Puzzles for Little Ones

Puzzles are a great way to help your child learn important skills like fine motor development, object permanence, animal names/sounds, shapes, colors and just about anything. 

                              

Recommended for: 6 months & Up

The puzzles above are great starter puzzles.  They are simple in that there are only 3 pieces to place and the handle makes it easy for little hands to grasp and place (or try to). 

                              

Recommended for: 18 months & Up

These are what I would call Step 2 Puzzles.  After children master the large peg puzzles, the next step is to offer chunky puzzles or puzzles that have specific places but can be a little more challenging.  These are great to further promote fine motor skill development but puzzles like the ABC Puzzle help with early literacy skills.

                              

Recommended for: 24 months & Up (or significant fine motor skill development)

These are what I would call Step 3 puzzles.  These are the hardest for children to master because they have to use their pincer grasp to pick up and place the pieces.

These puzzles retail for around $20 each but you can find others or even the same at a lower cost...just need to do your research first.

Activities to Focus On:

In & Out

Colors

Shapes

Alphabet

Animals & Sounds

Vehicles

etc.

These are just a few samples and use your judgement as to what puzzle is best for your child.  I also enjoy the 3D puzzles (putting a strawberry together) or puzzle blocks that make sounds because it helps them learn what goes together.

Next time I'm going to look at something I absolutely love to introduce to children to help build cognitive skills.  Please leave me your thoughts and any suggestions for future reviews.

Thanks!  And until next time, Happy Playing!

~Amy

DISCLAIMER: All content provided on this blog is for informational purposes only. The owner of this blog makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any information on this site or found by following any link on this site. The owner will not be liable for any errors or omissions in this information nor for the availability of this information. The owner will not be liable for any losses, injuries, or damages from the display or use of this information.