Your views on jigsaw puzzles.

[susana53]

I am trying to find out what sort of puzzles men with dementia would like to do. I've looked around various sites selling puzzles and haven't seen anything that really grabs me as being interesting enough for men.
If you could have the 'perfect' jigsaw for your man, what would it be?

 

[jeany123]

It really depends how difficult you want them or how easy but something like this





http://www.amazon.co.uk/Personalise...sr_1_23?s=kids&ie=UTF8&qid=1345586859&sr=1-23


http://www.amazon.co.uk/Piece-Jigsa...sr_1_52?s=kids&ie=UTF8&qid=1345587064&sr=1-52

 

[Loopiloo]

I bought an 11 large piece jigzaw from this company, someone on TP posted it. They sell various activity things for people with dementia. Choice of jigzaw pictures isn't great for men, I bought a mountain scene for my husband, and there's a dog. Can't remember the others.

They also do personalized and larger ones.

www.active-minds.co.uk

Loo x

 

[susana53]

What I really want to know is, if you could choose a picture for a jigsaw for men, what would it be? I need to know as I am having some jigsaws made especially for dementia sufferers and although it is easy to choose an image for ladies, I'm a bit stuck when it comes to the men. I want it to be grown up, not childish. They will be A4 size cut into 12 pieces.

 

[Sue J]

Steam train, fishing scene, aeroplanes, cars?

 

[FifiMo]

A Computer
Garden Shed with gardening tools outside it - lawnmower, rake, spade etc
Footbal Match/Rugby etc
Golf Course
Skiing
Beach
Kites
Hot Air Balloons
Racing Cars
Bicycles
Bottle of Wine with some cheese

 

[Christin]

Hi, its a good question. In my own opinion, I think it might help to find out what interests the men might have previously had. If they had a hobby that they really enjoyed, or took pride in, their car, or gardening for instance, then they might enjoy a puzzle that had some connection to it.

Best wishes x

 

[susana53]

Ooh, I like the idea of the shed and tools. Most men have had one of those sometime in their lives. It is also something I could re-create to take the photo for the puzzle. I have someone on standby to make the puzzle for me.

 

[stanleypj]

Aren't there a lot of images that both men and women would relate to? The only list of suggestions posted so far seems to include some things that women would also be interested in, e.g. bicycles, bottle of wine with some cheese, beach, etc

 

[Chemmy]

If you have a browse in greetings card shops, you'll probably get lots of ideas and will be able to visualise how easy or difficult it would be as a jigsaw.

I think you need to have a really distinctive item (or patch of colour) on each separate piece - ie so the helper can say "let's see if we can find the hammer" or whatever. I've found that any piece that looks too abstract is very difficult for the person with dementia to find, and you want them to have a sense of achievement at being able to complete it, not failure..

 

[angelface]

Has anyone tried making their own jigsaw by taking a picture, cutting it up and laminating the bits? I used to do that when I worked with children, but don't know if it would look 'professional' enough for adults.

G

 

[stanleypj]

That sounds like a good idea, angelface. These could be more personalised to the individual and, because they'd be relatively cheap to produce, the difficulty/simplicity factor that suited the individual could be gauged by trial and error. Might not be what susana53 is after but still an interesting idea for people to try. Might have a go.

 

[susana53]

Has anyone tried making their own jigsaw by taking a picture, cutting it up and laminating the bits? I used to do that when I worked with children, but don't know if it would look 'professional' enough for adults.

G

That sounds like a good idea, angelface. These could be more personalised to the individual and, because they'd be relatively cheap to produce, the difficulty/simplicity factor that suited the individual could be gauged by trial and error. Might not be what susana53 is after but still an interesting idea for people to try. Might have a go.

Thanks for your input. My puzzles will be for sale on my website so they will have to be done properly. I take on board the fact that some images would be suitable for both men and women though.

 

[rajahh]

My husband likes todo cartoon ones. I don't mean Tom and Jerry type, but drawings of a sports stadium with people doing silly things and wearing distinctive clothes, so the colours are easy to match.
Jeannette

 

[susana53]

I 've got a picture sorted now and decided to go for a selection of hand tools. It is very clear and hopefully will be popular. It is going to be a 16 piece puzzle and I'm hoping it will be ready in time to sell for xmas.
The next one I do will definitely be one suitable for both men and women.

 

[Bristolbelle]

I did something quite simple....

I bought two of those placemat souvenir type pictures form Cornwall Cut one into several large pieces, and let Mum use the other one as a guide to place the pieces on to help her complete the puzzle!

The biggest problem I have seen both in my Mum and in people I have dealt with in my role as an activities co-ordinator is difficulty in manipulating the pieces in the latter stages. I used a lot of those pullout type puzzles for children BUT they are either specialist made and abortively expensive or ended up being children's versions. I have to say though the users rarely worried about the fact the pictures were not age appropriate and you can always tell a little white lie such as "I am helping my neighbours little boy sort hs toy box and he needs to check all th pieces are here on this puzzle, can you help me?" - I find this also give the dementia sufferer a sense of purpose.

My ideal puzzle and one a lot of men would love too would be a series of fish sya one puzzle with freshwater species and anther with salt water species?

 

[susana53]

I agree that a variety of fish would make a good puzzle. There are some amazing ones to choose from. Thanks for the idea. I'm keeping all suggestions together so that I have them to hand when I need them.

 

[jigson]

Jigsaw Puzzles for Mood

I want to share with you my experience that helped me go through some tough times in recent life. Being depressed after several events I began to search for a hobby. I spent most of my time on the computer, at home and at work and I was looking for something special, something to captivate me and make me forget the experiences I’ve been through.