Educational puzzles for various ages
In a philosophical mood, like prompted by several beverages on a pleasant party, one might suddenly feel in the right position to say something seemingly profound like "Life is a puzzle". By the time everybody has figured out that this statement is quite monumentally meaningless, the party is already over - and next morning nobody will remember anything else but the quote itself, so you'll forever be the wise man or woman!
Actually, life itself is not a puzzle at all: life just contains puzzles. And a bloody lot of them too! Let's confine ourselves though to the ones that can truly be considered educational tools or toys for children, which is what thise website is about, after all. Puzzles come in lots of forms. In increasing frustration levels we can name the traditional jigsaw puzzles, 3-D puzzles, sliding block puzzles and matching puzzles. Most of these can have anywhere from a few pieces to thousands of them.Puzzles that are appropriate for a child's age and developmental level are truly educational and provide a pleasing, yet fully challenging learning experience. Keywords are "age and development level", because puzzles for toddlers are very different from puzzles for school children. Here are some things to look for in puzzles for every age.
Foam jigsaw puzzles for babies and toddlers
Babies and toddlers can learn a lot from the right kind of puzzle. Shape stackers are a good type of puzzle for babies because the pieces are easy for small hands to grasp. The wooden puzzles that have a board with pictures of the corresponding pieces allow a toddler to learn how to match objects. The pieces fit loosely, so they're not too hard for small hands to put together. Foam jigsaw-type puzzles are also good for babies and toddlers.
Hand-eye coordination is another important thing that puzzles teach. At first it can be tricky for a little one to get the pieces where they belong, but after a few tries and a lot of desparate screaming and crying she will be delighted to see that she can do it.
Another benefit of toddler puzzles is that they can help teach the names of colors and shapes. You can help by pointing out the colors or shapes of the pieces that your child is matching. Some puzzles have pieces with letters, numbers or animals on them, and you can use those in the same way.
Wooden jigsaw puzzles for preschoolers
Puzzles for preschoolers may be a little more advanced. Jigsaw puzzles with a few large pieces are good for this age group. They are still developing fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination, so they are probably not ready for puzzles with small or many pieces yet.
At this age children can benefit tremendously from working together to solve puzzles. They might share strategies such as sorting pieces by color, or searching for patterns. This aids in social development and communication skills as well as intellectual development.
Kids of school age - towards the Rubic Cube!
Children of elemetary school age can move on to more advanced jigsaw puzzles. In fact they'll often indicate the need for this step themselves, by simply asking for some more advanced puzzles. Here then, the pieces can be smaller and the designs more complex. Children of this age can still benefit from the teamwork lessons learned by solving puzzles together.Once she has become adept at putting together flat puzzles, your child might enjoy working on three-dimensional ones. These add new challenges and may even make nice bedroom decorations when they're finished. Many of them do not even require glue to stay together, but have the pieces slotting into each other in ingenious ways that even we as parents can hardly understand. As long as you don't let your kids discover this, your position as the admired AKE ("All-Knowing Elder") will not immediately be challenged - that comes a few years later (experienced grin)!
Puzzles are a fun way to learn important skills. They also provide a great opportunity for your child to work with other children or with yourself towards a common goal. The educational benefits of puzzles are greater than those of many more complex and higher priced toys, and these benefits can be expanded and reinforced with each new puzzle your child completes. As for your own educational benefits: just dig out that old Rubic Cube that you haven't handled since the early eighties, and give it a go. But mind: no screaming, no crying, no yelling and no temper tantrums!