These DIY wooden shapes puzzles are one of those quick crafty projects you can knock out in an afternoon. If you have toddlers that still nap, this is the perfect project to slot in to that ‘precious’ you time. These puzzles are also a fun way to teach young children how to recognise their shapes as well as their colours!

I originally shared the tutorial for these shapes puzzles on the In The Playroom blog a few months back but I’ve decided to share them on here too. Why you ask? Because I need you to understand just how life saving these puzzles were to me this past week.

A little back story because even shapes puzzles need their moment of glory

I have been in my sick bed this week. Not literally though of course – because being a mum means crawling in to bed and sleeping the days away is no longer an option. Life must or will go on

(……….Wow, I just read those sentences back, and got slightly depressed. I can get a little carried away with dramatics sometimes, sorry guys!) Back to the point, being sick wasn’t all gloom and doom. I did manage to get moments of rest on the sofa to chill hours at a time all thanks to these puzzles.

These shapes puzzles actually kept my son happily occupied for more than his usual 10 min attention span . Granted after countless successful attempts at putting the puzzles together (he’s a quick learner) he started using them in other ways, like building towers, lining them over my body, as steps for his figurines, race tracks for his cars…

But do you think I cared? Nope…. he was happy, I got some rest and no TV was involved. It was a fist pumping moment of glory thats for sure, but because I felt so sick at the time I just did a mental one.

Materials used:

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How to

These wooden pieces were left over materials from my diy roll out pantry that the hubby and I had built a while back. I NEVER throw anything away ( I have a whole storage room overspilling with ‘stuff’ to prove it) but at least this time I was able to DO something with said stuff rather than just hoard

I sanded the planks with my sander (this one) down just to smooth out the rough edges (I didn’t want my son getting any nasty splinters – because boy do they hurt! *flashbacks to my childhood*)

Next I drew shapes to the centre of each wooden block. I’m no artist so I used household items to get the different shapes I.e cups to make the circle, books to make the squares.

I went with 7 shapes that I knew my son was currently learning at nursery (pre-school). Square, circle, pentagon. diamond, heart, triangle and rectangle. You should hear the way he says pentagon, it is just the cutest!

I then taped around the edges of my drawings to ensure the painted outlines would be sharp and clear once removed . Note how I mentioned painter tape in my supply list when in actual fact I ended up using medical tape – perks of working in the health care

I applied paint with a thin brush. The painting part was fun and very therapeutic and I got my little sister over to join me . We painted on two coats on each block just to get an even finish

Next, the blocks were left to dry and the tape was then removed (only the slightest bleed through on the heart but that was all – thank goodness!)

We then flipped the blocks over and sawed into 4 parts. We had to trace lines on the back just to ensure we cut straight!

Finally, each block piece was coated with clear varnish for added protection.

And thats it, your shapes puzzles are now ready to be solved! You can get your kids to pronounce the names of the shapes and the colours too as they play along.

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