Make Your Puzzles Magnetic: Instant Magnetic Wall Art
Want to decorate your kids’ play room in a fun, dynamic way? Transform your child’s puzzles into unique magnetic wall art! With a few simple products and a little time, you can create an interactive wall display which can be used, reused, enjoyed, and ultimately gotten up off the floor.
Selecting Puzzles To Make Magnetic
Puzzles for kids are available in a wide variety of shapes, sizes, and materials. From four feet long floor puzzles to glow in the dark jigsaws, many kids’ puzzles would make striking wall art. Consider the following when deciding which puzzles to make magnetic:
How thick are the pieces?
How heavy are the pieces?
Is the puzzle durable?
Is the puzzle easy to wipe clean?
Your puzzle will need to be thick enough so that the individual puzzle pieces are easy to grasp when on the wall. Also, because your puzzle will undoubtedly see repeated play, the pieces should be sufficiently thick to not bend or warp easily.
The weight of your puzzle determines how much of the Extra Strength Magnetic Sheet you would need to apply. Light weight puzzles, like floor puzzles, need only a strip. Chunky wooden puzzles may require a complete backing.
Because a magnetic wall attracts a lot of activity, your magnetic puzzles should be durable. The pieces will be dropped numerous times, played with, and generally pushed around. Select thicker cardboard puzzles and wooden puzzles for great durability.
If you have applied chalkboard paint over your magnetic wall, you will want to select puzzles which are easy to wipe clean. This is a good idea in any case, as the magnetic puzzle will probably stay out of the box a good, long while.
Creative Fun With Magnets!
Making A Magnetic Wooden Puzzle
My kids already have the alphabet, animal, and dinosaur wooden magnets, so I decided to use a Melissa and Doug Fresh Start puzzle for this project. The puzzle pieces are nice and thick, making them easy for little children to maneuver.
You will need adhesive magnetic sheets, your puzzle, a pencil or pen, scissors, and an exacto knife or similar sharp blade.
First, trace around an individual puzzle piece, and cut the shape out with scissors. This prevents slicing through the sides of your wooden puzzle. The resulting magnetic piece will be a hair larger than your puzzle piece.
Apply it, and carefully trim the excess with your exacto knife, holding it at an angle. (I used an Olfa Touch Knife, which is nice to hold.)
As you move from piece to piece, make the best use of the magnetic sheet by cutting them out in order.
The puzzle piece with its respective magnetic backing cut-out.
Here you can see how easily the thin, magnetic backing shaves cleanly with the Olfa Touch Knife.
The wooden puzzle pieces adhere nicely to the wall.
Because the wooden puzzle pieces are fairly thick, they are easy for small children to grasp.
An attractive looking functional wall display.
Adding Magnets To Your Floor Puzzle
Because floor puzzles are of so large a scale, they lend themselves very well to being transformed into magnetic wall art. From four feet long underwater scenes to maps of the world and the United States, floor puzzles can be both beautiful and educational.
Melissa and Doug Floor Puzzles are very desirable because they are 20% thicker than other brands, and have an “easy-clean” surface coating.
Adding adhesive magnetic sheets to floor puzzle pieces is quick and easy. It is not necessary to affix magnetic backing across the entire puzzle piece. Although these puzzles are very durable, they are light in weight.
For my kids’ dinosaur floor puzzle, I chose to cut each magnetic sheet into ten strips with a pair of kitchen scissors, and simply press one strip to each piece of the puzzle. As soon as the pieces were up on the wall, the kids took interest, and each took a turn putting it together.
Fast and easy: magnetic strip pressed onto the back of a floor puzzle piece.
Putting together the magnetic floor puzzle.
The finished puzzle looked so nice that we slid it to the center and left it there like a poster- at least until the kids decided to knock it down and build it again!
This dinosaur puzzle looks very striking on the wall, and it is up off the floor, out of the walking area as well!
you would need to apply. Light weight puzzles, like floor puzzles, need only a strip. Chunky wooden puzzles may require a complete backing.
over your magnetic wall, you will want to select puzzles which are easy to wipe clean. This is a good idea in any case, as the magnetic puzzle will probably stay out of the box a good, long while.
, which is nice to hold.)
