Getting puzzles that are age specific is important because we want our children to be challenged, but we also want them to find success. Here are some puzzles that are suitable for each age group. If you find that your child finds a puzzle too difficult or too easy, try a different puzzle! You can also buy puzzles that interest your child. For example, Ky LOVES trains, so we buy him puzzles that have trains on them and he gets very excited!

Infants (0-12 Months)
​Easy puzzles with big puzzle pieces are perfect for babes under a year old. My daughter mostly likes to take the pieces apart and suck on the knobs, but that's okay. Getting her familiar with puzzles is great to begin with. Also, we practice naming the animals and animal sounds when we play. You can even find simple puzzles like this at the Dollar Store.

Shape sorter Puzzles are great for littles too although they are likely more challenging. We practice just taking the pieces in and out of the sorter right now with my 9 month old. As she grows older, we will start with easier shapes like the circle and slowly use the more difficult ones. My son loved these early on, and now he is an expert on them. Shape sorters are great because they will last for a few years and challenge your child differently as they grow older. They will also learn about shapes through it!

The soft Activity Cube at the end is also great for babies. They are soft so they are safe for babies to throw around and suck on. There are different ones where babies can pull shapes in and out of the cube, introducing them to the idea of fitting objects into spaces. 

Toddlers (1-3 Years)
Chunky puzzles are great for toddlers! They have large pieces and relatively simple shapes. You can find these puzzles in all sorts of themes to engage your children. Melissa and Doug also makes sound puzzles and my son LOVES these! He has a couple of the train ones that make train sounds when you put the pieces together. Alphabet and Number puzzles are also great for toddlers and as they get older too. They help with letter and number recognition and you can practice letter sounds with them. We have an alphabet puzzle that says, "A is for Apple, B is for..." as you complete that letter. My son loves it and at 2 years old, is already becoming familiar with recognizing letters and letter sounds. 

The fishing puzzle is a fun one for children to play with. There are different variations of puzzles like that to create more fun and interest for kids. The wooden cubes puzzle is a great puzzle to move on to after your child finds success with the large puzzle pieces above. It is challenging because you have to put an entire image together, however, because of the straight edges, it will not be too difficult to fit the pieces together. It is a great way to bridge the gap between the simpler shape puzzles to puzzles that are put together to create a full image. When your child is ready to move on, a simple 9-12 piece structured puzzle like the giraffe puzzle below is a great challenge for toddlers. 

Ages 3-6
The clock puzzle is fun to teach time (although time is a grade 3 skill that you learn, around the age of 7-9). The construction set and large floor puzzles are fun as your toddler gets older too! Floor puzzles create interest because they are so big. The pieces are also easier for younger children to put together. 

Ages 6-12
As your children grow older, they will like more complicated puzzles. 3D puzzles are amazing. I have even found some 2D puzzles that also convert into 3D puzzles that are appropriate for ages 3 and up. Some can be painted, some are already decorated. Puzzles with more and more pieces are great as kids get older. There are so many puzzles with different images that teach different things that will engage your children. If they are learning about different countries and continents, you can get them a puzzle with pieces that teach that. If you are learning about planets or your kids are interested in it, solar system puzzles may be of interest. There is such a wide range that anyone, even adults can do them! Puzzles help engage the brain in a way that could even prevent dementia as we age (https://www.nia.nih.gov/alzheimers/publication/preventing-alzheimers-disease/search-alzheimers-prevention-strategies
and
cwww.alz.org/we_can_help_stay_mentally_active.asp)

I hope this gives you some ideas of puzzles that will engage your child and help them learn! As always, feel free to leave comments and let us know which puzzles your child love best!

We all know puzzles are excellent learning toys for children, but do you know why? I have compiled a list of why puzzles are beneficial for your child, highlighting ones that I believe are most significant. In Puzzles Part 2, I will examine specific puzzles that are ideal for each age group. 

