Why are Puzzles such a Great Idea for Children?
According to a recent study done by Ipsos, 48% of adults enjoy puzzles and puzzle games. 59% of people said that it was relaxing, and 42% felt that a puzzle was giving their brain a boost. Puzzle games have actually been around for more than 2,000 years. The Chinese were playing “magic squares” as far back as 700 BC, and puzzle jugs have been found in Cyprus that date back to 1700 BC. As humans, we like to challenge ourselves, exercise our brains, improve our problem-solving skills, and have fun. For reasons evident from the facts shared above, Puzzles become quite favorite toys for children and parents alike.
Your toddler’s chubby hands grasp at puzzle pieces, trying to force them together. With practice, in a few short months, not only will the same jigsaw puzzle be a piece of cake, but your child will also find it easy to solve other similar puzzles. Have you wondered why with time, solving puzzles becomes easy and a fun activity to do for your little one’s?
Puzzles are deceptively simple. All you have to do is put pieces together to make a whole. But despite their apparent simplicity, puzzles are a fantastic learning tool that teaches youngsters many essential life skills. What might they be?
Benefits of puzzles for children
Discover below benefits of children learning and playing with puzzles from an early age:
Is your child’s attention span about a minute long, tops? You’re not alone. This is actually common in young children. And you know what, puzzles are such perfect tools to build those concentration muscles in kids.
Paying attention includes possessing the ability to focus on one thing for a sustained period of time. Working on a puzzle until completion does give kids the chance to work on one task, uninterrupted.
But for children to get the full concentration benefit from puzzles, you should choose one that is age-appropriate. If it’s too difficult, kids get impatient and might give up before finishing the puzzle. For eg - the wooden chunky animal puzzle is ideal for children aged between 0 to 3 years, whereas the 3D Harry Potter puzzle might be of more value and interest to children aged 8 years and above.
Toddlers need to learn to distinguish between shapes like circles, triangles, rectangles and squares. At first, they may think that squares and rectangles are the same. Slowly, they learn to identify the properties that make shapes unique.
Some simple puzzles at the early learning stage teach geometric forms or the outline shapes of vehicles, animals or people.
More complex puzzles like 3D puzzles or 1000 piece puzzles also require that your child recognize shapes when they fit the pieces together. For example, kids learn that edge pieces feature a straight line and don’t fit in the middle of a puzzle.
Children struggle to grasp at a small toy. That’s because very young kids are still building their motor skills.
This ability involves small movements that use the wrist, fingers, hands, feet, and toes. It takes time for children to develop smooth fine movements. In particular, the muscles in young hands need lots of practice holding and moving small objects accurately. This is actually what happens when the kid plays with puzzles.
Puzzles also require that young ones make very precise movements in order to get the pieces to fit together.
Hand-eye coordination is a very vital skill for children, something which they need to start developing from a very early age. Little kids start to develop this skill by giving their eyes and hands plenty of practice working together. It begins from the moment babies wave their hands above their head and learn to put them into their mouth.
Puzzles are particularly effective at helping young children with their hand-eye coordination.
To solve a puzzle, youngsters must carefully move pieces into place. Before placing a piece, the toddler sees the spot where it will go with their eyes. Then, they must make their hands move the piece to that exact space.
Putting a jigsaw puzzle together presents a basic problem. The pieces are all mixed up and must be organized and assembled. This creates a chance to learn problem solving skills. Development of the skill from an early age helps children tackle real-world challenges with a much better approach and helps them think to find solutions to much more complex problems in their life ahead.
Solving puzzles helps children to break down larger problems into smaller tasks, a very important problem-solving skill.
While putting together puzzles, little ones have the chance to practice their social skills. From resolving a disagreement to asking for help finding a piece, kids learn important lessons as they work with each other.
When you do a puzzle with your child, you can model social skills. For example, parents can use polite language to ask for a piece or suggest a strategy. Before you know it, your kid will try out these practices when working with others. When playing with a friend, children can solve the puzzle together and develop good communication skills.
Great Puzzles for children to play with
1. Busy Builders Jigsaw Puzzle
Find out what the Busy Builders are up to on the building site as you complete this fun scene. This 30-piece shaped jigsaw is perfect for little people with an interest in big construction, featuring a digger, tipper and cement mixer along with lots of quirky characters and funny events happening in the scene to spot and discuss.
2. Rubik's Cube
The World's Bestselling puzzle. This brightly colored and popular puzzle has captured the hearts of millions of people all over the world. A solution takes a lifetime to develop, so use this as an opportunity for both family and friends to come together to solve the cube.
Get into puzzle fun with the Ravensburger Disney Puzzle in a 3D heart shaped puzzle. From fun family times together to long term health benefits and day-to-day mindful moments, there are so many positives about the Disney 3d puzzle! They make a great birthday gift or smashing Christmas gift for all the children who love Disney toys
How well do you know your alphabet? Connect all 26 puzzle pieces together and see if they fit! Place the letters of the alphabet into the pieces you think where they belong. If they fit, you're right! Suitable for children aged 18 months and above.
The Big Dinosaurs Jigsaw Puzzle is the perfect gift for dinosaur fans of all ages. Kids will love putting the puzzle together, and adults will appreciate the beautiful illustrations of the wide array of dinosaurs featured. This beautifully illustrated jigsaw depicts a wide array of dinosaurs, from a triceratops to a t-rex, in a lush, prehistoric setting. Children will love talking about the different dinosaurs they can spot! Shop jigsaw puzzles for kids at The Toy Room.
Conclusion
An ideal combination of fun, learning and early development of life skills, puzzles are a great learning toy for children. As children develop so many critical skills while solving puzzles from scratch, puzzles are indeed a great idea for children.