Dragon Rider

On October 28, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

What a gorgeous puzzle, and how disappointing that there’s a piece missing! Such beautiful artwork by Lynton Levengood, it is an absolutely stunning puzzle.

Ravensburger kid’s puzzles have the same excellent quality as their adult puzzles, yet another reason they’re my favorite puzzle company. The pieces are always thick and sturdy and feel good in your hand. The image reproduction is excellent and you can see above how well they fit together, it’s almost seamless.

I’m bummed that this one isn’t complete, my little “grandson” would have loved it. Oh well, I suppose it’s better than if I gave him an incomplete puzzle; it’s very frustrating for him when he can’t find a piece. At least I’ve got enough smarts to be sure and check them first. 🙂

Wouldn’t most kids (especially little boys) love to ride a dragon? I would. I need to ride side-saddle though, and the dragon has to promise to spew fire on a few places that have earned my wrath! Oops. Got a little off track there. Apologies. 😇

If you’ve got a little one who loves dragons, I highly recommend this puzzle! (Be sure you find one with all the pieces though)

Pam

On October 26, 2017October 26, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

Pam by Michael Hague – Great American Puzzle Factory – 100 pieces

This puzzle was so interesting! It came in a very small box about 4 inches (10 cm) square, was produced in 1981, and it was still shrink wrapped! 😮

Michael Hague is a well known illustrator famous for his teddy bears. I hadn’t heard of the Michael Hague teddy bears before; they’re adorable, and unlike illustrations of other teddy bears that I’ve seen. In this puzzle, we meet Pam – a well dressed Panda bear from what I can see.

Being only 100 pieces it didn’t take long for mom and me to put this little puzzle together. The pieces were extremely loose, as you can see by some of the gaps in between pieces; we had to be very careful while assembling it because brushing the edge with your arm or hand would upset many pieces.

The image itself was a bit challenging with all of the fence in the background, it definitely wasn’t a super easy puzzle for kids – this one took a little bit more brain power. Still we had fun, and it was very cool to open a puzzle that had been sealed for 36 years!

Colorful Animal World Map

On October 19, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

This was a fun 100 piece puzzle that had a little bit of challenge to it. There’s lots of ocean and it wasn’t always easy to see what piece goes next. It doesn’t lay completely flat as you can see in the picture above, but it is a thrift store purchase so perhaps it was well loved before donation. Still, it is a very good quality kid’s puzzle that also glows in the dark! Check it out….

It doesn’t just glow in the dark, it glows in 3 different colors; red (hardest to see), green, and blue. I’m not always able to get a good glow picture, so I was pleased that this one turned out so well showing all 3 colors. How cool is that? Very!

I enjoyed putting this one together, I like it when a kid’s puzzle has a little bit of challenge to it. I think that’s good for kids too, if all their puzzles are too easy they get bored. It feels like a little more of an accomplishment if you had to work at it a little bit. Of course, that’s just my own personal puzzle addict’s opinion. 😉

Penny

On October 13, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

Pretty cool puzzle! 100 piece puzzles only takes a few minutes, but they’re still fun to assemble.

The pieces of this one were thin, but fit together well. Not the best quality for a kid’s puzzle, but not horrid either. Another thrift store find, and another new company – always interesting!

It’s a good thing we have so many kid’s puzzles to assemble. I’m having the hardest time sitting, even for a few minutes. I’m spending most of my days in bed and only able to concentrate long enough for a small piece count puzzle. I’m working on a 2000 piece puzzle at the moment but it is going at the pace of a sedated snail. 😐

For some reason I really like the look of this puzzle; it wasn’t the greatest quality but it was a quick fun assembly and will hopefully enjoy it’s new home at the school. 👍

Under the Sea

On October 10, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

Wow this puzzle was big! I didn’t want to get my big 4 x 5 foot board out just for a kid’s puzzle, so I did this one on my bedroom floor. It’s over 50 inches tall!

The pieces are extremely thick and sturdy, with a finish that can be wiped down if your young child gets any of the pieces sticky. They fit together very well – all in all excellent quality from Melissa & Doug. This puzzle also had an informational insert that has the names of all the creatures shown in the puzzle. Some of them I’d never heard of, I love learning new stuff!

I enjoy working the educational puzzles we’ve found, especially because we now donate most of our kid’s puzzles to a school, and I get to learn cool new things! Plus, when I’m working on a difficult puzzle, it’s nice to pick up a kids puzzle and finish it without having to concentrate too much.