Why Puzzles are Great for your Well Being

Jigsaws are making a comeback! This quiet pastime is a wonderful way to relax and unwind, in addition to providing us with some much-needed time away from our screens. Did you know that there are many benefits to enjoying jigsaw puzzles? From improving memory skills to aiding in a child’s development, there’s so many reasons to pick up the pieces and start a new jigsaw puzzle. We’ve outlined the top reasons why jigsaw puzzles stimulate the brain and encourage positive well-being below.

Puzzles Help You Relax

Take a step back from your busy schedule to connect with the family over a Jigsaw Puzzle. The concentration required when doing a jigsaw puzzle helps your brain to go into a relaxed state of mind, which in turn lowers stress levels too. The quietness associated with puzzles is said to “nurture a sense of calm” – which is the perfect path to relaxation!

Create your own Personalised Puzzle featuring a collage of all your treasured family memories or select a single special moment you share and work together to complete your photo puzzle for an extra rewarding relaxation exercise.

Top tip: Personalise your puzzle further with stylish Clipart that matches your photo and theme, such as love hearts, family icons or location stickers. You can also leave a hidden message with added text that will be revealed once the puzzle is completed for a fun and unique surprise!

Take a Break from the Digital World

Sitting down to do a jigsaw puzzle is the perfect way to take a much-needed (and long overdue!) break from our screens. Put down your smartphone, turn off the TV, hide the iPads and take a moment to connect the pieces of your very own jigsaw. Reminisce on your favourite memories with family and friends, or complete your puzzle by yourself for a real sense of achievement once you have completed it.

Build Connections Through a Jigsaw Puzzle

Try leaving your personalised puzzle on the table for everyone in your household to enjoy. As everyone chips in and joins a piece, you’ll soon feel accomplished as a team, working together to complete it. What’s more, when you create your own Personalised Jigsaw Puzzle, you’ll get to reminisce on your favourite memories together and connect over your shared moments. From a special occasion or holiday to a photo of your beloved family pet, it’s a wonderful way to connect with one another – plus it’s the perfect activity for a rainy afternoon stuck indoors, too!

Improve Your Visuospatial Skills

Not only is this classic pastime is a great way to relax, it even helps improve on our short-term memory and problem-solving skills, as well as our dexterity. Leading bookseller and stationery provider WHSmith, outline in their blog that puzzles are a great “mental workout” and exercise our brain by looking at the challenge it presents versus seeing the bigger picture of the finished puzzle. Even the small movements of placing a piece works wonders for our hand-eye coordination too!

Children can also take away many positives from doing jigsaw puzzles. With CEWE, you can create a Kids Personalised Puzzle with 112 or 266 pieces so they don’t miss out on the action of piecing together their favourite photos.

Are Puzzles Good for a Child’s Development?

Yes! Puzzles are a great way to help children develop their problem-solving skills, hand-eye coordination, short-term memory and recognition skills, to name a few! When working together, children will also learn valuable teamworking skills, but the positives of children completing a puzzle alone are just as imperative too. They’ll learn the importance of patience and perseverance, piecing together their puzzle until they feel a sense of achievement and reward when completed. Along with the valuable cognitive skills children develop when doing puzzles, their recognition and awareness of shapes will also improve as they hold and turn puzzle pieces until they fit – a key development in a child’s fine motor skills.

Keep your little ones entertained with their own personalised Children’s Jigsaw. Available as a 112 or 266 piece puzzle, add family photos or scan and upload their own artwork to bring excitement and pride with every puzzle piece.

Puzzles for Positive Well-being

Whether you’ll be completing your jigsaw puzzles alone, with loved ones or alongside your little one, the benefits of doing puzzles all have a positive impact on our mental health and wellbeing. By helping our minds focus and enter a meditative state, puzzles allow us to relax, relieve stress and reduce anxiety, in addition to helping improve important cognitive skills. What’s not to love?

Plus, by creating your own Personalised Puzzle featuring your fondest memories, you’ll be met with a further added element of happiness as you relive those special moments when completing your jigsaw. Start creating your own puzzle today with CEWE and share your creations with us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.