The origin of puzzles
How was this idea, that gets people together around the table for hours, born?
There is always an excuse to talk about puzzles, we love them! In our post “5 puzzles, 5 ideas for presents”, we mentioned the variety, how it can be a good idea for a present and we also mentioned its benefits in “The 6 benefits of making puzzles with your children”. But here, we are going to tell you how this very original idea was born.
Do you know that when they were invented, they were not designed for children?
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Photo by Enn Evelyn Ann on Unsplash[/caption]
In fact, around 1900, they were the favourite pastime of high society, showing off their designs and colours while receiving guests and spending whole afternoons putting puzzles together.
At that time, there was a bit more mystery, because they did not come with a title, so you did not know what they were about until you had most of the pieces together. This caused a lot of expectation and really raised the puzzle to the category of “work of art”.
To speak about their origin, we must go a bit further back in time and mention the British man John Spilsbury. John taught geography in a school and as he couldn’t get his pupils to learn the countries of the world, in 1776 he thought of cutting them out along their borders and challenging his pupils to build the world with these pieces. He saw that the didactic and entertaining parts were easily understood and he launched the business of “dissected maps”, used in several schools around the world.
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Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash[/caption]
In 1820, they stopped making them as an educational resource and the best artisans made more complex and challenging puzzles, with irregular edges and false corners.
Later, they began to be made industrially in the USA, gradually becoming what they are today.
What began as something purely educational and was later a symbol of the upper classes due to its cost, is one of the most accessible and perfect games to share with kids today.
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Photo by Ashton Bingham on Unsplash[/caption]
By this time, you will have realised that APLI Kids cannot hide its love for puzzles, that’s why we make them from different materials and in different sizes, for all ages and on different topics. The idea is for children to have fun while they discover and learn. We are puzzle fans, how about you?