Kids' Puzzles

Help your kids develop their fine motor skills, learn their shapes and colors, and recognize numbers by keeping a supply of kids' puzzles on hand. Puzzles encourage hand/eye coordination, build a multitude of learning skills, and are just plain fun to do! Not sure where to begin? Keep reading for some great puzzle ideas and insight!

Even toddlers love puzzles. In fact, there are kids' puzzles for every age, from 1 to 99! Kids are just naturally drawn to figuring things out, and puzzles really encourage kids to solve problems. In fact, puzzles can help kids with their alphabet, counting, and numerous other skills. The best part? They won’t even know they are learning. You can encourage a love of kids' puzzles in your home by doing the following:

• ’’’Keep lots of puzzles on hand.’’’ Sometimes, it’s best if you only pull out a couple at a time so they always appear new to your child.
• ’’’Buy age appropriate puzzles.’’’ It’s always tempting to assume that your child is capable of working games and puzzles meant for older kids. Sure, your child may be the next Einstein, but start off with age appropriate puzzles first. Once she’s mastered those, you can offer her more difficult puzzles to work on.
• ’’’Work on puzzles with your child.’’’ It doesn’t matter how old your kid is. You can share time together working on a variety of kids' puzzles. You can purchase puzzle mats for larger puzzles that have a multitude of pieces. Store the puzzle away until you have time to continue working on it, or set it up on a card table that can be stored in the corner of a room until you’re ready to work some more.

Obviously a puzzle that is suited for a two year old won’t be appropriate for a five year old, but how do you know what the right kids' puzzle is for your child? Many puzzles actually list age recommendations on the puzzle. Be sure you follow these recommendations. You’ll soon recognize what puzzles are appropriate for your child.

For little ones, board puzzles work best. They’re typically made out of sturdy wood, plastic, or heavy cardboard. Many of them feature pegs for little hands to grasp. Puzzles for young kids are very limited in pieces, usually consisting or only three to 10 or so. Some also feature the picture of each puzzle piece underneath the puzzle for additional help. It won’t be long before your little one has mastered these puzzles and is ready to move on. In buying puzzles for toddlers, in is important to observe the age recommendations. A puzzle meant for ages three and up likely poses a choking hazard to younger kids.

As your child approaches school age, her puzzle skills will grow as well. She should be able to handle kids' puzzles of 12 or more pieces, and by the time she enters kindergarten, she may be working puzzles of 30 or more pieces. The pegs are typically gone by this age, and the puzzle pieces are completely separated.

Think your kids have lost interest in puzzles at this age? Not necessarily. While the traditional kids' puzzle may be a bit boring for your older child, there are still plenty of puzzles to capture his interest. Puzzles like Sudoku, crossword puzzles, word scrambles, and word searches are fun to do. You can often find these in your daily newspaper’s classified section. Not sure what your older kid likes? Pick up several different books of puzzles at your local dollar store, and spend some time working them together.

You and your child can make your own kids' puzzles. It’s easy and fun to do.

1. Glue a picture from a coloring book, magazine, or even a personal photo on a piece of cardboard.
2. Cut the picture in various shapes and sizes.
3. Now, try to fit the puzzle together.
4. Don’t forget to make the puzzle age appropriate. For little fingers, cut only a few, large puzzle pieces.

Looking for some great kids’ puzzle sites? The following Websites offer puzzles for sale and online puzzles you can play. Check them out!

• Jigzone
• Puzzle House
• Puzzle Monster
• Sudoku
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