Homemade Puzzles

Today I am going to show you a fun yet quick activity that you can make with food boxes that might be just sitting around in your food pantry or cupboard.  It seems that puzzles can be costly sometimes and children out grow them making them an expensive investment.  Little do some know though, you can make your own at home that are very affordable and you can change them out without worrying about costs!


After making your own puzzles, your child can learn all kinds of things:

• Fine motor
• Cognitive skills - Letters, Shapes, Numbers, Colors
• Problem solving skills
• Eye-hand coordination

The only two things you will need are:

• Empty food boxes
• Scissors

Basically the steps are so simple.  First, you need to take the empty food boxes and cut the front panel out from the rest of the box.

The front of the boxes

The next step and the last one :) is to cut the boxes into the shapes and pieces you want.  You can go completely simple and cut them into 2-3 pieces or more complex with additional pieces.

These are cut into random shapes; 1st box into 3 pcs. & 2nd box into 4 pcs.

In my past experience with homemade puzzles, I have learned the more letters/numbers on the package the harder and it can be to put the puzzles back together.  Therefore, keep this in mind when you are cutting the boxes into your desired pieces.  I also use random cuts when cutting them, but you can always have a plan and cut out precise shapes or edges.  

*I used the boxes that I HAD in my pantry.  I don't have grown kiddos yet so I don't have any kid friendly boxes.  Choose boxes that your child enjoys looking at or recognizes to make the activity more exciting!

Enjoy and feel free to share any ideas that you have!