The Global Puzzle (600 Piece)

Pretty awesome and informative puzzle. The actual countries can be difficult because they don't interlock, but otherwise a fantastic puzzle. Really like the information that's printed in the oceans. Not only did we learn a lot, but it helps when trying to place all those blue pieces!

Really fun puzzle to work....challenging....and good learning technique for a geography puzzle. I got it for me....because I love maps and puzzles both. This fit the exact effect I was wanting....I put it together right away....and was surprised at how large it is. Enjoyed it immensely. Make sure you start with a large enough table surface.....or floor space!

NOT your average puzzle! This is a GREAT puzzle for anyone -- children and adults alike -- who wants to improve their geography knowledge. The ways to do this are endless -- not only by completing the puzzle but by creating games with it, e.g., turning all the pieces of a particular region upside down and identifying them by shape OR do all the Northern Hemisphere, then all the Southern Hemisphere, etc.If you work many jigsaws at some point you become bored and seek challenge. If you want something different, this is the puzzle for you! The pieces are NOT standard jigsaw shapes, which is a refreshing change.For all you mothers out there complaining that this is "too difficult," may I suggest starting out completing the area/region you are most familiar with, e.g. the United States, to build confidence and then continue from there. If your child finds it too advanced then put it away for now and break it out when s/he is a little bit older.A consideration: The completed puzzle measures 3 x 1.5 feet, so a standard 33-x-33-inch card table will NOT accommodate it.As much as I LOVE this puzzle's concept, I am deducting one star for my two complaints:1) Pieces were not cut well, resulting in many pieces requiring manual separation (resulting in some torn pieces).2) The only photo of the completed puzzle (for reference) is very tiny and located on box ends. My completed puzzle looks NOTHING like what is pictured on the front of the box.

I really wanted to like this puzzle. I'm a big fan of the company and their lovely products, and the puzzle is well made - thick cardboard, no warping, no tears/rips in the pieces. This puzzle, however, was very frustrating!! The inside pieces don't "lock "together (inside meaning the continents) and are instead held in place by the surrounding water. The water pieces have tiny writing on them (countries with their population and capitals info) - I was expecting more interesting trivia from the description that said "fun geography facts". I also wasn't anticipating how tedious it would be to read all that tiny print/organize it/try to find the matching pieces.Instead of enjoying the relaxation of looking at the shapes/colors, as I do with most puzzles, I found myself sorting tiny country text/trying to match up the vast oceans in that way. It just was not enjoyable for the kids or I. Some pieces were tiny, some were huge. And all of the country pieces are not pieces shaped like the countries. A few are, but many (and not even large countries!) are still split up into multiple pieces - so I felt like the advertising on that part was a bit off too.For me, personally, this is a three star item - but I can see how it would be a four or five star item for other people - the types who really love a challenge and spending days pouring over a puzzle on the table. I have several puzzles from this company and I have loved every other one. This one, however, just didn't "work" for our home - we boxed it up to donate before even finishing it, which is very rare for us to do!! If you, however, like a real challenge of a puzzle - it might be a hit at your house. It is well made and the brand produces great quality puzzles, but this one was not a win for us.

my husband and i put together the water part of this puzzle over the course of a few days, and then the 7 and 9 yo completed all of the land pieces in about a week. The second time, they did the entire puzzle on their own and have really learned a lot about continent and country locations! Tough to assemble due to the shape of the pieces, but a good challenge and accuracy trumps ease of use any day.

I feel this product is misrepresented by the box. The box says in 2 spots that the pieces are shaped like the countries, where in reality, maybe 20 pieces are actually shaped like countries. Also the continent pieces do not interlock, so it is very difficult to have more than 1 person working on the puzzle at a time. Some of our pieces were bent, and it does not lay flat once completed.Secondly, there is not an included larger map legend located in the box, making the back the only full photo of the puzzle. The font is so small on the back of the box that you have to use a magnifying glass to read it, even if you have great vision. It takes much longer than necessary to complete just because the writing is so small.

Do not waste your money. It is a very difficult and frustrating puzzle solely because of how it is made. Really disappointed with this puzzle. It states that the pieces are shaped as the state/country/province, however that is only true for some. Many are not. Also the quality isn't very good. We have come across many pieces not completely cut apart. The cut just goes 3/4 of the way across, not even separating the 2 pieces. Plus most of the pieces don't lock together. You have to just lay them against each other. So building off of that is very challenging.

Love this puzzle. I have been working on learning geography with my kids and this is awesome. When you know a country and where it belongs you know where to place it even if nothing else is there yet! The names listed in the water helps you to know what direction the pieces go and where about a in the water instead of being left with all these pieces and not knowing where to put them!