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How to Make a Jigsaw Puzzle. Do you love to do jigsaw puzzles but hate the corny pictures?
Here's how to make a puzzle with any picture—your pet turtle, your favorite cartoon character,
your little brother... okay, maybe not your little brother. You will need A grown-up to
help with cutting A photo, a poster, a picture from a magazine, or a drawing A thick piece
of cardboard or foam board Some glue Scissors and a pencil. Step 1. Choose a picture that
you want to make into a puzzle, and then choose a piece of cardboard or foam board that's
slightly bigger than your picture. The lid of a pizza box can make a perfect puzzle board—as
long as it's not all cheesy and oily! Step 2. Glue your image to the board you've chosen
and let it dry overnight. Place a flat, heavy object on top—like a book—so the picture
dries nice and evenly. Step 3. Ask a grown-up to help you trim off any of the extra cardboard
or foam board that's around your picture with the scissors. Step 4. Turn your picture over
and draw jigsaw shapes on the back of the board. Shapes with at least two semicircular
parts, facing either in or out, work best—small, complicated shapes will be hard to put back
together. Step 5. Again with a grown-up helping you, cut the picture along the lines you've
just drawn. Step 6. Now jumble up the pieces and see how long it takes you to do your handmade
puzzle—or challenge your friends to try it. Did you know The first jigsaw puzzle was
made in England in the mid-1700s—it was a map to help kids learn geography.