Physical Skills

• Hand-eye coordination
• Gross motor skills - larger puzzles, stacking puzzles
• Fine motor skills - smaller pieces, fitting puzzle pieces into exact, precise spots

Cognitive Skills

• Spatial Awareness - A research study was conducted by the University of Chicago about the importance of puzzles in early childhood. They found that if children between the ages of 2-4 years old played with puzzles daily, they had better spatial awareness when the children were 54 months old (4.5years). The children developed a mental ability to transform shapes. Spatial awareness is an important predictor of how well a child may find success in science, techonology, engineering, and mathematics. Boys were also found to have more success than girls, which they found could be a result of parents used more language with boys to help scaffold them in the activity, whereas the girls needed less help. 
• Understand surrounding - able to manipulate objects around them.
• Shape recognition
• Memory - hold visual image in memories
• Problem Solving - engage in critical thinking skills to figure out how to put the puzzle together,
• Finding similarities and differences - enables children to generalize and group items in categories. They also engage more closely to details, teaching them skills that are required to learn how to recognize letters and read.  

Emotional/Social Skills

• Set goals
• Patience -  This is a big one for my son. He likes to be able to figure things out quickly and sometimes he runs out of patience and gets frustrated when his puzzle pieces do not fit together. We have to take a step back and talk through it slowly so he can figure it out through his frustration.
• Work together - as a family or with friends.

Self Esteem

• Accomplishment of the puzzle feels good. :)

Here is a list of some awesome references. 
http://www.learning4kids.net/2012/02/21/why-are-puzzles-so-good-for-kids-learning/
https://teach.com/blog/the-benefits-of-puzzles-in-early-childhood-development/
https://childdevelopmentinfo.com/child-activities/why-puzzles-are-good-for-your-childs-development/
https://www.highlights.com/parents/articles/solving-puzzle-why-do-kids-love-puzzles
https://teach.com/blog/the-benefits-of-puzzles-in-early-childhood-development/
​http://www.huffingtonpost.com/galtime/importance-of-doing-puzzles-with-your-kids_b_4683094.html
https://www.highlights.com/parents/articles/solving-puzzle-why-do-kids-love-puzzles
http://theeducatorsspinonit.com/2015/02/what-puzzle-should-i-get-my-child.html

Kids LOVE tools! Tools are a great way for children to learn while they play. There are benefits to playing with both TOY tools and using REAL tools as well.

Toy Tools
Toy tools are an excellent way for children to play on their own and use their imaginations. When kids play independently, they create their own stories and role play adventures. These play tools allow them to use their imaginations, be creative, figure out how things work, and problem solve. This weekend, my husband helped his father re-shingle their roof, so Ky and his cousin spent the weekend pretending to fix their own roofs too. They also created their own stories and acted out how they were going to fix various items in the house that they could touch, like a stool. They also fixed items that they imagined, like a pretend roof and a railroad track. Their "Creativity expanded using problem solving skills, social skills, language skills and physical skills" (https://childdevelopmentinfo.com/child-development/play-work-of-children/) while they played together with their toy tools. My 9 month old played along too and was using her blocks to hammer the stool. Although she is young, I do believe that she is learning as she watches and imitates the actions of her older brother and cousin. Additionally, allow children to use the tools the way they want. As you can see in the photo, my niece is using her screwdriver to hammer, but that is fine. They are learning through their own exploration of the tools and their imaginations are not tied to the physical objects they are using.

Real Tools
Real tools are an excellent way for children to play with their parents or caretakers. It is a time for children to spend quality time with parents and learn to work cooperatively with them. The Montessori and Reggio approaches to learning believe that children should have access to real objects to play with. Children tend to be more interested in real tools and these real life tools give them important real-life connections. Using real tools provides them a sense of pride and self-confidence, that they are able to use objects that real adults use too! "Children always prefer to learn about and to study and interact with the real world in all its glory" and through that, it "nurture[s] the child's exploration and creativity" (http://www.montessori.edu/prod.html). You do not necessarily have to build anything specific, just hammering a bunch of nails or screwing some screws into a piece of plywood or log is both fun and educational!

As a literacy lover, I will also attempt to suggest a few books that can go along with your play time. Here are some books about building and tools!
Look at the Building by Scot Ritchie
Tap Tap Bang Bang by Emm Garcia
The Toolbox by Anne Rockwell

This website has articles about child development and a page about Montessori way of thinking.
https://childdevelopmentinfo.com/child-development/play-work-of-children/

Learn more about Montessori:
http://mariamontessori.com/mm/?p=2374

Learn more about Reggio:
http://www.aneverydaystory.com/beginners-guide-to-reggio-emilia/reggio-materials/

Here is an awesome website where you can buy real tools made for littles.
http://www.forsmallhands.com/woodworking/tools?p=1