children. It was known as "a dissected puzzle". These early jigsaw puzzles did not have interlocking pieces, and were made from wood.
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With Sennari JigsawClub, Verizon Wireless customers can test their skills with puzzles from categories that include Animals, American Views, Flowers, Tricky, Outer Space, Military and Surprise. Players can check out the Daily Puzzle to play the latest puzzle selection. All puzzles feature three skill levels -- beginner with 16 puzzle pieces, intermediate with 32 puzzle pieces and advanced with 64 puzzle pieces. For added challenge, there is a timed game mode where puzzlers can test their jigsaw skills against the clock. If players become puzzle masters, they can enter their names into the Senarri JigsawClub Hall of Fame.
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The origins of jigsaw puzzles go back to the 1760s when European map makers pasted maps onto wood and cut them into small pieces. The "dissected map" has been a successful educational toy ever since. American children still learn geography by playing with puzzle maps of the United States or the world. The eighteenth century inventors of jigsaw puzzles would be amazed to see the transformations of the last 230 years. Children's puzzles have moved from lessons to entertainment, showing diverse subjects like animals, nursery rhymes, and modern tales of super heroes and Disney. But the biggest surprise for the early puzzle makers would be how adults have embraced puzzling over the last century.
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Jigsaw puzzles are not only fun they work on several developmental skills. One of the areas is shape recognition. The development of this skill is a big part of preparing to learn to read. Hand eye coordination an fine and gross motor skill are ... involved. The child must identify the proper piece, pick it up, rotate it into correct position and place in the right spot. Jigsaw puzzles are great fun, relaxing and challenging.
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[T]he Depression led to the birth of Par Puzzles, long dubbed the "Rolls Royce of jigsaw puzzles." Frank Ware and John Henriques, young men with no job prospects, cut their first puzzle at the dining room table in 1932. While other firms were cutting costs (and quality), Par steadily improved their puzzles, and marketed them to affluent movie stars, industrialists and even royalty. Par specialized in customized puzzles, often cutting the owner's name or birth date as figure pieces. Ware and Henriques ... perfected the irregular edge to frustrate traditional puzzlers who tried to start with the corners and edge pieces. They further teased their customers with misleading titles and "par times" that were unattainable for all but the fastest puzzlers.
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