If you’re looking for an activity that will both relax you and stimulate your mind, consider doing 500 piece jigsaw puzzles. After all, doing puzzles has been around for an incredibly long time, with the first puzzle traced all the way back to the year of 250 BC (or somewhere around then, to be a bit more specific). It was around this time that Archimedes created the dissection of a square, which is now considered to be the oldest puzzle of all time.

Of course, puzzles have come a long way since then. There are a great many 500 piece jigsaw puzzles and even more challenging puzzles than that, should the 500 piece jigsaw puzzles ever become too easy for you. In addition to these 500 piece jigsaw puzzles, you can also get everything from 1000 piece jigsaw puzzles to even 2000 piece jigsaw puzzles. These difficult puzzles might not be ideal for beginners, but you can certainly start with 500 piece jigsaw puzzles and work your way up. Easy puzzles are also available for children, making doing puzzles an activity that just about every single person in your family will be able to enjoy.

But why do 500 piece jigsaw puzzles in the first place? For one thing, the science that has been gathered on the subject more than backs up the benefit that puzzles such as 500 piece jigsaw puzzles can bring. For one thing, puzzles can relax you psychologically while still having the impact of activating your brain. This makes doing puzzles something of a meditative activity and one that is perfect for after a long day of work. After all, adults have a great many things that must be balanced on a daily basis, and taking time to engage in a hobby of some kind is certainly hugely beneficial for us all. And puzzle doing is shown to relieve stress in other ways as well, as it has actually been found to release dopamine in the brain, a neurotransmitter that promotes feelings of happiness and calmness alike.

For children, puzzles like 500 piece jigsaw puzzles might even be too advanced but this does not mean that puzzle doing is out of the question. In fact, this is far from the case, as there have been many puzzles that have been specifically created for children and toddlers, from babyhood and up. For many children, puzzles are a great way to stimulate the mind and have fun all the while. After all, puzzle are actually very good for the brain, which makes the most connections in the very first ten years of life.

Of course, there are other activities that you can also partake in, should you want to switch it up from simply doing puzzles. In addition to puzzles, from easy puzzles to hard puzzles to puzzles in between, like moderately difficult puzzles (like 500 piece jigsaw puzzles, to list just one option), you can also take up various wood crafts. Fortunately, wood crafts come in all shapes and sizes and these wood crafts actually also can be found for people of all ages. In fact, there are even specialized wood craft kits that are available for purchase all throughout the country and beyond, and these kits can be utilized to create a wide variety of different wood creations, some of which are just for display and some of which will actually serve a real purpose.

Board games like sports board games can actually also help people of all ages to destress. Board games of all kinds are quite hugely popular as family games, and many families will even host family game nights. Having a family game night can promote essential bonding among family members, which is something that certainly every family needs. Of course, puzzles like 500 piece jigsaw puzzles can also be done by families working together. In fact, such a thing can very much promote teamwork and bonding among the oldest family members and the youngest alike. Such measures are likely to be key for staying close and tight nit as a family.

At the end of the day, the world is a stressful one, but activities like puzzles can actually help a great many peopled quite a good deal.