I've been waiting for a rainy day for the latest theme day at daycare: Puzzle Day. Usually on rainy days the kids go crazy being kept indoors and start to use my furniture as their gymnastics equipment. The only way to avoid that scenario is to keep the kids busy....like super busy. We have TONS of puzzles that don't get put together nearly enough. So on this rainy Friday, I pulled out every puzzle that we own and the kids put them together all day long. We have everything from easy toddler puzzles to 50+ piece puzzles that the kids needed my help with.
These 3 drawers are filled with toddler puzzles. Even the older kids had a great time doing these puzzles. I was very pleased to see how well the kids helped each other find pieces and put them in correctly.
After the toddler puzzles, the kids made their way on to the "hard puzzles." These puzzles were a group effort and the kids loved seeing their puzzles completed. They did Ninja Turtles puzzles, Princess, firetruck, a map, Curious George, Cat in the Hat, and a Spiderman puzzle.
This is one way to use a puzzle box....
The most educational puzzle of the day was also the most difficult and the most entertaining for the kids. When it was completed, the older kids read the map and all of the state's facts to the younger kids. This puzzle alone provided nearly an hour to educational fun.
Melissa and Doug's United States of America puzzle (http://www.amazon.com/Melissa-Doug-Wooden-USA-Puzzle/dp/B000GKES3O/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1404089638&sr=8-5&keywords=melissa+and+doug+united+states+puzzle)
To keep with the puzzle theme, the kids made, decorated, cut out, and put together their own puzzles. I helped a few of the younger kids make their puzzles, but the kids loved this activity. I've bought wooden puzzles that kids can decorate from Learning Post and Michael's (around $2 per puzzle), but the kids really enjoyed coming up with their own puzzle to create.
While Puzzle Day may not have been an exhausting as running around the backyard, the kids had a great time putting together all of the puzzles in our house. We'll definitely have another puzzle day this winter.
Our next summer theme day: Cookie Shop Day, complete with a cookie party!
