Need something calming to pass the time as you wait for your shelter-at-home orders to lift?
Jigsaw puzzles are terrific for this. Everyone in the family can stop for a minute, search for that hard-to-find piece, and enjoy a few moments of Zen focus away from the fretting, anxiety, work, and schoolwork.
Here are five beautiful puzzles that will not only pass the time and calm your frazzled nerves but also teach your kids about art, architecture, or just beauty.
Starry Night over Venice, Italy
This is a beautiful work. Bright, strange, and familiar all at once. As you piece this Van Gogh-style puzzle together, you'll get a true appreciation for his unique worldview and artistry. Your kids will learn to identify his style. And it will look gorgeous as it grows into a Starry Night on your table.
This is a big (20-by-30-inch) puzzle ($49.99) with 1,000 pieces.
A retro London skyline
All this bright architecture and festive London skyline will be loads of fun to piece together. Complete with the London Eye, a double-decker bus, and other familiar London landmarks, this will be fun to build out on your puzzle table. The kids will learn a bit of geography and maybe some history, if you manage to offer some tidbits of knowledge as you locate pieces.
The London Retro Skyline ($49.99) is a thick, 20-by-30-inch 1,000-piece puzzle.
A big Baby Yoda puzzle
Baby Yoda continues being adorable. At least that's the same!
Everyone will enjoy doing this Baby Yoda puzzle ($8.10), even though the only educational value of it is fun. But there are all those green pieces to find. Isn't shape-matching part of some curriculum somewhere?
This is a quick puzzle at 63 pieces, so it's perfect for kids who aren't ready for big, complicated puzzles.
Pretty pastel puzzle pieces
This is a lovely, calming image to piece together. These watercolor cactus and succulents ($49.99) are painted in soft green and pink watercolors and printed on a thick 20-by-30-inch board, and cut into 1,000 puzzle pieces.
Vintage mushroom bookplate
Antique scientific paintings are full of nature and artistry. If you enjoy a complicated puzzle with a unique payoff, this Mushrooms Vintage Bookplate puzzle ($49.99) is for you. Gorgeous, intricate, and instructive, it will look gorgeous as it grows.
Turn your own photos into a puzzle
All those photos you have gathering dust on your phone could be hours and hours of entertainment for your family. The kids will love piecing together a puzzle that turns out to have them in it. Who wouldn't?
You can create your own 500-piece Custom Photo Puzzle ($29.99) simply by sending in the photo you want to use.
Here's how to keep that puzzle as a piece of art.
Like the results? Want to keep it as a piece of art? Not only will this Mod Podge ($8.46) glue the puzzle together, but it will also give it a protective finish. It's a must-have for those puzzles you put so much work into.
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