Creative Puzzle Storage?

[SunflowerMama]

Does anyone have an creative idea for storing/displaying your puzzles?

I just found a dozen 24 - 60 piece puzzles on Craigslist for $5 and I really need a creative way to display them. I can just see multiple kids pulling a few out at a time and then all the puzzles will be mixed together.

I will only pull one or two out at a time but the boxes are pretty flimsy so I'd love to come up with a bit more sturdy/attractive way to display them.

Anyone have a fun storage ideas for your puzzles?

[nannyde]

One thing i do with puzzles is to have them put together and then turn them upside down and mark the backside each piece with a specific color marker. That way if they get dumped together you can just quickly look at the back side and be able to sort the pieces without having to put the puzzle together.

[WImom]

Thanks for the tip Nannyde!

[QualiTcare]

i like nanny's idea.

not very attractive, but i got tired of all the boxes tearing and falling apart so i put all the puzzles in ziploc baggies and put them in a basket/labeled. i guess u could use the plastic bowls with lids too and put pictures on those. like i said, not too attractive, but it worked.

[Abigail]

This is what I would use for the puzzles from cardboard boxes. http://www.walmart.com/ip/Sterilite-...-of-6/10877957



They are sold pretty much everywhere for about $5/piece and they are small plastic storage drawers that stack. Each one has three clear drawers, so I would recommend you buy two and set them side by side and put a few wooden puzzles on the top just to make the most of your table/space. This way, you can display up to six puzzles in the drawers. Use the color-coding or numbering system on the back of each puzzle piece. You should do this BEFORE the kids even get to it just to save the hassle. Open the boxes, put it together (if you bought it new and opened it yourself, there is no need to put it together to make sure all the pieces are there) and mark each with a marker or pen. Colors may fade over time, so I choose to do the Alphabet. Then if you have more than all the letters of the alphabet, start using double letters.....will you really have more than 52 puzzles total?? If you do, then use triple letters or go to the numbers.

I like using the letters first because kids can recognize then better. Also, stick will all CAPS or all lowercase to avoid confusion with young children. When you rotate puzzles and a few are out at one time, it is easier to ask for John to find the A's and Mary to find the L's and Sarah to find the ZZ's instead of number 33, number 41, etc...gear it towards the younger children and the older children will not care even if they can count and recognize larger numbers, they'll still find the MM fun. Be careful will letters that look a like too: M and W you should underline and lowercase u and n should be underlined. It doesn't take more than a minute, seriously to make a small marking on the back of each piece. I do it to ALL puzzles, even the 12 piece puzzles.

So, for all the puzzles you will rotate in, I would do it cost effective and use ziplock storage bags, even sandwich bags work because you should be the ONLY one handling these since they could be hazards to really young children. If you can, salvage the picture off each box by cutting it out, it doesn't have to be a perfect square either. Round the corners and cut it out in a cute shape without cutting off the main puzzle picture. On the back side of this, write the letter that corresponds with the puzzle pieces you just finished labeling. This can just be put inside the drawer along with the puzzle pieces so they can take out the cardboard to look at it.

One thing to keep in mind is to check to see if the storage drawer can come all the way out of the storage rack because Sterilite does have some that do and some that don't. I like the ones that DO because they can take it and work quietly in another area or another table if they would like. This way they can work right out of the drawer on the table. Some people like the drawers that DO NOT come out the storage rack because kids step on the drawer and break it and then they're stuck with only two of the three drawers.

[Pammie]

I too use the large zip-lock bags for storage of puzzles. I cut out the front of the box that shows the picture and include that in the bag as well. I too mark the back of each puzzle piece with a shape (circle, diamond, star) in case they get dumped together. I hang them with clip clothespins from a clothes-line above my little bookshelf so that the kids can see them to choose, but I need to get them down - only because it reinforces my one puzzle/child/time rule