Popsicle Sticks Rainbow Puzzle

My little boy has always loved puzzles. There was a phase a few months ago, when he would pull out all his puzzles boxes one after another and sit and complete them all. His interests in puzzles has slightly dwindled since. He still sits and solves them when reminded or when they have been away for a while, but unlike earlier, it isn't a daily activity these day.

To keep it interesting and to give him more option without actually buying more puzzles, I had done made this DIY Jigsaw Puzzle using the backside of our existing jigsaw puzzle pieces. This again was much loved by the little fellow and was well used.

More recently, he has a great interest in colours. Rainbow colours attract him and he loves singing a little song related to the colours of the rainbow. When I came across this DIY puzzles idea using popsicle sticks on Instagram, I just knew my Mini would love it and got to work almost immediately.

Some jumbo popsicle sticks, colour pens and pencil is all that you need to make this vibrant looking puzzle.  The single jumbled popsicle sticks are pretty confusing to look at on the first go. So, it was a little tough for him to solve all by himself. I had to help him half way through and he would solve the second half by himself.

 I loved making it for him and he loved seeing the rainbow form as he sat working the puzzle through.

Things Needed:
Popsicle Sticks - Jumbo size, I used 10.
Colour Pens - Rainbow Colours
Pencil
Cello-tape
Scissors

How I made it:

• I first laid all the popsicle sticks next to each other in a line and taped them together in the middle. This would be the underside of the puzzle and was to keep them in place while making the rainbow on the other side. We will remove the cello-tape once done.

• Now, I flipped the taped popsicle sticks over and used a pencil to draw a rainbow.

• I filled up the rainbow in pretty rainbow colours using the Mini's markers. This was the most fun part for me! :D

• Then, I just flipped the popsicle sticks over and removed the cello tape. The popsicle sticks are all individual pieces now.

• I jumbled up the pieces and presented them to the little guy to solve. See how confusing the pieces all look!! It was hard for him to solve all by himself. He needed my help half way through. After which, he was able to solve the second half by himself.

Well, more than solving the rainbow puzzle, he was more delighted when he made an 'A' using a few of the popsicle sticks!! :D