Since National Puzzle Day is next Thursday, the 29th, I thought I’d share this fun, offline snow day idea since so many states in the US are under a winter storm warning for this weekend. Now’s the time to find your puzzle stash and clear off a table before the winter weather arrives.
Puzzles are a Fun Offline Snow Day Activity!
Have you noticed the shift towards offline hobbies yet? From junk journaling to scrapbooking, to writing letters (hello pen pals!), to keeping up with appointments with paper calendars, planners, and notebooks, like me, it seems we’re all making 2026 the year we go old school. Puzzles fit right into this need to be unplugged from our busy, digital-forward lives.
Happy Hands, Happy Brainwaves:
I got my love of jigsaw puzzles from my Mom. At least once a season, she’d start a puzzle in our dining room. She’d set up a long card table for the puzzles that had 2,000 or more pieces. My first job was to help her sort out border pieces. As I grew older, I was allowed to help more and more because she trusted me not to force pieces into spots. Sometimes, it would take her many weeks to complete a puzzle, and it's the same way for me now.
Puzzles Don’t Need a Big Time or Space Commitment:
You can fit working on a puzzle during times you’d normally be scrolling on your phone. I started doing puzzles back in the summer of 2020, in the early morning hours instead of getting on my phone first thing. I started a puzzle Instagram account as a way to document my progress and found, to my delight, a vibrant puzzling community both online and off.
Some days, I can devote just a few minutes to try a few pieces here and there. Sometimes I get lucky, and pieces start falling into place. My Mom said working puzzles puts you in a state of flow and allows your brain to tidy up thoughts, so you come away feeling rested. I wholeheartedly agree!
I love how engaging working on a puzzle can be for the senses, and even though I work from home (hi WAHMS) and usually puzzle in my office, I’mable to move a puzzle I’m working on to another room to free up space, thanks to a portable puzzle board my husband gifted me.
Puzzles Are Fun For The Whole Family:
Even though I’m an empty nester now, I see my daughters often, and at least once a month, we have family dinners. When they’re here, they like to see what puzzle I’m working on. They’ll sit with me and chat, and help with the puzzle.
One likes to sort by color, while the other likes to put pieces that may fit near each other on the table. They both remember their love of children’s puzzles, so if you have little ones, give them their own puzzle to work on while you work on the bigger puzzle. My husband is a pick-a-piece-and-try-it puzzler, and sometimes he gets lucky!
Where to Find Good Deals On Puzzles:
If you don’t have a stash of puzzles on hand, like Ido, don’t worry, you’ll be able to shop and save today at these places in your neighborhood. You may even be able to score some freebies if you shop at second-hand shops like:
- Facebook Marketplace
- Nextdoor
- Ebay
- Etsy
- Poshmark
- Goodwill
Retailers to try:
- Marshall’s
- Homegoods
- Michaels
- Hobby Lobby
- Walmart
- Target
- Amazon
Enjoy Your Snow Day!
If you do get snow and not ice, by all means, bundle up and get out there to enjoy the fluffy white stuff. Once you’re back inside and warmed up again from some hot chocolate, why not start a puzzle in honor of National Puzzling Day? You may be surprised at how much you and your family enjoy this offline hobby. My family knows I love puzzles, so I add them to my holiday gift ideas for them and usually get several, like the three I shared in the first photo in this post.
If you’d like to follow along on my progress on the pretty Color Cactus puzzle I used in the photos today, and I’m currently working on,just follow me @prettypuzzlepieces.
Wishing you a fun weekend ahead.
Please share in comments: Are you a 'border first' or 'color-sorting' puzzler?
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