Upcycled jigsaw puzzle magnets {A-Z Play at Home}

Each week I’ve been taking part in the A-Z Play at Home blog hop. This weeks’ letter was J and for once I kew exactly what to make. My children love spotting birds in our little back garden. We have quite a large tree which we’ve hung with bird feeders and the children love nothing better than sitting at the table and spotting the birds. Over the last few weeks we’ve seen robins, starlings, blue tits and goldfinches. We invested in a pair of binoculars so we could easily see them.

Upcycled jigsaw puzzle magnets

We have a gorgeous vintage jigsaw which features different birds: Birds Spelling Pictures – 13 Interlocking pictures that make spelling fun. I thought it would be fun to make the jigsaw birds into magnets to help the children identify them.

All I needed to turn the jigsaw pieces into magnets was a roll of magnetic sheet, a scalpel and self healing mat. I bought the roll of flexible magnetic sheet from eBay.

First we made up all the jigsaws, then unravelled the roll of magnetic sheet, peeled the paper backing away and placed the puzzles on them. We gently pressed each one down, making sure there was a little space around each one. It was so simple and something the kids could help with.

Then I cut round each one using my scalpel and self healing mat.

This left me with a collection of vintage jigsaw puzzle magnets which we could them use for identifying birds and spelling their names. I know we’re not going to spot all of the birds as we’re not lucky enough to see swans or eagles at home, but it’s a lovely way to re-use a vintage puzzle and learn more about birds.

We’ve been putting the magnets on a magnetic board I made a few years ago. It’s perfect for holding our bird magnets and can be kept by the back door when we’re bird spotting.

Other ideas inspired by the letter J:

Alphabet Jenga from Teach Me Mommy

DIY Bug Jar from Bambini Travel