Hellobee

Since Drake was young we have bought him puzzles since they were a nice quiet toy for him to play with alone, while helping him with problem solving and fine motor tuning. Since Juliet’s arrival we have added more puzzles to our home because both her therapists from Early Intervention talk about how good they are for her in terms of development. We now have a whole corner of our playroom devoted to puzzles and as the holidays approach we will probably see a few more join us. Here is a small break down of some puzzles for babies to kids.

Baby – These are puzzles I feel work for Juliet who is 1.

1) Jumbo shapes – These knob puzzles are best for little ones smaller hands to grasp. Both Juliet’s therapists recommend these and have been working with her with puzzles similar to this one. Shape wise they told me circles and squares are typically easier shapes for little ones to master before they can move on to more complicated placements like triangles and diamonds.

2) Fisher Price Puzzle – Colorful and inviting, the large chunky pieces are perfect for little hands once again. The animals each have a different feature, rattling, spinning, etc. which will probably add to the fun. The pieces can also be played with individually and help introduce some animals and sounds to baby as well.

3) Gear Puzzle – Juliet has enjoyed this puzzle at the library. It’s simple and the gears are very baby friendly in touch. The gears seem to fit anywhere, but it helps with teaching the idea of pulling off and placing back without much pressure, which is perfect for this age.

4) Sound Puzzles – I bought this puzzle for Juliet after watching her and Drake play with it together at the doctor’s office. Juliet wasn’t quite capable of sliding the pieces in perfectly, but she knew they made sounds after watching Drake and would attempt to slide the pieces herself. Juliet will often sit in the puzzle corner alone shifting the pieces of this one around since she knows something is supposed to happen.

5) Touch and Feel Puzzle – Juliet absolutely loves touch and feel books so when I saw this touch and feel puzzle, I thought it was brilliant. I am saving this one for Christmas but I think Juliet is going to love touching and handling these pieces and Drake is going to love that they are animals. We have this similar set and Drake loves playing with the pieces as toys as well, so it’s nice that they can double as manipulative toys.

Toddler – These puzzles are the ones that Juliet will move into as she masters the baby puzzles.

1) Sorting Board Puzzle – Juliet’s therapists have tried these puzzles with her recently. They say that she is a little young for them but she is learning the concept of placing (fine motor development) as well as stacking, which are key to her development right now. I think as she grows we can add on colors and as counting as we stack, which makes these puzzles more versatile in learning.

2) Cube Puzzles – These might be a little harder for younger toddlers, but the large pieces are probably easier for their fingers to handle. Drake received this as a gift right as he turned three and got the idea pretty quickly. He did need some assistance early on as we taught him to look for borders and corner pieces, but at four he has mastered this one and others similar to it. He plays with this puzzle often, even nowadays creating all six animals in a very short time span. He has ventured to even creatinh the puzzle vertically instead of placing it down in the box, and they make great stacking blocks too.

3) Skip Hop Alphabet – I am a huge fan of Skip Hop products so I naturally drawn to these sweet chunky puzzle. I think the colors and illustrations are very toddler appealing and I like the added dimensions of the puzzle to add a bit more interest as well as problem solving to the play.

4) First Puzzle – A cute simple 4 piece puzzle that I think is a great basic staple to any puzzle collection. Puzzles are all about forming a picture and a sweet simple one like this is a great start for little ones.

5) Family Dress Up Puzzle – I think Juliet might like this one when she is older. I think the fact that there are many options that can be correct is great, especially for younger kids still learning to work out puzzles. I think little kids might find making all kinds of clothing combinations to be quite silly and funny and help them stay interested in playing with the puzzle.

Pre-School – These are puzzles that Drake plays with, as well as ones I am looking at to add to our collection for him

1) Number Puzzle – Because my mom got him the letter set, I got him this number set at the same time. Melissa and Doug has a letter set similar to this one where you match the letter to the corresponding word, and because of the way the puzzles are aligned only one piece will correctly fit. The number set goes up to 20 and you really have to count toward the end to get the right matches. It took some patience on Drake’s part to count properly and in order. I think it was great in teaching him patience as well as trial and error and recounting when he miscounted.

2) Letter Puzzle – My mom got this for Drake for Christmas last year after I told her about his love of letters and spelling. The pieces are a little small so he can only play with it when Juliet is napping or on the table since I worry about her with small pieces. I like that Drake gets a whole set of letters to play with so when he gets tired of spelling out the pre set word puzzles, he can branch out and spell to his heart’s desire. Unlike most letter sets where you only get one whole complete alphabet, this set has lots of letters allowing him to spell words with double letters like apple and elephant instead of making him create another duplicate letter out of another letter like we do with his bath set.

3) Begin Again Puzzles – When I saw this Animal Parade puzzle last year I gasped! It was the perfect puzzle for my animal obsessed boy. I loved how unconventional and different the puzzle was, and it didn’t disappoint on Christmas day.  Drake was obsessed with it and tried so hard to piece it together immediately. Each piece locks in perfectly with the others and they are nice sturdy wood pieces made of rubberwood. I ended up buying a smaller set for Juliet as well since I loved the product and the company so much. Once again these are great pieces to be used as manipulative play, which has helped expand Drake’s imaginative play because it’s not that often he gets an animal set with a jellyfish or a yak to play with.

4) Djeco Layer Puzzle – This is on my wish list for Drake this Christmas. Like the Begin Again puzzles I’m always on the look out for unique puzzles and this layer one is right up that alley. I love that each layer has a different storyscape that builds on top of each other in a logical manner, with the outside of the igloo on top and the inside underneath. It’s really 3 puzzles in one but the tie in with the layers and story make it that much more fun and appealing, while working out which pieces are on top (the outside) vs on the bottom (the inside).

5) Jigsaw Puzzle – The classic jigsaw puzzle. Melissa and Doug makes a variety of these ranging from 12 pieces to 48 pieces. We have had this 24 piece set forever and it’s so beat up and worn from Drake that Im considering buying another similar one for him soon. When we first got the puzzle Drake had a bit of difficulty, but he mastered it in one day and can now put this puzzle together by picking up any piece and slowly piecing it together without building the corners and edge pieces. I am now looking into larger sets for him since I think he can handle the challenge.

Kid – These are puzzles I am looking forward to trying with Drake as he gets older

1) Tangram Puzzle – This reminds me of both Tetris and the Begin Again puzzles in look and design. I feel like this puzzle will require some trial and error work as well as patience in figuring out where each piece can fit.

2) Larger Puzzle Count – As Drake gets older, we can up the puzzle piece numbers and truly the sky is the limit in fun.  I really like Janod and Djeco puzzles as their illustrations are fun and whimsical.

3) 3D Puzzles –  These look so neat and they can double as a toy when complete. I have seen some amazing ones that I think Drake would love including this rocket and this dog!