Make your own Jigsaw
As a child, we always used recycled greetings cards to make our own jigsaw puzzles. My mum would give us a pile of recycled cards and a pair of scissors each and off we'd go. One year, being more than slightly competitive in nature, I decided that I would make a much better puzzle than my brothers and sister. I cut my card into so many tiny pieces that I spent hours trying to put my jigsaw back together again. I never did manage it. I learnt a few life lessons that day, although I must say I definitely had the best scissors skills!
What you need:
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Recycled Greetings cards
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Ruler
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Pen or pencil
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Scissors
What to do:
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Open a recycled greetings card and cut along the center fold. You need to use the half with the picture on it to make your jigsaw puzzle.
Top tip: Optional: Take a photograph of the picture on your card before you cut it up. You can use this visual to help you, or someone else, do the jigsaw that you make.
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Place your card, picture side down, on a flat work surface.
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Use a ruler and a pen to draw, or dot, straight lines across the card, from one side to the other. (You may need to ask someone to help you do this.)
Top tip: Straight lines are the easiest to cut along. Try challenging your cutting skills by drawing curvy or zig-zag lines across the paper.
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Cut along the lines you have drawn to cut the card into several pieces.
Top tip: Use your "helping hand", the hand you are not holding your scissors in, to hold and turn the paper as you cut.
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You have finished making your jigsaw puzzle. Now try putting the pieces back together to make the original picture.
Activity develops:
- Fine motor skills
- Scissor skills. These develop fine motor strength, bilateral co-ordination (the ability to co-ordinate the movement of both hands together) and visual motor integration (in this case communication between the eyes and the hands)
- Language skills
- Creativity
- Problem solving
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