I have a friend who will be recovering from knee surgery for about a month, which means lots of time sitting in bed. One of their pastimes is doing jigsaw puzzles, but those would be impractical while sitting in bed. One thing I thought of was Lego sets. It’s kind of the same activity–finding pieces and putting them in the right place. What are some other activities that a jigsaw puzzle fan might enjoy and could be done from bed?
There are a number of jigsaw puzzle apps for phones or tablets.
I’d get them one of these:
Penny Press Variety Puzzles.
I love jigsaw puzzles but hate Legos. Maybe ask what she might enjoy?
If you think stepping on a forgotten lego is fun, imagine rolling over onto one in bed when you’re already disabled by the surgery. Might be uncomfortable.
Those adult coloring books have some puzzle features. You’re coloring in patches to make an image.
No Lego. Please. 
Personally when I’m bed bound I like crossword puzzles. I don’t like the booklets of puzzles. I like my newspapers.
In a pinch I have a large book of NYT crosswords someone gifted me.
I came to suggest the kind of board @Munch posted. There are some high quality small sized puzzles, often wooden, of 200 - 250 small piece which would fit well on a board like that.
I don’t think any but the smallest Lego sets would work - no room to store pieces, and the aforementioned problem of them falling into the bed.
There are also some three dimensional puzzles which would do.
For puzzle apps, there is a free one from Microsoft which has a nice stock of puzzles where you can set the number of pieces. I play it on a monitor, but it would work on a tablet fine. Besides the puzzles it has a challenge every day. I’m sure there are plenty of others. It doesn’t replace the tactile thrill of a real puzzle, but it isn’t bad. I do it while listening to podcasts.
Might even be something for a laptop, if the user would prefer a larger screen for vision reasons as I would.
This may be coming from out of left field but in my 45 years of experience as a nurse it would be a very unusual knee surgery that didn’t have the patient up and about in some form later in the day of surgery or the next day at the latest. I would encourage checking with the surgeon to clarify post surgery recovery plans before putting much effort and expense into assuming a long unrelieved span of exclusive bed rest.
Nowadays, even if in an acute rehab facility after surgery physical therapists, occupational therapists, recreational therapists and nurses are going to be a team getting that friend up and out of bed doing all kinds of therapy, eating meals, self care and hygiene, doing recreation and hobbies as well as returning to their former ‘usual activities of daily living’.
Check out that assumption to best support your friend’s recovery. Don’t go by just the civilians’ assumptions, ask one of the professionals. Much has changed about orthopedic surgery in the past decade, for the better.
Hopefully you’ll be able to put that effort into finding the perfect puzzles to do sitting at a table, perhaps in a social setting out in a common gathering area. 3D puzzles are fun, as well as puzzles you could have made from photos from special moments or places visited.
Her doctor has her on a limited mobility plan. This is her second knee she’s had done from the same doctor. Initially, the only walking will be between the bed and the bathroom and gradually increasing from there. Last time she was mostly in bed and in a recliner. She has friends scheduled during this time to come stay with her to help her with moving around, cooking, etc. She won’t really be able to sit at a regular table to do a traditional jigsaw puzzle. She has lots of interests so that won’t necessarily be a problem, but I was hoping to find something which she might enjoy in a similar way.
If anyone has experience with using jigsaw puzzle apps on a tablet, can you recommend specific ones?
Does anyone have this table or a similar one?
Even if it’s not used for puzzles, it looks like it could make a good bed tray. The tilting top would be handy for reading or using a tablet. Some of the reviews say this one was a little flimsy and I’m not sure if it sits too tall to be a good bed tray.
Yeah, that seems like a long time.
But, anyway, try Chess.com . It’s not a scary place. Sure they can play anyone in the world, but also there is a lot of teaching and puzzles to solve to learn.
Exactly. They never let me rest on my laurels after any surgical procedure.
I read this somewhere, can’t swear by it…but lower limb orthopedic surgery has a higher incident of post-op pneumonia.
Yep. They gonna want them up.
There will be some sitting up in a chair time and sitting on the bed. PT, mobility techs, nurses, aides, maybe anesthesiologist for the breathing exercise (not sure who it is that orders that)they’re gonna drive them nuts the first day or two.
When they’re home, unless they’re a fall risk the surgeons are gonna say walk as often as you can. If their knee is non-weight bearing, learning the use of crutches or a walker will have to be learned and practice.
I found time to do my crosswords or read and mess about on my tablet. I certainly wasn’t bored outta my mind.
I kinda hoped people would just let me sleep after most of my surgeries.
Yup. My hip replacement was out patient. I certainly didn’t lay around all day, I was in PT the next day. I had special tips on my crutches for walking on ice. I was laid up for a bit, slept in a differnt bedroom where there where no stairs to navigate, but I managed.
While I appreciate the anecdotes about surgery recovery, I feel that’s moving the thread a bit off topic. This is her 2nd knee replacement. The recovery plan is the same as the first one. She will be spending a lot of time in bed and in a recliner just like last time. I was one of the people who stayed with her, so I know pretty much how it will go this time. If the responses could be more in line with what a jigsaw puzzle fan might like to do if they were bed bound regardless of the reason they were bed bound, I’d appreciate it.
I do word search puzzles when I travel as they are mindlessly distracting.
Crossword puzzles would frustrate me in a situation like your friend would be experiencing!
Jigidy is a free online jigsaw game. People post photographs and the site converts them to the desired number of pieces. Puzzles range from simple to over 400 pieces. You can upload your own photos, but be careful not to infringe on someone’s copyrighted material.
I enjoy jigsaw puzzles. The tray looks promising, although i can’t vouch for that model. I’m not a fan of computer jigsaw puzzles, fwiw.
I have heard from one big fan* of jigsaw puzzles that computer jigsaw puzzles are not great.
*Ms. Railer
She could write a famous novel instead,