The Riding Lesson by Marlier – Ravensburger – 300 pieces
Another kids puzzle with a missing piece, but it’s really not that surprising. I know I wasn’t the best at taking care of my things when I was younger, so it’s no shock when there is a piece or two missing from kids puzzles we buy from the thrift stores.
Ravensburger puzzles hold up really well, this puzzle was well-loved and seemed a bit old. The pieces were still in excellent condition and the fit was still very good. You can tell sometimes by the inside of the box itself and the backs of the pieces if a puzzle has some age to it. I haven’t been able to find a date of manufacture for this puzzle, so it seems older to me but I can’t be sure.
It may seem silly that I enjoy assembling puzzles made for children, but I honestly don’t care. I’m not trying to impress anyone, and if putting together a puzzle is fun for me it shouldn’t matter who it’s made for; whether it has only 24 pieces or 2000 it makes no difference. All that really matters is the puzzling itself, it’s calming for me and makes me happy – that’s what’s important.
Fascinating Underwater World – Ravensburger – 100 pieces
I love a good puzzle, even if it’s only 100 pieces and made for kids. All the better for me at the moment because I get that completion satisfaction without having to spend several days working for only a few minutes at a time and making very little progress. Kids puzzles are great for my fragile puzzling ego! 😎
Ravensburger puzzles are excellent quality and their kids puzzles are no exception. It’s almost more apparent in their puzzles for children; the wonderfully thick, large pieces and the soft click as they fit together is first-rate. I’ve said it many times before, puzzles for children need to be more sturdy and able to withstand multiple assemblies and rougher handling – Ravensburger definitely meets those standards.
My adopted grandson has a LOT of puzzles; he absolutely loves them and I always bring him one or two when I visit – I’m the puzzle grandma. His favorite brand is Ravensburger (a kid after my own heart!), and he even continues to re-assemble the ones with missing pieces over and over because he loves the way they feel and fit together. This puzzle is destined for him and I know he’s going to enjoy the picture and pieces and it will definitely be well loved at his house.
(What If #11) Elizabeth and Raleigh by Geoff Tristam – Ravensburger – 1000 pieces
What If puzzles are great fun, I love figuring out how things ended up and seeing the picture taking shape. As usual, I never show the entire completed image because I don’t want to ruin the experience for anyone else. Half the fun is finding out what happens with everyone and how the picture is different from the box image – no spoilers here!
If you’ve never done a What If or Wasgij puzzle, the premise is simple; the image on the box is not the image you puzzle. Something happens to change the scene and you puzzle the result. What If #11 gives us this scenario….Good Queen Bess enjoys visiting favorite courtiers like Sir Walter Raleigh. He is handsome and dashing, and Elizabeth might just be fooled by his chat-up lines. But WHAT IF Sir Walter wasn’t a true gentleman? And WHAT IF Elizabeth really fell for his charms?
I didn’t enjoy this puzzle as much as I usually do, but it had nothing to do with the puzzle itself. The quality was great, the image is fun and funny – the problem was me. It took much longer than normal to complete because of physical issues making it difficult to sit and work on it for any real length of time. This got me a little down and I was avoiding it which kept the vicious cycle going. Taking too long, upset about it taking too long, avoid working on it which makes it take even longer – repeat. Eventually I got it done though, I promise I did the entire puzzle not just that one little section. 😉
Don’t be intimidated by these types of puzzles; they’re not as difficult as you might think. Ravensburger has the What If series, Jumbo does the Wasgij line, PuzzleTwist is a newer company whose puzzles all have a twist on the box image, and there are probably more I haven’t tried yet. I don’t think they’re too difficult; you can usually get clues from the image on the box which will help you with the assembly. The background is usually the same, many times the people are wearing the same clothing, etc. It’s good exercise for your brain and makes you really pay attention to the images, colors, and shapes. Besides all that – they’re great fun!
Another Noah’s Ark puzzle, we actually assembled this the same day as The Gathering. It’s a very popular theme, especially for children’s puzzles. Even though there was a missing piece we still enjoyed it very much.
Ravensburger puzzles hold up very well, their quality is excellent; and even with a well-loved puzzle from 1991 the quality is still evident. The pieces don’t show much sign of wear although you can tell this puzzle has been assembled many times. There was no image lift, the fit was still very nice, and the only telltale sign of aging was some slight discoloration on the backs of the pieces. What a bummer that one of the pieces escaped, this would have been a great puzzle to donate to the school my daughter works for. 😦
I’m hopeful that soon I’ll be feeling well enough to do more 1000 piece puzzles, there are many more of those in my to do “pile” than any other piece count. Not only is it the size that most puzzlers assemble, it’s the one with the most availability. Still, I’m trying to stay positive and enjoy the smaller puzzles we’ve been assembling – there are more of those around than I knew and I’m having fun looking for new challenges with smaller piece counts. I found a few puzzles yesterday on the way home from physical therapy and I’m looking forward to showing them off.😎
Mom found another puzzle ball for children, as usual she couldn’t help herself even though the last two puzzle balls we’ve gotten had pieces missing. Always the optimist! Luckily for us not only were all the pieces there, we liked the image much more than the last one and it was a lot of fun to assemble.
The quality of these 3D puzzles is very good and I find them quite entertaining. The pieces are made of thick plastic and fit together very snugly so that they stay together without glue. All the pieces are also numbered on the back with an arrow underneath the number pointing in the direction that the next number should go. You can assemble the puzzle using only the numbers, only the image, or a combination of the two.
I like to separate the pieces by the numbers in groups of ten, then flip them over and use the image to put them together. We’ve put them together only using the numbers before, and it’s just not as satisfying for us. But puzzles are supposed to be fun, and whichever way makes you happy is the way you should do it.
Ravensburger has puzzle balls from 54 to 540 pieces, and I think they’re a lot of fun. If you come across one in a thrift store give it a try, you just might have a great time!
My Jigsaw Journal 