A Puzzle Heart for Kindergarten Graduation Celebration

A puzzle with teachers' names on individual pieces. Unique gift idea.

I made this puzzle heart for the kindergarten graduation celebration when my oldest son was going off to school.

It was an emergency gift making and I had 3 hours to "do something".

The whole idea was to say to the kindergarten teachers: YOU ARE THE HEART OF THIS PLACE. You and only you can bring warmth, joy, caring and attention to the children while they are here.

This is how I did it:

1. Grabbed a half-sheet of 8mm plywood for the bottom and 6mm plywood for the pieces. The bottom is 60x60cm in size.
2. Searched google images for a more interesting heart shape and drew the shape freehand onto the 6mm plywood.
3. It is very helpfull to draw the outlines of the entire heart shape and the individual pieces onto the lower 8mm plywood as well. It really eases the assembly later on.
4. Did cut the entire heart shape into smaller pieces using a scrollsaw
5. DO NUMBER individual pieces on the "bad side" that faces the lower board. Trust me, I learned it the hard way ;) Took me 30 minutes to get the puzzle back together.
6. Sand the edges to remove sharpness.
7. Paint. Let the paint dry.
8. Use a black marker to write.
9. Used couple layers of laquer to make it smooth and shiny.

The finished piece has these inscriptions:

Name and year of the finishing group - lower left corner.

Names of all the kindergarten teachers on individual puzzle pieces.

On the right there is a name of the kindergarten - NAMINUKAS with every letter extending into these words: Naturalumas - naturalness; Atidumas - attention; Meile - love; Ismintis - wisdom; Naujoviskumas - innovation; Uzsidegimas - passion / enthusiasm; Kantrybe - patience; Atsidavimas - commitment; Sugebėjimas - ability.

These are all the things one must have and master to work with children :)

At the graduation ceremony, every teacher would be called from their seats, would come onto a small stage, find their name on a piece of puzzle, and add it to the big heart while everyone else was applauding. Children would say "Thank you" and give a bunch of flowers for each of them.

And yes, the ladies were crying :D