Organizing Puzzles: No-Mess Monday

Today's No Mess Monday Tip for Classroom Organization is:

PUZZLE ORGANIZATION

Puzzles are great.

But they take up space and pieces get lost.  These photos are from my son's playroom at home, but I do the same thing at school.

The photo on the left shows just six of his puzzles.  The boxes are bulky and they had already started to lose their shape.  

This solution is easy.  Just cut the picture off the box and place it into a clear plastic bag with all of it's pieces.  

Although the photo doesn't show it, I usually go one step further in the process.  I like to write a number on the back of the picture and then write that same number on the back of all it's pieces.  That way if a stray piece is found it can be returned to it's bag.    By doing this I was able to fit 12 puzzles into a standard plastic shoe box.