How To Choose The Right Puzzle For A Kid

There are a lot of puzzles available online. Are you more a fan of an 18-piece or 26-piece one? Or is 26 pieces better? How about the topic? Will a puzzle of the planets be appropriate?

As with any purchase, it can be difficult to select the best foam puzzle mat. If you choose the wrong option your child will not enjoy this educational toy. Worse, they could be irritated and not want to attempt the puzzle in the future.

Imagine handing a 2-year-old 100 pieces of a jigsaw. The toddler would not know how to proceed. That's because most little ones this age don't have the attention span and fine motor cognitive skills to be able to complete such a challenging puzzle.

The trick to selecting the appropriate puzzle for children of any age is to find the appropriate difficulty level. In addition, the kid's desires and safety issues become a factor. How can you do this?

Here are a few things to consider that will significantly reduce your search time so you're able to find the right puzzle for your child.

Puzzle Type

There are a variety of puzzles, but they all fall into two major categories: inset and jigsaw.

Inset puzzles are typically made of wood and sometimes foam. Inset puzzles are made up of large, bulky pieces that aren't interlocking like jigsaw puzzles. Inset puzzles come with frames or trays that allows the pieces to be positioned to fit. The most popular examples of this type are peg and knob puzzles however, there are also large puzzles that don't have any knobs.

Jigsaw puzzles, in contrast to the inset ones, have interlocking pieces. They also come in various sizes and levels. Frame and floor puzzles are the most common types of jigsaws.

Number of pieces

Imagine a 6-year-old solving the 9-piece frame puzzle. It will take less than one minute to complete the puzzle. A 400-piece puzzle, on the contrary, is to be beyond their capabilities.

This shows how crucial the number of pieces in the puzzle are for a child's ability to solve it. When choosing the correct puzzles to help little ones with their learning, the number of pieces is crucial.

Topic

There are a variety of themes can be found on a puzzle. These include puppies, beautiful landscapes animal, cartoon characters. While one child might be enthralled by the puzzle that features a famous unicorn, another child might be averse to it.

A good puzzle picture could be a huge motivator for children when assembling the pieces. It can even encourage your child to attempt an activity that is a little more difficult than their usual difficulty level.

Dimensions of the pieces

Puzzle pieces are available in a wide variety of sizes. As a general rule that the younger your child, the larger the pieces to be looking for.

For little hands, larger, thicker pieces are more manageable to handle and put together. This is often the case with foam puzzles.

You might have noticed puzzles with the tag read 3+ or similar. It is basically saying that the puzzle mats, is for children 3 and older. The reason for putting that limit on age is that small pieces can cause the choking of toddlers and infants who tend to like placing things into their mouths.

Material

Wood, cardboard and foam are the primary materials used to make puzzles. Cardboard warps and tears easily particularly when it's not of high quality. This can make it difficult for children to play with since the pieces don't stay together well.

Foam pieces are easier to interlock and stay in place than cardboard, but they're not suggested for children due to the possible choking hazard from small parts.

As we've mentioned before that wooden puzzles are typically either inset puzzles or frame puzzles that are great for younger kids. As a general rule wood toys should not be offered to children unless the edges have been well sanded.

Image Type

The image of the puzzle's cover play an important role in its appeal, as does its difficulty level.

Photos that contain a lot of foliage, as an example are often difficult puzzles because the pieces appear to be one. A jigsaw featuring a graphic image with three vibrantly colored animals is much easier to construct.

Puzzle Shape

Most jigsaw puzzles are rectangular in shape and have traditional interlocking pieces. However, some could have unusual shapes related to the topic of puzzle storage or comprise oddly-shaped pieces. You may have seen the puzzle that has a butterfly or t-rex outline. Puzzles based off of the US map include pieces that take the form of individual states.