The Benefits of Puzzles For Toddlers

When it comes to toys for toddlers, one of the best toys you can get is a puzzle. Allowing children to play with puzzles at an early age can greatly aid in their childhood education and help them develop skills that they can use later in their lives. Let's take a look at some of the benefits of puzzles for toddlers and see how they can help them to develop and grow both mentally and physically.

Puzzles Improve Motor Skills

Young children need to learn to grasp and hold objects. Puzzles can be a great way to develop and improve motor skills since they require a toddler to hold and manipulate a relatively small object. Try a peg or block puzzle which both have pieces a child will need to grab and hold on to in order to complete the picture or game.

They Improve Cognitive Skills

A toddler can improve their cognitive skills - in particular their problem solving and reasoning skills - with puzzles. They can help to teach color and shape recognition, to get a better understanding of the relationship of a part to the whole and can even teach them things like letters, numbers, animal names and more depending upon the theme.

They Improve Hand-Eye Coordination

Puzzles require a child to place an object in a precise location. To fit the piece they usually must manipulate it, try it out, move it around and finally fit it in its place. This is a great way to develop hand-eye coordination and to improve their skills as they master fitting pieces where they should go.

Types of Puzzles for Toddlers

There are a wide variety of puzzles for toddlers on the market today. Some of the most popular are block puzzles (which usually feature a single picture printed on wooden blocks), foam puzzles, plush puzzles made of fleece or fabric, games that require fitting a shape into a hole and many other styles.

Preserve Jigsaw Puzzles

Most jigsaw puzzle enthusiasts like to preserve jigsaws, especially if they involve 1000 pieces or more, as it is a tribute to their patience and labor. Preserving a jigsaw by mounting, laminating, and framing would enable others to appreciate one's hobby while serving as a nice decorative piece on the wall.

After patiently putting the jigsaw puzzle together, one should gingerly place a thin piece of plastic between the underside of the jigsaw puzzle and the surface that one is working on. This is to prevent the counter or table from getting residual glue, which often seeps through, on it.

One should then evenly apply glue to the upper (picture) surface of the jigsaw. One could use soft wood sticks to compress the puzzle while gluing and wait for an hour or two for it to dry. One could then apply a second coat of glue. Multiple light coats, as opposed to a thick coating, prevent pieces of the picture from bloating or swelling up. One could use a sponge for application or use the applicator provided.

Some thicker glue would do for bigger piece puzzles whereas, a more liquid glue would be better for tight fitting puzzles. A shinier finish could be used for irregular shapes that cannot be laminated or for pictures too big to be framed.

Once the jigsaw is thoroughly dried it can be turned over. It can then be glued on the back to mount on a plywood board cut to size. One could laminate if desired or spray the top surface with an acrylic spray to safeguard from dust and other contaminants. One could also mount it on to a sheet of Styrofoam with rubber cement and then fit into a wooden frame.

One's jigsaw is now ready to be displayed or to be given as a gift to a loved one.