Q: When is a puzzle not just a puzzle?
A: When it's a George Luck Puzzle.
At first glance these puzzles are unusual and fun but appear
simple and perhaps with a limited interest factor. Those whose noses elevate at this point and
turn their back are missing out on one of the most collectable, fun and
educational products we've come across – bye, your loss!
Those who are prepared to give it a second glance or even a
test will open themselves to a multitude of fun opportunities. For a start these puzzles are certainly not
easy, the non-distinct shapes without edge or pattern to match makes it
significantly harder to spot connecting pieces.
Those with layers add another level of depth to consider.
But we need to go way beyond the actual puzzle aspect if
you're to understand the true potential of these. The lazer cut technology makes each a work of
art, no nasty thick lines between pieces they fit as snug as a bug in a
rug. The colouring is deep and vibrant
and the level of detail considering their simplicity is admirable.
That's why they're collectable, but let's get educational now
because that's where these lovely puzzles really come into their own.
Use them as a game by having two puzzles of a similar size or
design. Each player can do one of the
following games (or mix them up for a real challenge!).
1)
Put all pieces in a bag and mix well, each
player alternates to take a piece out of the bag. Does it belong to your
puzzle? Yes.. well done you can place it
in and take another turn. No.. sorry put it back, your turn is over. First to finish their puzzle is the winner.
Variations: Decide on
a colour order then take a piece out of the bag, if it's the correct colour you
can put it in your puzzle but watch out, if you get your opponents piece in the
correct colour you must put it into their puzzle.
Use the boards with 6 animal or weather types or the
"& friends" collection.
You must find them in order from top to bottom, left to right on your
board (in the case of the friends they must be placed in order). Use your senses to touch and feel the
pieces. Alternatively, touch the piece
in the bag, if you guess right you can pop it into your puzzle – you can either
use separate bags for each player or mix them up to make it harder.
2)
Use a dice and number the colours on each
players board. You can use the medium
size puzzles for this as long as they have a similar number of pieces, any
extra are placed on the board as a starter.
Player a may have more blue than player b but it won't matter. Roll the dice, if it matches a colour you
still have left you may replace one piece into your puzzle. If it doesn't then you miss your turn and
it's the next player. First to finish
their puzzle is the winner.
3)
Use the animal, weather or layered
"friends" puzzles to draw around the pieces and construct a
scene. Introduce other objects to create
a jungle/home etc scene.
4)
Take a piece from the puzzle and draw around it
on a white piece of paper, take the next piece and align it to reconstruct the
puzzle. Can you remember where all the
pieces go? Colour in your new design with patterns or new colour schemes.
5) Take turns timing each other to see who can put the puzzle back together in the quickest time. You can level the field by giving a time penalty to those who are older. We found this produced some rather surprising results with our 3 year old coming in 4th (of 7) and daddy dragging behind in a rather lowly 6th! The animal A-Z is ideal for this game but any puzzle will do, remember don't choose one too challenging or you might just be there all day.
These puzzles are social, creative & will help with the logical thinking and puzzle solving. They're beautiful & therapeutic too!
http://www.storkgifts.co.uk/georgeluck.php
