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!
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 OCD, but try getting 22 four year-olds to put the correct pieces in the correct bag and you’ve got a nice “puzzle soup.”
Pictured at the top is the free puzzle rack I created using recycled priority mail boxes. I took four used boxes I had 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. You can thank me later, or in the comments below 
As if that free solution wasn’t enough, I stumbled across this next idea in the aisles of my local big box 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.
Do you have a fantastic puzzle storage solution? Share the love by leaving a comment below!
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{ 15 comments }
What an awesome (and easy) free idea! I’d used the plastic stacking trays before, but they get knocked off kilter way too easily. I’m asking my husband to bring home some boxes today from the office!
Genius!! Am so doing this for my toddler class =)
OH yes you can! I was introduced to the PO boxes by another teacher when trying to decide whther to spend valuable classroom funds on a “mailbox” system. I’m going to use these to insert into their large cubbies for important papers to go home.
Your creativity helps me greatly and inspires me as well ! Thank you for investing so much time into your blog and freely sharing your fountain of knowledge with us!!!! What a unique form of ‘pay it forward’ as we then improve our practice for the children we teach.
That’s a great idea! Thanks for sharing!
I love a good repurposing idea! These are new ones for me and I’ll definitely use them. Thanks!
Great Ideas! I am not a teacher, but with 3 grandkids all under the age of 4 I run into the same problems, so I put the puzzles up so I can control them, but then they really don’t get used. Thanks again.
http://kreativeactivities.blog.....-idea.html
One of my best ideas – if I do say so myself! LOL
Who is more fabulous than you!? That is just brilliant!
What a cool idea to re-purpose the mail boxes!
I love this idea. I don’t have as many of the wooden puzzles as I do the cardboard box puzzles (24 piece, 50 piece etc.) Those are crazy and always a mess…seems like the boxes are all different sizes….Any suggestions there anyone?
@Kristin I use square plastic storage boxes from the Dollar to store floor puzzles or other types of puzzles that have lots of pieces. I cut the top of the cardboard box off and attach it to the top of the plastic box. I usually have to go to a few dollar stores before I find the “just right” boxes. 99 Cent store is the best for these in my area.
Vanessa @pre-kpages.com
Love your ideas I can’t thank you enough. I too tried the plastic trays but I would crazy glue them so they would not come apart. I also use letters or symbols to write on back of puzzles so that when the puzzle pieces get mixed up I can sort them out easily.
I have been a teacher for over 20 years and never came up with a way to store puzzles until this past year. The pieces always drove me crazy and we were always losing them. This is what I did – This past year I discovered 2 gallon storage bags. I began using them to store pieces and parts for things that required a bigger storage solution than a one gallon bag. They have them at Dollar Tree but if you want heavy duty ones get Ziploc. I put each puzzle and it’s pieces in a 2 gallon Ziploc storage bag and put all the puzzles in a basket with the Ziploc bags facing up. When we find an extra puzzle piece lying around I put it in the right baggie. If I don’t have enough time at the moment, I just put it in the basket. When we take out the puzzle and it’s missing one piece, I just look in the bottom of the basket and it’s usually there. The puzzles are easy for the students to clean up also, even if they are not put together, they can put the board and the pieces in the basket. This method also makes it very easy to find the puzzle I am looking for. I plan to label the Ziploc baggies when I go in next month, perhaps with file folder sticky notes or even just plain labels with a word or two to describe the puzzle. For example: zoo wood or ABC foam. I am also going to put a colored dot on the baggies so the students know which basket they go in. I learned from Vanessa that it’s best to teach the students where everything goes so they can clean up after themselves.
I have also used empty cereal boxes, designed in the same way. The larger ones work better.
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