by Ina Winslow

Created on: January 07, 2011   Last Updated: January 11, 2011

Keeping kids’ puzzles organized can be even more challenging than putting the pieces together.  How do you keep puzzle pieces from being spread all over the house?  How can you make sure the pieces will be put back in the correct boxes, where they belong?  And how to avoid this disappointment: seeing a child proudly put all but the last piece in place, only to learn that the last piece has gone missing?

With a bit of planning, you can ensure that puzzle pieces stay where they belong, and you can also keep young puzzlers happy by minimizing the chance that there will be a missing piece.  Some of these tips are most useful for young children’s puzzles that have fewer pieces; others will help to keep the 100, 500, or 1,000-plus puzzles for older children organized.

Identify a “puzzle zone”: Designate one area in your home as the location for working on puzzles.  This will help to keep pieces from going astray and will help to keep the puzzle neat while it’s in the working stages.  A table or desk in a spot that is out of the flow of everyday traffic will work best. 

Stow it away:  If you don’t have a space where a puzzle-in-progress can be left undisturbed for hours or days at a time, use a puzzle mat underneath.  On a mat, a puzzle can be rolled up and stored safely away until next time.  If there are several avid puzzle fans in your house, keep a few puzzle mats on hand.

Keep puzzles in their place:  Just as each piece in the puzzle has a specific place in the design, puzzles should have a storage place of their own, separate from other toys and games.  Young hands will be less likely to inadvertently scatter puzzle pieces while they play with other toys. 

Color-code the pieces: If young children sometimes mix one puzzle’s pieces into another puzzle’s box, here is a quick solution.  For puzzles of about 100 pieces or fewer, spread the pieces out on a sheet of newspaper and turn them over to expose the back.  Using a colored marker, a BINGO dauber, or a dab of craft paint, make a small dot or mark on the back of each piece.  To help young children put their puzzles away neatly, mark the lid of the puzzle box using the same color as on the pieces, and they will know which pieces belong in the box. 

Keep count: If your children take puzzles with them on vacation or family visits, make sure all the pieces return home with them by knowing how many pieces are in the puzzle box and making a quick count before packing it away.  You can make one last check, before heading for home, for any missing pieces that may be hiding in the playroom.

Encourage good puzzle-playing habits:  If children want to play with puzzles after lunch, snack-time, or playing outdoors, ask them to wash their hands first.  It’s no fun playing with sticky puzzle pieces!  Avoid accidentally sending puzzle pieces through the laundry by encouraging children not to inadvertently put pieces in their pockets.  Floor-puzzles are great fun on the floor, but keep other puzzles, especially those with small pieces, on a table or desk.  Pieces will be less likely to get stepped on, damaged or lost.  If a puzzle-in-progress will be left on a table or desktop, put the loose pieces back in the box at the end of each session. 

Using these few simple tips will help to take the work out of keeping puzzles organized.  You may even turn that time-consuming chore into an easy solution that falls right into place, just like that last puzzle piece!

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