A Wooden Puzzle Game Spans The Generations

By Andrea Davidson


Throughout history toys, games and puzzles have traditionally been crafted from wood. That began to change after World War Two when mass production and cheaper raw materials saw plastics take over those sections of the markets. Yet even today you can still find people happily trying to work out how to complete a traditional wooden puzzle game.

For most people this seems to take them right back to their childhood. Many a child's first toy has been those hand sized, brightly coloured square blocks made from wood. Relatively inexpensive, and nothing for a youngster to hurt themselves on. Many parents still have these blocks lurking at the back of a toy cupboard.

It is almost a right of passage, children move from building blocks made from wood to jigsaws, also made from wood. Those first jigsaws were often nothing more than coloured shapes that a child had to fit into the correct location on a board. Children progressed to what could be thought of as the more typical jigsaw. They were all helpful in teaching hand and eye coordination, not to mention digital dexterity.

Another common scenario for children during the school summer vacation was staying with the Grandparents. Now Grandparents do like to spoil their Grandchildren and try to make their stay as enjoyable and as much fun as possible. However it doesn't take much for the weather to mess up all of these carefully made plans. Luckily Grandparents are very adaptable and get round this small problem by retrieving your parent's old toys and games.

Most children will also want to complete something that they know that their parents struggled over, and it also causes a sense of closeness. Due to the material it will have lasted well over the years. Perhaps a small piece is a slightly different texture or colour to the rest, maybe your Grandfather had to create that bit to replace a lost piece.

Even though many youngsters do like to play their computer games, there does seem to be a growing market for these more traditional pieces. Originally these items would have all been carved by hand. Nowadays with automation, better results are achieved in a fraction of the time, but the quality is still there.

There are many puzzles and games available to entertain and frustrate in equal measure. This is very true when aimed at the three dimensional ones. You know that it can be done as it was complete when you got it, but it seems as though you get so far easily and then the frustration sets in. Or it nears completion when you notice the small piece hiding under the table. Yet there is enormous satisfaction when you do manage to complete it all.

Some of these have survived unchanged in design for hundreds of years, whereas some are relatively new. Some names are familiar to many, as everyone seems to have played the Towers of Hanoi. Others are not so familiar, such as the Soma Cube or the Burr type items. Whatever your age when you see someone attempting one of these, you want to have a go at your own wooden puzzle game. Be warned they can be quite addictive.




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