7 health benefits of doing jigsaw puzzles

English cartographer John Spilsbury created the first jigsaw puzzle in the 1760s

He attached a map of the world to a piece of wood, cut out each country, and dared people to put it back together. Spilsbury then marketed these puzzles to wealthy and influential people as a way to teach their children geography.

The first cardboard jigsaw puzzle appeared in the late 1800s

These didn’t initially replace wooden jigsaws because manufacturers believed cardboard puzzles would be seen as low-quality. The profit margins on the wooden puzzles were also larger.

The name jigsaw comes from the tool: the jigsaw

The original name for the jigsaw puzzle was ‘dissected puzzle’. But after the jigsaw cutting tool was invented in the 1800s, puzzle makers began using this to cut puzzle pieces and make more intricate shapes – so dissected puzzles were renamed ‘jigsaw puzzles’.

Puzzles made using a jigsaw were quicker to produce, which meant they could be manufactured at a lower price, and more were sold.

Puzzles became more widespread in the early 20th century

Companies like Parker Brothers (an American toy and game manufacturer) started making jigsaw puzzles in a wide range of designs.

Over the years, their popularity has risen and fallen. The Great Depression was one era when puzzles were particularly popular. 

More recently, the COVID-19 pandemic saw a rise in jigsaw puzzle popularity too, with puzzle sales increasing by 38% in 2020 compared to 2019.

It wasn’t until the 1950s that production techniques for making cardboard puzzles improved

Once this happened, jigsaws could be considered ‘good quality’. Since that time, the technique for producing cardboard puzzles hasn’t changed much at all.

Jigsaw puzzles come in a huge range of sizes

Some puzzles are small enough to be fridge magnets, and are often used as promotional materials. Others are larger; 300, 500, 1000, 2000, 3000, 4000…all the way up to 40,000 pieces. They also come in all different shapes, including round, square, and oval – and even in 3D and 4D.

Since the original map of the world puzzle, jigsaw puzzles have diversified

There are countless jigsaw puzzle designs, including pictures of animals, cartoons, flowers, movies, scenery, and vehicles. You can even turn your own photographs into jigsaw puzzles.

You can buy puzzle accessories

There are a variety of puzzle accessories available to buy which serious puzzlers may find handy. You can get puzzle trays, puzzle boards, puzzle mats, puzzle picture frames, and  puzzle glue!

Experts say it takes four times as long to do a 1000-piece puzzle as it does to do a 500-piece one

The reason for this is that each time you double the number of pieces, the difficulty is quadrupled. Therefore, it’ll take you around 64 times longer to complete a 4000-piece puzzle than a 500-piece one.