Dr. Livingston’s Anatomy Puzzles (Timberdoodle Review)

Our family spent the last week putting together some of coolest jigsaws we’ve ever seen: Dr. Livingston’s Anatomy Puzzles. The set consists of seven separate puzzles. We started at the top with the human head.

I love the packaging as much as the puzzles themselves. Each box looks like a medical textbook and seals with a magnetic clasp. Inside the front cover is a detailed drawing of the puzzle with all the various parts clearly identified and labeled.

That first puzzle was pretty easy. We sorted the pieces by color and completed the entire thing in just a couple of hours.

The puzzles increased in difficulty as we moved down the body. Next we did the human thorax, then the abdomen, followed by the right arm.

Basically, we started a new puzzle every morning for seven days and worked on it off and on until we finished.

Each puzzle is beautifully rendered. And the bright, vivid colors make it easy for several people to work on different sections simultaneously.

Which is a good thing, since we compelled everybody who came to visit us last week into helping us finish the day’s puzzle!

Two of my boys (and one of their visiting friends) are taking Anatomy and Physiology at our homeschool co-op this fall, so Dr. Livingston’s Anatomy Puzzles provided a fun introduction to the subject.

As you can see in those last couple of photos, we had to stack our other five completed puzzles in order to have room to work on the legs. The finished figure is huge — ten feet tall!

Here’s one with my 6’6″ son lying beside it for reference. It dwarfs him by comparison.

Fortunately, the puzzles interlock firmly enough that the finished sections were easy to move. So we assembled the body on the floor and called everyone to come admire our work.

Dr. Livingston’s Anatomy Puzzles are available through Timberdoodle individually or as part of various grade-level curriculum kits:

• Head (also included in Timberdoodle’s 6th grade curriculum kit)
• Thorax (also part of Timberdoodle’s 11th grade curriculum kit)
• Abdomen
• Right Arm
• Left Arm

Timberdoodle provided this set of puzzles to us in exchange for this honest review. I encourage you to look around their website for other great educational resources. Or read more of my Timberdoodle reviews by following this link: Flanders Family Reviews