Being quarantined can be a bit frustrating because there are so many fun activities you can’t do anymore. There are a lot of friends and extended family you probably haven’t seen in a while, but maybe having so much time inside our homes is not necessarily a bad thing. Maybe you can take this opportunity to do that project you keep putting off, maybe it’s a great time to spend time with your family?
For my two sisters, Clara and Paz Spannaus, it’s both. They are currently living in Mexico City, with our parents. Clara is studying at New York University but since the university closed due to COVID-19, she went back home. Paz is a sophomore in high school and is also doing online classes.
“We are never going to have as much time as we have now. You need time to do a puzzle, so I think it was the perfect time to actually take the time to do a puzzle,” said Clara.
They have been quarantined for the last month and with extra hours at home as a family they decided to do puzzles. I wish I could be with them to help, but for now I join them through video calls.
“At times we are all together at the table doing the puzzle together and it’s some quality family time,” Clara said. “And it’s not like you are just sitting there quiet, you are talking to each other, you are having fun,” Paz added.
They told me they have done six puzzles now and all are different themes including, Harry Potter, Star Wars and Marvel. They range from 550 pieces to 2,000 pieces. It takes about a day or two to finish the puzzle, except for the 2,000 piece-puzzle which took them about a week. That was the hardest puzzle yet, since it was a painting of London and most of the pieces were just white.
“We fight about putting the last piece every time,” Clara said.
When they do the puzzles, it’s a family activity as they listen to music, talk and eat some snacks. The process of doing puzzles is something they enjoy so much they share all their process on their Tik Tok, @5YearDifferenceTwins. Clara explained why their account is named this way.
“Everyone thinks we look the same, but I am five years older than her,” Clara said.
Doing puzzles brings lots of benefits such as, it improves your short-term memory, improves your visual-spatial reasoning, it releases stress, it helps you become better at problem solving, delays Dementia and Alzheimer’s, and many other benefits. Since Clara and Paz do online classes and spend a long time during the day looking at the computer screen, they like doing puzzles, which takes them away from technology.
“I think it’s good to spend some time doing things that make you feel productive,” Clara said.
“It also feels like a healthy activity because if you are just watching TV all day or if you are always on your phone, it’s not very helpful. But since you are doing something with your family or by yourself and just enjoying your time, you’re not always focusing on technology and stressing about coronavirus,” Paz added.
Now, they are waiting for their next two puzzles to come from Amazon and will start working on their next Disney puzzles as soon as they get there. If you want to see all their journey in puzzle making you can check their Tik Tok @5yeardifferencetwins.