Do you have a puzzle rack problem? I know I do!
Allow me to give you a little back story on this one. I was standing in line at the post office recently with nothing to do {read: left my phone in the car} when a man came in and took a huge stack of priority mail boxes.
I started thinking about what he might need all those boxes for when it hit me- I had just discovered a solution to the puzzle problem that has been nagging me for almost 20 years!
Puzzle Storage
To say I despise commercial puzzle racks would be putting it nicely. Those metal racks are useless and the giant wooden contraptions are so big and bulky, they never seem to fit where I want them.
I’m not a fan of putting puzzles in plastic bags either, that might work if you have only one student and that student is exceptionally neat and tidy, but try getting 22 four year-olds to put the correct pieces in the correct bag and you’ve got yourself a nice “puzzle soup.”
Pictured above is the free puzzle rack I created using recycled priority mail boxes.
How to Make an Upcycled Puzzle Rack
I took four used boxes I already had on hand in my garage, taped them together and covered them with plain wrapping paper.
Seal just one end of each box and tuck in the ends on the other side and you have an instant puzzle rack that kids can use easily.
You can even make more than one stack and sit them side by side; arrange the stacks to fit in your puzzle area.
There is one thing I would do differently, I recommend cutting the boxes to size before you put them together because they are a little too deep for the typical puzzle.
Inexpensive Puzzle Rack
As if that free solution wasn’t enough, I stumbled across this next idea in the aisles of my local dollar store.
These plastic stacking file trays were dirt cheap and are exactly the right size for holding my wooden puzzles.
They fit easily on any shelf; you can stack them up and put them side by side.
Add a little bit of hot glue or E6000 glue to the stacking trays to hold them together securely.
When puzzles are easily accessible and arranged neatly they will be used more by your students. Making puzzles easy to take out and put away will also make clean-up much easier.
More Organization Ideas
