I am so happy to publish a series of posts that I have been wanting to write for quite some time.  Over the next 14 days, I will be sharing some simple ideas for creative family fun.  Each day will feature a new idea for low-stress, engaging creative projects for children and adults alike.  I hope you will join me for some daily inspiration!

Creative Family Idea Box, Day 1: Double the Puzzles

Simple, sweet, easy-as-pie art project for kids…  Make a puzzle on the back side of your existing puzzle!  You can literally have double-the-puzzles, not to mention hours of fun for you little ones designing, drawing, and coloring your own one-of-a-kind puzzle.

The how-to’s are very simple.

1. Put your puzzle together.
2. Flip it over.
3. Draw!

A few extra notes:
If you put your puzzle together on top of a piece of cardboard that is slightly bigger than the puzzle, you can lay another piece on top when the puzzle is finished so that you can sandwich it in the two pieces when you flip it over without the puzzle falling apart.

I like to use sharpies for the drawing and then regular markers for the coloring.  The dark black outline of the sharpie won’t bleed when you fill it in with color.

Even if you think you are not a good artist, give it a try!  You will be surprised at what some color will do to even the simplest drawings.  Fill up all the spaces with color for a high impact design.

Children are wonderful at drawing from their imaginations.  If you can’t think of anything to add to the image, have them do the drawing, and simply help them color in all the empty spaces.

When you are done, take a photo, print it out, and tape it to the back side of your puzzle box so you will have a picture to look at when you put your puzzle together.

The puzzle shown here was a collaboration by myself, Rosie (age 9), Paloma (age 8), and Kells (age 6), made in 2017 as a Christmas present for their little brother, Remy.