How to Make Your Own Jigsaw Puzzles

If you'd like to make your own jigsaw puzzle, you'll be delighted to discover there are simple ways to make these fabulous educational games. Jigsaw puzzles are perfect ways to teach geography, since you'll get to manipulate the pieces and spend time thinking about where each piece belongs. To make an educational jigsaw puzzle of the states of America, you'll want to follow these simple instructions:

1. Find a map of the Unites States of America. Look for one where every state is a different color.
2. Choose a backing for your jigsaw puzzle. You can use cardboard, foam or wood. If you choose wood, choose a thin piece of plywood that can be easily cut.
3. Glue the picture to the backing. You will want to use mounting spray, which you can find in a hobby or craft store. You can use glue if you want to, but that can get messy, take a while to dry or create bubbles in your picture. Mounting spray will provide the neatest puzzle surface.
4. Once the picture is dry, draw lines where you'll want to cut the pieces apart. For a jigsaw puzzle of the United States, the lines have already been drawn for you: the state borders. However, you may decide that some pieces will be too small or too awkwardly shaped to work well; you may need to change the lines slightly or include a few states lumped together.
5. Use a utility knife or scroll saw to cut the pieces of the puzzle apart. You will need to sand the pieces of the puzzle if you used wood backing, to eliminate splinters.

Now you get to put the puzzle back together. Make sure all the pieces fit properly before you pass it on to anyone else. If the puzzle does not stay together easily, you may wish to create a frame to put around it to help keep the pieces in place.