Hands down, puzzles help in developing so many skills for those little beings. Here are some of the benefits of solving puzzles –
Fine Motor Skills / Hand Eye Coordination
The ability to hold those pieces, putting them rightly in the slots/grooves does not come across as easy to the toddlers as it appears to us.
Emotional Skills & Confidence
Ever seen the triumph face of a toddler after s/he successfully solves the puzzle? They learn patience & gain confidence in the process of solving puzzles!
Memory
To remember which piece fits where & which one does not, no doubt the memory is being sharpened when your toddlers solves a puzzle
Logic & Problem Solving
Do I need to elaborate more? 🙂 This soft skill is very much needed as they grow into independent individuals.
Enhances Visual & Spatial Intelligence
If you have not read about the multiple intelligence theory by Howard Gardner, please do read a summary HERE. And puzzles provide a beautiful opportunity to enhance the visual & spatial intelligence in an individual.
Now, something magical happened in the last 1 week. My son turned 2 yesterday and suddenly he wanted to do puzzles, puzzles and more puzzles! Who is complaining? 🙂 Watch more in the video how & when I introduced puzzles to my son.
Then we graduated to 2 piece puzzles like these
Now we are trying to do multiple pieces jigsaw puzzles like these
By the way, once your child has mastered a specific puzzle, if you are wondering what to do with that puzzle, here is an idea how you can repurpose a bunch of puzzles 🙂
I loved THIS post on how to introduce puzzles to toddlers. Do find time to hop on to this amazing blog.
