Puzzle Activities for Toddlers

• Starting off: one-piece puzzles and shape sorters
• Peg puzzles
• Completing the picture: two-piece puzzles
• Mastering four-piece puzzles step by step
• Tips for puzzle play
• Benefits of puzzle activities for toddlers
• Related visual perceptual activities

This page contains affiliate links (^#Ad) to products similar to the resources I use.

1. Starting Off: One Piece Puzzles & Shape Sorters

For toddlers and young children just beginning their puzzle journey, one-piece baby puzzles^#Ad and shape sorters are ideal. These will introduce your child to the concept of things fitting together.

• Look for simple puzzles featuring shapes or animals that fit into corresponding holes. These wooden Montessori shape puzzles^#Ad are excellent.
• Shape sorters^#Ad are another great option, as they can teach your toddler to recognize and match shapes, and how to turn a shape to make it fit.

If your toddler seems overwhelmed, start with just a few shapes to build confidence.

An example of a one piece puzzle

Start with just a few shapes

Back to Top

2. Peg Puzzles

Wooden Peg Puzzles^#Ad are also excellent at helping toddlers develop the concept of fitting things together. They can also help your child develop fine motor skills and eye-hand coordination.

• Start by putting just one piece at a time next to the correct hole and helping your toddler place it in.
• Putting the shapes next to the correct holes initially can help a toddler gain confidence with this activity.

With my own toddlers, I would leave a few peg puzzles all around the living room, with pieces next to the correct hole, like this, and they took great joy in putting all the pieces in!

Start with one piece at a time

Put the pieces next to the correct hole.

Back to Top

3: Completing the Picture: Two-Piece Puzzles

Once your toddler understands the concept of fitting pieces together, introduce two-piece puzzles.

 These will help your toddler see how how to create a whole picture from individual pieces.

• In front of your toddler, show how a picture is completed by fitting pieces together.
• Have your child complete a variety of 2 piece puzzles in this way to get lots of practice.

Show how a picture is put together

• You can even create DIY homemade two-piece puzzles for your toddler by cutting pictures from magazines or cereal boxes. Paste them onto thick card to make them last longer.

Perhaps you and your friends can each buy or make a different set of two piece puzzles and take turns sharing them for variety? You can try these lovely ones from Amazon or your local store:

• Mud-Puppy's 2 piece puzzles^#Ad
• My Learning Journey's two-piece puzzles^#Ad
• Banana Panda's puzzles for 1-year olds and 2-year olds^#Ad

Back to Top

4. Mastering Four-Piece Puzzles Step By Step

Older toddlers may be ready for four-piece puzzles, which offer a new level of challenge. Here is a step-by-step approach to help your toddler master puzzles!

Step 1: Show the Complete Picture

Build the puzzle in front of your child and show your child how the puzzle makes a picture when completed.

1) Show how the puzzle makes a picture

Step 2: Remove One Piece

Take out one piece, and then encourage your toddler to fit that piece back in to complete the picture.

Repeat with a different piece.

2) Take away one piece at a time

Step 3: Remove Two Pieces

Increase the challenge by removing two pieces at a time and encourage your child to put them back. Take away a different 2 pieces each time!

3) Take away two pieces

Step 4: Orientated Pieces

Break the puzzle up, keeping the pieces orientated correctly, and encourage your toddler to put it back together.

4) Put together 4 correctly orientated pieces

Step 5: Mixed Up Pieces

Once your child has mastered step 4, mix the pieces up completely so your child has to orientate them as well as place them.

5) Put together mixed up pieces

Your child may take many attempts to master this step, so be patient and give lots of encouragement and praise!

Toddler Puzzle Sets^#Ad often come with different piece counts (4,6,9 and 12)  in one box. Mastering a single 4-piece puzzle does not mean your child will be ready for a higher piece count (although some kids learn quickly). Rather offer a variety of 4-piece puzzles before increasing the difficulty.

Back to Top

Tips for Puzzle Play

• Keep puzzles accessible - encourage independent play and exploration by leaving puzzles within easy reach for your toddler. You can put a different one out every day or two for variety.
• Use puzzles for other skills - talking about what you see on the puzzle piece can help develop language skills. You can use puzzles to reinforce colors, shapes and counting skills, as well as themes shown on the pictures. This can be a wonderful bonding time!
• Give lots of praise and encouragement each step of the way, and remember, some children take longer than others to master new concepts.  Toddlers have short attention spans, so if they get frustrated or bored, take a break and try again later.

Back to Top

Benefits of Puzzle Activities for Toddlers

Incorporating puzzles into your toddler's playtime can have many benefits for future learning. Here are a few:

• Problem-solving: Puzzle activities can teach your toddler to work things out by trial and error.
• Fine motor skills: Moving puzzle pieces around can help strengthen the hand muscles and improves dexterity.

• Hand-eye coordination: Fitting shapes into holes and fitting pieces together, helps to develop this important skill.
• Spatial reasoning: doing puzzles can help toddlers understand how things fit together in space, and how to turn pieces around to make them fit.
• Visual perceptual skills: visual discrimination, figure-ground perception and form constancy are specific visual perceptual skills that can be improved by practicing puzzles.

Remember to choose age-appropriate puzzles and to adjust the challenge as your toddler improves.

Thank you for visiting my site!

I truly hope you found these simple puzzle activities for toddlers to be inspiring!

Why not sign up for my free, occasional newsletter to keep in touch with new pages and activities on my site?

Back to Top

Share this page to help others!

Related Visual Perceptual Activities for Toddlers

 Boost your toddler's development by strengthening other visual perceptual skills with simple activities like the ones below:

• visual closure activities
• form constancy activities
• figure ground perception activities for younger kids
• visual discrimination activities for younger kids

Back to Top

South Africans can pay in rands!

South Africans can pay in rands!

Didn't find what you were looking for? Try a search of my site!

Share this website to help others!

Printable Resources

Discounted Bundles!

Recent Articles

• 

1. Fine Motor Skills Activities for Older Kids - Simple and Effective

   These fine motor skills activities for older kids can boost hand strength and finger control without feeling childish. Simple and effective, using everyday resources.

   Read More

2. How to Use Scissors: A Step-By-Step Guide To Teach Your Child

   Teach your preschooler how to use scissors with these fun pre-cutting activities. Help them master the grasp-release motion and gain confidence in scissor skills!

   Read More

3. Cut Along The Line: Help Your Child Master Neat Cutting Skills

   Struggling with scissor skills? Get effective step-by-step techniques and tips to help your child learn to cut along the line. Boost your child’s confidence!

   Read More

4. Preschool Learning Activities

   Give your child a good foundation for reading and writing with these simple preschool learning activities!

   Read More

5. Bilateral Integration Activities: Fun, Simple and Easy To Do At Home

   Improve your child’s coordination skills with these bilateral integration activities. Hands-on exercises and activities that are easy to do at home.

   Read More