DIY Paint Chip Shape Puzzles

Paint chips are a craft supply that I can’t resist stocking up on whenever I visit our local hardware store. The best part is that they are free so be reasonable when stocking up your supplies and don’t clear out your hardware store of all their paint chips!

My Little boy and I wanted to make simple shape puzzles out of the paint chips.  Little boy loves his puzzles and this was a great way to get him involved with making his very own puzzle.  He has been learning shapes in his Kindergarten class so we thought these puzzles were a great hands on way to revise his shape knowledge.

Older children can draw the shapes onto the paint chips themselves.  Little boy is too young to draw the shapes himself so he used stencils and traced around household objects to draw the shapes.  Finding household objects with the same shapes is a brilliant way for children to recognise shapes in everyday objects. Tracing with stencils and around objects is great fine motor practice that young children can never get too much of.

Once the shapes have been cut out, the puzzle can be made more challenging by cutting it into even smaller pieces.  We used patterned scissors to cut the shapes into smaller pieces to provide an additional clue to complete the puzzle.  Using a scissor is also a great fine motor activity for young children, however ensure that a comfortable and child friendly scissor is selected.

The uniqueness of paint chips is of course the variety of colours that is available so children learn colour recognition and colour matching too with these puzzles.  For older children, you could make these puzzles with colours that vary slightly in shade or tint to make them slightly more challenging.

Now, to put my feet up and lay about while Little boy enjoys his puzzles!

• Assorted coloured paint chips
• Shape stencils or shaped household objects (optional)

• Draw shapes on to paint chips.
• Use a kraft knife to cut out the shapes.
• Cut the shape into smaller pieces to make the puzzle more challenging.

* This post and all associated images have been supplied by the lovely Rossa from Curious Little People.  Follow her on Instagram for more creative inspirations!