What are the benefits of puzzles and why are they important for children?

Puzzles are a fun activity that provide both learning benefits and the opportunity to develop other important skill sets, including:

🧩 Hand-eye coordination
🧩 Fine motor skills
🧩 Social skills
🧩 Problem-solving skills
🧩 Memory skills
🧩 Spatial awareness
🧩 Shape & colour recognition
🧩 Accepting & overcoming challenges
🧩 Perseverance
🧩 Concentration
🧩 Mathematical language ("top, bottom, left, right, flip, turn, rotate")
🧩 Basic principals of scientific experimentation (planning & testing new ideas)

Grimm's Rainbow Colour Wheel | Photo Credit: Grimm's Wooden Toys

Weizenkorn Wooden Cat Puzzle

How do I encourage my child to partake in puzzle play?

When things are stored away, we tend to forget about them. There are a number of ways to combat this problem:

🧩 Put one (or a variety of puzzles) out on the table for your child to ‘find’
🧩 Sit down and begin a puzzle - it's inviting to join in on an activity
🧩 Change the way you store your puzzles - if they're in a cupboard, why not try putting them out on an open shelf?

My child gets bored of puzzles quickly, what should I do?

Young children tend to thrive on and enjoy repetition, but older children may not. One idea is to try and present your puzzles in different ways:

🧩  When the pieces are out of the box or tray and on the table, they are inviting you to put them back into their rightful place. I wonder how many children could resist restoring order here?
🧩  If the children are no longer finding their puzzles challenging, why not combine the pieces of two puzzles into one tray or bowl? Now, not only do the children need to complete two puzzles, they also need to consider each piece and determine which puzzle it belongs to (we’re not suggesting you do this with puzzles containing a lot of pieces - that would be torturous!)

Watch the video below for some more guidance on how you can encourage puzzle play with your child(ren):

Grimm's Square Puzzle

Feeling puzzled about where to start and which types of puzzles would be best for your child?

A child's skill levels can vary greatly in all areas of development, and puzzles are no exception. While a toddler might enjoy the Grimm's Wooden ABC Puzzle, an older child will recognise the letters and be able to start creating words with them. These pieces can also promote discussion around letters and literacy. Again, an older child will still enjoy the ease at which they can complete the From Jennifer Numbers Puzzle, but the numbers will be meaningful to them. They might line the numbers up from smallest to largest or assign them a value with Grapat Mandala Pieces.

From Jennifer Shapes Puzzle

FIRST Puzzles

Very young children can engage in puzzles. Shape sorting boxes and the simple action of matching coloured rings to the appropriate Grimm's Building Ring on a Grimm's Sorting Helper are the foundation for puzzles. Other simple puzzles to introduce your littlest ones to are:

🧩 From Jennifer Wooden Shapes Puzzle
🧩 Weizenkorn Wooden Knob Puzzles

TODDLER Puzzles

As their fine motor skills develop, toddlers begin to show an interest in more complex puzzles. Ordinarily, chunky wooden puzzles where they can match the picture with a cut-out shape are a good place to start. Initially, you might begin by physically assembling the puzzle with them. As their skills and confidence progress, you will naturally decrease your intervention until you are eventually able to sit nearby and watch as they work without your assistance. From here, as your toddler develops a love of puzzles, you might like to move to a more traditional puzzle with a small amount of pieces, such as:

🧩 Weizenkorn Mini Puzzles
🧩 Weizenkorn 6 Piece Puzzles
🧩 Grimm's Wooden ABC Alphabet Game in Frame
🧩 Drei Blaetter Peg Puzzles
🧩 From Jennifer Alphabet Letters Puzzle 
🧩 From Jennifer 0-9 Numbers Puzzle

Weizenkorn Penguin Puzzle

Grimm's Turquoise Tangram

PRE-SCHOOLER Puzzles

Pre-school children will enjoy many of the puzzles listed above and will gain different things from them than a younger child will. You can offer them puzzles with more pieces to provide the opportunity of something more challenging:

🧩 Weizenkorn 30 Piece Puzzles
🧩 Grimm's Tangram
🧩 Gluckskafer 3D Puzzles
🧩 From Jennifer Solar System Puzzle
🧩 BAJO Gruffalo Character Puzzle

Puzzles for OLDER CHILDREN 

The benefits of puzzles do not stop once children begin school. Puzzles not only continue to provide the same benefits to older children, but can also provide a quiet and reflective experience where children are able to practice mindfulness. Grimm's offer more challenging and open-ended puzzles, which can also be used to build with:

🧩 Grimm's Square Puzzle + the accompanying Booklet
🧩 Grimm's Magnet Puzzles
🧩 Grimm's Mandalas
🧩 Grimm's Butterfly
🧩 Grimm's Ammonite
🧩 Grimm's Octagons
🧩 Grimm's Sparkling Orient Building Set
🧩 Grimm's Colour Wheel

Grimm's Octagon Small | Photo Credit: Grimm's Wooden Toys