Our family is the game-playing kind. Whenever we cast aside our electronic devices in favor of some good old-fashioned bonding and face-to-face camaraderie, we find ourselves enjoying games and puzzles together. Kids, parents, and grandparents all get involved, and the pets usually hop up on chairs to cheer us on. This past holiday weekend, we had a brand-new gaming experience. We worked on our first Wentworth® Wooden Puzzle.
It's raining cats and dogs! Our Wentworth® Wooden Puzzle experience.
I was provided with a Wentworth Wooden Puzzle in exchange for my honest opinion through Blogging Edge. Wentworth nor Blogging Edge is responsible for the content of this article. All opinions and ideas are my own.
You may be thinking "What? You say you love games, yet you've never done a jigsaw puzzle?"
We've done plenty of jigsaw puzzles, but the Wentworth experience was a completely different ball game...er...puzzle. You know what I mean. We've done plenty of those puzzles you get at the toy store. You know the cardboard kind that come in a million designs and sizes and degrees of challenge. I must say that we've never had a puzzle experience like this before.
What makes Wentworth puzzles different?
• They are beautifully packaged. Each puzzle comes in a sturdy box made from recycled materials, and within that box, the pieces are contained in a cloth sack.
Our puzzle was out to impress before we even got started.
• They're wooden. It makes a difference. Instead of squishing the pieces together, these pieces just sort of clicked into place. The sensation was unexpected and quite satisfying. Even better? The wood they source is sustainable.
• They are laser-cut with precision. Each piece fits perfectly together. No cramming and guessing. And some of the pieces even had cuts within a cut. An ear outline for a dog or an eye for a cat. Truly unique.
The precise cut of the wooden pieces really makes a difference in the puzzle-making experience.
• They have "whimsies." Each puzzle contains several whimsical shapes that reflect the subject of the puzzle. Ours had dogs and cats (and some other fun tidbits), naturally. The shapes were really fun to discover and added an extra something special.
We enjoyed discovering the "whimsy" pieces.
We found where the bear "whimsy" went!
• They have irregular pieces. Some puzzles don't have a corner shape (eeeeeek!), and some interior pieces have straight edges (double eeeeeeek!). This threw us for a loop, but made it that much more satisfying when we fit the pieces together. Some puzzles even contain repetitive images and cut patterns.
• They come in varying levels. You can get the same puzzle image in different piece numbers, depending on how much of a challenge you desire. Puzzles range from 25-1,500 pieces.
• They can be customized. You can send in your very own picture or artwork to be turned into a quality puzzle, and you can even make requests about the type of cut you'd like (they do their best to accommodate). It's a bit pricey to do so, but they will even create a custom cut for you–a part of their Platinum Puzzle offerings.
The puzzles imagery and cut was gorgeous.
our family worked the puzzle
We had a great time connecting over our Wentworth Wooden Puzzle. "It's Raining Cats and Dogs" was the theme, and the artwork was entertaining and really fun to interact with. We continually discovered silly dogs and cats as we searched for pieces that fit together. The quote of the day: "I swear I just saw the other half of this cat butt!"
The whole family got in on the action.
Participants included myself, my husband, his mother, our eight-year-old son, and our six-year-old daughter, with our dog, N.A.S.H.A., looking on. Though the grown-ups pretty much stayed focused for the duration of the three hour session (we had a 250 piece puzzle), the kids popped in and out and added a fresh set of eyes (and several matches) each time they returned to the table. It was a rewarding experience to bond over such a quality jigsaw puzzle.
My son, Porter, enjoyed helping put the puzzle together. Please excuse his lack of attire...it was a hot day.
Ta-da!
Do you like to do puzzles? Have you had the Wentworth experience?