DIY Outdoor Jigsaw Puzzle

Inside: A DIY large piece jigsaw puzzle, perfect for backyard summer days!

I love the recent trend of seeing normal inside games done extra large for the yard like Jenga, Dominos and Connect Four. A puzzle sounded like a perfectly fun idea for our family to play as we wait for the grilling to be done on late summer evenings, so we created this life-size DIY jigsaw puzzle (it’s 5 feet tall!) for the yard. It’s been an awesome way to turn a summer evening into a moment of fun for our family and friends.

You can create a large piece puzzle with any print imaginable! We are offering this cute pineapple sipping print below for the project, or it would be great fun to create with a photo of the birthday guy/gal for a memorable party game.

Putting together the huge DIY jigsaw puzzle is a game that the kids and adults can participate in together. The pieces are backed with cardboard which makes them sturdy enough to hold up to grass or our paved patio. The kids really loved picking up and placing the large pieces.

Large Piece DIY Jigsaw Puzzle

To make this DIY jigsaw puzzle you will need:

Any large format printable photo – Our fun pineapple one can be downloaded by clicking here!
Cardboard to measure the dimensions of your puzzle
Glue sticks
A hefty pair of scissors or x-acto knife

1. Have the large format photo printed for you at a local copy store. We used Staples and uploaded our file online, ordering an engineering print. It was ready in about 24 hours and only cost $19 for the print.

2. Using glue sticks or a spray adhesive, glue down the photo onto the cardboard.

3. Lay the piece down on a clean surface, backside up, and create a jigsaw pattern with a pencil along the cardboard. We had a kid’s puzzle nearby that we used as pattern inspiration. Cut the pattern out with the scissors. Separated the pieces and be sure to check the edges and add a little extra glue if needed.

Then put together this fun DIY jigsaw puzzle over and over again!