ELDERLY residents at a Colchester care home marked a national celebration by talking about and engaging with their favourite puzzles.

New Copford Place, in London Road, Copford, encourages residents to do puzzles as part of their daily activities.

Every type of puzzle is available, from daily word teasers to classic jigsaws.

In commemoration of National Puzzle Day, Chelsey Leather, New Copford Place’s activities coordinator, thought it would be fun to discover residents’ top three favourite puzzles.

Chelsey said: “When it comes to a classic, traditional jigsaw, some of our residents enjoy doing the Relish Jigsaws which have been created for those living with dementia. 

“They are designed to stimulate minds and evoke happy memories which are inspired by real experiences and are full of vibrant colours. 

“Also, a couple of our residents really enjoy tackling more challenging jigsaws. I’m so impressed with how brilliantly they complete them; I certainly couldn’t do as well as they do."

Staff at the home believe puzzles help improve residents’ mental speed and thought processes while also helping them improve their short term memory and and ability to make friends.

Other benefits of puzzles include helping residents to relax and to relieve stress.

Daniel Sabau, registered manager at New Copford Place, said: “We tailor all our activities to meet each individual’s likes, preferences, hobbies and interests, and puzzles are a firm favourite.

“Our residents thoroughly enjoy all types of puzzles; whether they are played in groups, individually, on our large, electronic interactive Tiny Table or sat comfortably around a table.

“There’s always some puzzling puzzle mystery taking place.” 

The home’s interactive activity Tiny Tablet enables residents to experience and benefit from a range of applications on a fully mobile device.

It can be moved to a standing, upright position or turned flat into a table top style.

Daniel added: “One of our residents told me jigsaws can be traced back to the 18th century when European map makers put their maps on to wood and cut them into small pieces. 

“They did this to create learning tools to teach geography – so really, interactive puzzles have been around for quite a few hundred years

 “I really do learn something new from our residents every day.”