DIY Puzzles for Kids

Stacks of artwork, all wishing for a permanent place to call their own. Every piece carefully planned, painted and loved. Commonly known as clutter after several art sessions have resulted in so many pieces of art that it’s hard to find the workspace. My kids love to create. We have an entire room of our home dedicated to creating things. But that also means that a lot of artwork & creations are begging to find a place in our home. Since I am not a big fan of clutter, that puts me in a very difficult place. Sure, we can take pictures of the pictures and keep them in our memories, but once the pictures get taken, they end up on a hard drive somewhere rarely to be seen again. This project, however, can actually be used! These DIY Puzzles for kids are a great way to let kids create beautiful artwork and then use it!

Materials needed for DIY Puzzles for Kids

Puzzle templates

Washable tempera paint

Paint brushes

Jar of water

Bounty paper towels

Paper to cover the work space

Start by prepping your work space. I usually do this while the kids are busy elsewhere. If I don’t, then I end up with a lot of “help”, which generally means that my 5 year old starts painting before I get the space covered to protect it from the paint.

We usually use my desk for creating and since I don’t want my pretty white desk to be painted with rainbow splatters, I cover it with large sheets of packing paper. Packing paper is really cheap to buy, so I don’t worry about throwing it away afterward.

I also make sure that we have a roll of paper towels close by to clean up any spills. And the kids like to use paper towels to clean off their brushes before they switch colors. I make sure to stock up on Bounty Advanced paper towels at Costco so that we have lots for art projects (and for the kitchen too, of course). I totally appreciate the extra absorbency since my kids love to spill the water…

Then, I set the kids free!

I never dictate what they should create or how they should create it. Even though I set out supplies for them, they are always free to add additional supplies or use the supplies in a different way than what I planned.

We did try using the white crayon that is pictured above, but it didn’t work with the tempera paint we were using. An interesting experiment that we will have to try again with watercolors.

My 11-year-old decided to showcase her love for birds as she set to work creating a bright red cardinal.

I totally love that she paused and took note of the vibrant pink that was created when she rinsed off her brush. Noticing little things is something that she does very well, so I work to encourage that.

She even noticed that as she changed colors, little bits of the color were left in her brush which resulted in a tiny rainbow effect.

Little things.

We painted a sun and had fun with texture and layering colors.

Then she wanted to create a landscape. Mountains are her favorite since she spend so much of her life living in the middle of them.

These DIY puzzles aren’t just a way to create artwork. They are a way to create memories.

And after the artwork has been created, we can easily wash out the brushes with dish soap and toss the paint palettes in the dishwasher.

Now that we have several fun works of art, the kids have been trading puzzles with each other for a fun activity.

My 5-year-old really loves them! They are just the right size for her and are a cheap way for me to keep up with her love of putting together puzzles!

Cut the clutter today and create memories that will last!

DIY Puzzles for Kids