Self-isolating takes its toll after a while. The COVID-19 virus has forced us to keep to ourselves and stay inside for the most part. The news says the restrictions are working and may stay in place until June. Keeping up your mental acuity and health is as important as preventing the virus.
What do you do?
Besides blogging, hiking, and gardening, I do digital jigsaw puzzles, especially at night.
Jigsaw Puzzle History
In the 1760s European mapmakers pasted maps onto wood and cut them into small pieces. John Spilsbury, an engraver and mapmaker, is credited with inventing the first jigsaw puzzle in 1767. Puzzling has grown into a major pastime since that time with the craze starting in 1900 and skyrocketing through the early 1930s. In early days the pieces did not interlock and were cut along color lines eliminating clues for assembly. Puzzles were quite expensive and were primarily enjoyed by the rich.
Parker Brothers manufactured the first figure and interlocking puzzle pieces making the jigsaw puzzle affordable for everyone. Die-cut cardboard puzzles of masterpiece paintings that could be mass-produced added to the growth of the hobby. By the 1960s, puzzles decreased in popularity.
In the last decade improvements in die-cutting, laser cutting, and digital puzzles have put the pastime back on the table. Online companies like Vistaprint as well as retailers like Costco and Walmart offer you the chance to turn your favorite photos into puzzles.
Do you have a cause or a favorite place? Make puzzles out of your photos to enjoy them over and over. Here is one of mine. From Woodlake Rose Garden.
Digital puzzles make it possible to assemble your photo masterpieces into as many pieces and shapes as you can imagine. You are limited only by your screen size. I downloaded an app for my computer from Free Jigsaw Puzzles.
If you get tired of making your own photos there are a several sites that have almost unlimited free puzzles. These are my top two picks.
Marsha Ingrao - Always Write 
10 responses to “Solution for Boredom While You Self-Isolate”
Puzzles are a great idea – both jigsaw and mind game puzzles to keep the brain stimulated 🙂
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Exactly! I’m hooked on them. I think Norah Colvin started me on the craze.
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June, huh? Eek, I better watch the news. I hadnt heard that. Great ideas, Marsha! I’m partial to digital coloring apps.
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Any recommendations? That sounds like fun.
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Oil Painting by color planet. Free!
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I’m looking that up!
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I have so many things I want to get done I will not have time to be bored. Your rose is beautiful.
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Our days just fly by. There’s not really any boredom. I’m just addicted to working puzzles. However, I’m sure there are some people dealing with boredom and other mental health issues right now. Keeping our minds challenged is do important.
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I never got into puzzles, but now is as good as time as any! Thanks for your post x
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I love the challenge. Thanks for reading and commenting. Have a great day!
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