General / Display

Jigsaw Puzzle Template - Suggestions for Use

• Ok, thought this jigsaw puzzle template was going to be really easy, - First of all I just have to explain the 'pain' I went through to make this happen LOL... - 2 days later - oh boy would not believe how many things I had to consider here to make this work.... thought it was still worth it though as there is just so much you can do with this....

• Things I needed to consider.....

• had to be at least 30 pieces for whole class..
• had to be enough room on each puzzle piece for children to be able to draw or write without too much trouble...
• thought I could just enlarge each piece to fit A4, then realized each individual piece had to be enlarged exactly same amount otherwise would not fit together...
• each piece needed to be numbered as I could see confusion reigning while puzzle pieces being put together...
• had to decide that difficulty was alright and not too hard for chn (and adults) but difficult enough to get some great cooperation and communication happening...
• after much fiddling around with other templates decided to make my own as more writing / drawing room.
• sooooooo..... hopefully all this will be worthwhile - please let me know how you go using this - would love some feedback...and ENJOY!

OK , back to Suggestions for Use......

• OK, all this started from a fabulous teaching idea from Michelle - 'We All Fit Together' - this is the perfect way to use this but there are also sooooo many others...thanks again Michelle.

• First of all - very importantly - I have made these on A4 size but remember you can make them smaller very easily using your printer settings or enlarging onto A3 using a photocopier or A3 printer.

• Also important to remember - when using these pieces to make sure they all display the correct way and that children draw on the correct side. To help with this I have placed a very small number on each piece on the bottom left - remind your children to write/draw on the side with the black outline and with the number at the bottom..

• Each child writes a word on their puzzle piece to display word groups such as - words beginning with...., words with 'ee', sports words, words which rhyme, and loads more word groups...- place together as a class, display - when finished with display - laminate and use as a puzzle activity.

• For group work - each child can write/draw on more than one piece, then the group has to cooperate to put it together.

• Ideal for 'build on' projects and class goals - for example - place a puzzle piece on each time part of a 'class goal' is achieved.. work towards completing the puzzle and achieving the goal.

• Great for displaying children's writing...putting together 'interesting facts about.....'

• Use the puzzle pieces template to cut out fabric pieces for children to create a class 'quilt' or 'mat'.

• Each child decorates a piece with a letter of the alphabet or numbers to 30 - laminate and use for jigsaw puzzle / activity time.

• Laminate any of these above ideas and pop into a snap lock bag. Use for puzzle or activity time.

• If you would like the jigsaw puzzle template to be a bit more difficult to put together, just white out the number at the bottom of the pieces so children cannot use it as reference (just pop on another indicator for them for which was is up)

• When cutting out the puzzle piece, ask the children to cut in the middle of the think black line - this forms a nice track for their cutting, plus also makes a nice black border on each piece.

• Reduce the size of each piece easily using your printer settings so that each child has individual pieces - write a 'focus word' on each piece - ind child puts their puzzle back together... (could be a word a day to make up their own puzzle over a term eg. 30 days)

• I am so sure you will come up with more great ideas for using this jigsaw puzzle template - please share your pictures and ideas at the bottom of this page in the comments section....cheers..