Thanks to social media I have connected with a successful App builder at  http://www.fivelakesstudio.com.  They have launched over 10 mobile casual games for the iPhone and iPad.  A selection of my picapix puzzles are now available to be played on Picross HD, their picture puzzle game free on the Apple App Store.  How cool is that?  One of my New Year’s resolutions was to find an App for my puzzles.  What should I do next month?

Benefits of Coloring Picapix:

I can remember as a kid how much pleasure I had coloring in my coloring books.  I remember coloring for hours, taking great caution to stay within the lines.  Coloring as neat as possible was very important to me.  It was a great way to spend time with friends or siblings.  Then I grew up and forgot all about this pastime, until I had children of my own.  I found I couldn’t resist sitting down with my children and coloring one page while they colored the page beside it.  Now my kids are growing up, and again, the pastime of coloring in coloring books has been put on the shelf. 

But then I started solving Picapix puzzles and discovered eraseable pencil crayons were my choice of tool for this task.  For someone who has always enjoyed solving puzzles of most common types, this was an enormous discovery of great proportion!  It became my meditation as it calmed my nerves and eased my mind.  There is actually positive psychology in coloring.  It works as a relaxant, because it allows the mind to let go of momentary thoughts.  Accessing creativity allows you to refocus your energy and attention away from problems which might be causing you distress.

So you see coloring isn’t just for children.  Adults seeking to relax their mind and body need only find themselves a box of crayons, although solving my picapix puzzles may add a degree of challenge to that peacefulness.  Still it is an added element to that feel-good-feeling in your head!  For more information about coloring pictures for the elderly, I suggest this article:  http://www.boomers-with-elderly-parents.com/coloring-pictures.html .  And for coloring and solving some of my picapix puzzles, try these free printable ones: https://learnpicapix.com/free-puzzles/ .

Thank you Crayola – Diane Baher, author of 2 Picapix Books

Time to Fix Things:

I must apologize for the technical difficulties you may have experienced when trying to connect via email or through my website during the past two weeks.  I always say the best time to fix something is as soon as you become aware that it needs fixing.  That being said, this morning I realized my last email was 2 weeks ago so I knew something was up.  So within 24 hours from now everything should be up and running.  Again I do apologize for this and it is definitely my loss and I surely do miss the communication that didn’t make it and was returned undeliverable.

https://learnpicapix.com/ Diane Baher, author and puzzle creator