The Importance of Puzzles in Early Childhood Development
Published by Savannah Lloyd,
Small children learn a lot of useful skills through play. For that reason, it is important to choose the right toys, games and activities for them that will aid proper development. By introducing your kids to interesting games and puzzles you minimize the amount of time they pass in front of the TV or smartphone watching cartoons or playing virtual games.
What are Puzzle Games?
Puzzles come in sets and they consist of many different pieces that when arranged right fit together and create an object or a picture. It’s actually a fun game that involves thinking. There are many types of puzzles but the main three types are logic puzzles, mechanical and word puzzles.
The best choice for little kids is the wooden puzzles. They come in many shapes, sizes and with them, diverse interesting objects can be made. Plus, they are pretty easy to assemble. Kids wooden puzzles are recommended for kids over the age of three. But still, parents should be careful if their kid has a tendency to put objects in the mouth. Some of the puzzle pieces are quite small and can be the cause of suffocation.
Wooden puzzles for kids are quite durable and the perfect toy for growing children. Many of the sets are even handcrafted which makes them even more valuable. You can find beautiful wooden puzzles for kids, both monochrome and coloured. The materials from which the puzzle pieces are made are safe for kids, eco-friendly, ethically and sustainably sourced and certified. Even painted puzzles and figurines are safe for kids since the paint used in the process is a non-toxic one.
As a first puzzle you can get a wooden puzzle with geometrical shapes. Those types are quite simple and easy to solve so they’re a great starting point. Usually, all of the puzzle pieces are coloured differently which helps kids to solve the puzzle easier and faster.
Another great example of puzzles for beginners is the ones with animal shapes. The animals are beautifully shaped and have a smooth velvety texture – perfect for kids’ little hands. In fact, the figurines are quite thick and can stand on their own even outside of the puzzle board so kids can use them for regular play too and not only for solving puzzles. Different sets come with different animal types like a lion, kangaroo, gorilla, crocodile, panther, emu, antelope, lizard, koala and so much more.
Some of the puzzle games can even be combined with wooden figurines to create a whole set up. For instance, you can pick a wooden lake puzzle and get wooden animal figurines to go with it. Small kids appreciate the combo and find it really interesting.
For when a toddler gets older you can go one lever further and get a more complex kids wooden puzzle. A good example is a lodge puzzle consisting of 225 wooden pieces that are used for building. And the end result can be one out of 23 options. This means that your little one will be entertained for hours trying to embrace the challenge. Those types of puzzles are suitable for kids over the age of 5.
Wooden Puzzles Help in Building Abilities
How do puzzles help a child’s development? Puzzles are a great educational tool for little kids. From a very early age, the child will learn how to solve problems, will be able to recognise different colours and shapes and will develop motor skills. At the same time, kids practice their memory skills by placing and removing blocks in order to create an object with them.
At first kids should start with the simplest puzzles that have only a few pieces. As they master the puzzle-solving skill they can move on to larger and more complex puzzles. The skills that kids acquire by solving puzzles can be divided into three categories: physical, cognitive and emotional.
The physical skills come from holding the piece, turning it upside down and placing it correctly. Cognitive skills represent the ability to solve the problem and finding a solution to the puzzle. And last, the emotional skills represent the kids’ ability to be patient and enjoy the feeling of satisfaction once they complete the puzzle.
Puzzles help little kids develop good hand-eye coordination and they become more aware and comprehensive of what their hands do and what the result of the action is. Then, by solving more complex puzzles they develop fine motor skills which later contribute to the kid having better handwriting and good typing skills.
When you think about it, wooden puzzles for kids are a great way for kids to understand how the world around them works and what they can do to cause changes. Additionally, because puzzles are made out of multiple pieces that are differently shaped, kids learn everything about shapes and where to place them in a given situation. Further, this helps with improving the abilities to remember things. In order for a kid to be able to solve a puzzle, it needs to analyze the pieces, see what fits and what doesn’t and remember the previous trials and errors so as to make it right the next time. This skill later applies to a lot of tasks in real life.
Another thing that kids learn to do by solving puzzles is critical thinking. This helps with healthy brain development and better reaction and approach to real-life problems in future. And of course, let’s not forget about how kids learn to set goals and achieve them. At first, it’s a very simple goal like arranging a 10 piece puzzle but later as the goals become bigger so do the achievements.
Several studies have shown that children and people in general, that tend to set higher goals always end up achieving more than those settling for less. So imagine the benefits of teaching your kid to set goals from a very young age. In a way, that guarantees for an adult that won’t settle for the average.