Are you looking for excellent ways to help your child develop? Have you ever considered the benefits that jigsaw puzzles have to offer?

Andrew Beamish from the Art and Fable Puzzle Company says there are many basic skills that a child can develop when doing puzzles. Endurance and adaptable thinking skills are acquired as the children search for various ways to make puzzle pieces fit correctly.

A young child’s hand-eye coordination skills and fine motor abilities are improved by moving the puzzle pieces and fitting them in their gaps. Assembling jigsaw puzzles helps small children enthusiastically practice important skills like suggestive and deductive reasoning, categorising, problem-solving, and organising.

An important thing to think of when choosing a puzzle is the age of the child. The puzzle you select should be thought-provoking but not so much that it impedes your child. You should consider other factors too: ease of use, the puzzle’s durability, and the number of pieces. Although all three points are important, the following rule of thumb can help determine the relevant jigsaw to choose from.

  • Infants & Toddlers (0-2 years): 1-4 pieces
  • Young Preschoolers (3 years): 4-8 pieces
  • Older Preschoolers (4-5 years): 5-10 pieces
  • School-age (5+ years): 10+ pieces

Though babies lack the hand-eye coordination needed to put a puzzle together, they are drawn to bright puzzle pieces and puzzles that make a sound. As babies move into the toddler and preschool years, large-piece puzzles with pegs aid in developing a child’s hand-eye coordination and problem-solving capabilities, while sound puzzles help them connect sounds with objects. At this stage, children learn that if a piece doesn’t fit a specific way that it can fit in a different way.

Puzzles with smaller pieces help older preschoolers to continue improving their abilities by challenging them to look for more details in the puzzle. These details can include coordinating pieces using colours or finding pieces that together make an object.

Finally, one must consider the sturdiness of a puzzle. The younger a child is, the more enduring a puzzle must be. Consequently, wooden puzzles and rubber puzzles are a good match for very small children, like infants and toddlers, while cardboard puzzles are much more fitting for preschool or school-age pupils.