This is one of my favorite puzzles of all time. This ingenious puzzle pattern was developed by Philip Lowndes of the UK. I first saw this puzzle a few years ago and absolutely loved it. I contacted Philip to see if he could make the pattern available for sale. Luckily he said yes and many of my readers have been able to buy this pattern and build this heirloom toy for their grandchildren and children.
Philip gives painting suggestions for the animals. Don't lets the painting scare you. The kids will love the animals even if your painting skills are not so great.The easiest way to get a feel for the construction is to watch the video below of the puzzle being disassembled and assembled. If you watch the video a few time the instructions for cutting and building the ark make much more sense. The pattern is metric so a little adjusting of the pattern is required but that's not too difficult.
The puzzle comes in three sizes. The medium is the easiest to build. I consider this an intermediate pattern to build. It will require you to dimension the wood and make some adjustments if you are not accustomed to the metric system. The small amount of effort required to build this puzzle is well worth the end results.
You can buy this pattern HERE.
For another treat visit Philip's Automata site HERE.
Check out this wonderful video of just one of Philip's Automata. His craftsmanship is masterful and the pieces are always fun to watch.