Hey, Puzzle People!
A great way to pass the time on a chilly day in January, people absolutely LOVE their jigsaw puzzles. That’s why today is National Puzzle Day. Originally designed as educational tools, puzzles were first made in the 1760’s by a mapmaker from London, named John Spilsbury. He discovered his invention one day when he placed a map o
n a sheet of wood and cut out pieces of the countries.
He immediately recognized the usefulness this could have for means of education.
It didn’t take schools very long to catch on to the genius of teaching children their geography by having them put together puzzles. It wasn’t until sometime in the 1820’s that puzzles left the classroom and developed a new style of market. New cardboard puzzles offered a cheap means of entertainment during the depression and gained great popularity.
But even more than an educational tool for geography or a cheap means of entertainment, puzzles are good for the mind and good for the body—a seriously healthy pastime.
When engaged in a puzzle, our brains fall into certain patterns that increase our concentration, expand our creativity, make us more alert, reduce stress, lower our heart rate, lower our breathing rate, and strengthen our visual acuity as well as our pattern recognition…WOW!
It sounds like doing puzzles is jus
t as important as exercising!—like jogging for your mind! What better day to pull out a fun, engaging puzzle and put your mind to work on it.
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Yes, puzzles are indeed a healthy option for leisure-time activities. Check out jigsaw puzzle retailers like Puzzle Warehouse to find the best in quality and excellent range of puzzle pictures. Find a favorite of your own and order it in celebration of National Puzzle Day.
If you just can’t wait and have to do a puzzle right this minute, visit jigsawplanet.com for some online puzzle-fun! Enjoy doing your puzzles today, as always, thanks for reading!
- John