Hello to all.
I have noticed that my baby who is 22 months old can’t easily solve puzzle that are more that 4-5 peices. while I know other kids his age is able to solve a 22 or more peice puzzle.
He is very good at other stuff like reading, shape puzzle on my I Phone, physical activity and balance and also memory.
Do u think this have to do with him being left handed and so his left brain for rational thinking is not as strong and his right brain for memory??
what can i do to help him in this aspect??
any suggestion for a specific puzzle 12 peice and above that works good to introduce the concept of puzzle to him??
thank you all
Ru’a
Puzzles are a left-brain activity, so it could just be that he is still very right-brained, or he hasn’t had enough practice, or he just doesn’t like puzzles :wub:
And btw, only exceptional children can solve 22 piece puzzles that young. Don’t get discouraged b/c a couple of people on the forum have kids who can do them. They can also do a lot of other amazing things that normal kids aren’t able to do yet. Do take the time to look at the age recommendations on the puzzles. Puzzles with that many pieces are more for older children. Just keep playing with puzzles with him and he will get the hang of it.
I agree, his skill level is totally developmentally appropriate! Some kids are always going to be ahead in specific areas, but they are the exception and not the rule.
Has he already mastered peg puzzles yet? If not, I would start with those. Something like these, just make sure none of the alphabet pieces are choke hazards, if so, pick something else or monitor him carefully.
AAngeles speaks highly of these, I plan to get them for my son.
And these also look great b/c they progressively build up the # of pieces. http://www.amazon.com/Vehicles-Ceacos-Jigsaw-Puzzles-puzzles/dp/B003CZN47G
When your child is ready for 12 piece puzzles, check out puzzles with frames and pictures behind them to help them figure out where to put the pieces, such as these:
Walmart also sells similar ones with mickey& minnie mouse on them or Toy Story for about $6.
I will add some more tips on teaching puzzles later when I have a bit more time.
Thank you all for yr replay.
My baby Rkan can solve peg puzzles and 2 peice puzzle very easly.
this is the one he works with http://www.elc.co.uk/Farm-Animal-Puzzles/127080,default,pd.html and this http://www.elc.com.cy/Product_Card.aspx?ProductID=3435 where he can solve the 4 peice nurse puzzle.
he also loves this one http://www.amazon.com/Melissa-Doug-Construction-Wooden-Chunky/dp/B000E9BZ42/ref=pd_ys_qtk_general_recs_22
Am looking to get him this one which aangeles recommend http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FGKD0G/ref=ord_cart_shr
bec he can do each animal alone and also sort the puzzle by colour first.
i think he likes puzzle bec he always ask to play with it but i also think that my puzzle sellection is not the best for his level as i tried this one and i think it has too much pic detail in a small peice puzzle which is above his level???
Thank u for reminding me that other kids might be advanced in the puzzle solving aspect and that My baby Rkan is doing normal with the number of puzzle peices he can solve.
Thank you again
Ru’a
It sounds like he is doing just fine! Like I said, keep working with him and helping him with puzzles. You can buy some harder ones and show him how to do them and then let him him try. It may take a few times of you helping and showing him how to do it, but he will get the hang of it!
Peg puzzles are also really good for building his pincer grasp. Those little red knobs are just perfect for making strong little fingers.
And…my son at 22 months was “not good at puzzles” and didn’t want anything to do with them…as it turns out he just wasn’t interested in them at the time. Now (almost three), he does really well with them and we’ve graduated to large piece picture puzzles. It’s still not his favourite activity, but he can at least sit down and do one somewhat happily - without screaming that the world is going to end!
I’ll second the vote on Infantino puzzles. We have one that matches mommies with their habitat - there’s a sliding “door” on the habitat side that shows a baby of that animal species. http://www0.shopping.com/Infantino-Peek-A-Boo-Animal-Puzzle/prices
Oops. i did not attach a site for thepuzzle which has too much pic detail in a small peice which is above his level??? It is the one http://www.amazon.com/Melissa-Doug-Deluxe-Vehicles-Puzzles/dp/B000REP3E2/ref=pd_sim_t_5.
I am sure he will enjoy it when he is ready !!!
Thank you all
When my boy was moving from 12 piece puzzles to 24 - a ridiculous gap but I was having trouble finding anything in between that was affordable - he lost his confidence and was completely overwhelmed and stopped wanting to do puzzles.
So I instead got the big 48 piece floor puzzles out and would assemble them but would leave pieces out. At first I would leave out single pieces scattered all over the puzzle and as he got into it I would increase the gaps to two or three missing pieces in a clump and so on and so forth until he was essentially doing a 24 piece puzzle and then we went back to those.
This game helped a lot and put him back on track it was also a lot of fun for him and far less overwhelming.
You can do this with any size puzzle.
But to be honest from everything I’ve read your son’s skills are right on target and he’s doing well so relax with it a bit and just find games to help him when he stumbles 
A few things that have worked for us–
-Sit down and do the puzzle with him, guide him with directives, questions, and encouragement.
-Let him watch you do the puzzle sometimes, it will help him learn and build interest.
-I second the suggestion to put together the puzzle with leaving some pieces out for the child to fit in, what a great idea!
-We have some jigsaw puzzles (cardboard- 4 pieces with a frame) with animals or crayons on each piece. I used a labelmaker to label the frame/backing with the color or animal name to serve as a hint.
-I used a marker to do the same with some other puzzles to reinforce reading skills and the # of sides on various shapes. I’ll take some pictures and upload them soon.
-Try to introduce strategy, specifically pointing out edges and corners. My Dd still doesn’t get this 100% but we work at it, it will be very useful as the level of pieces grows.
-When putting together a dog puzzle for example, say What is the doggy missing on his head? Ears? Okay let’s find his brown ears! or…Oh look, paw and paw! eye and eye! tail and tail! it helps them figure out what is missing in the picture to determine what comes next. Of course you can also teach them to look at the finished image on the box for clues.
-You can also separate the edges from the middles completely, just leave the middles in the box. So that 24 piece puzzle becomes a 12 piece edge-only puzzle the child can assemble first. Once the edges are complete THEN take the middles out of the box.
-Teach your child to put the flat edges of the puzzle on a flat surface like the floor to determine if it’s a middle or an edge. My daughter had (and still does somewhat) have a hard time discerning an edge from a middle piece.
-Let him solve the same puzzles again and again. His confidence and fine motor skills will grow. My DD did this and was able to figure out the puzzles because she knew the “picture” by heart, not because she was “solving” in the truest sense. It is still great developmentally to let him memorize the images on the puzzle and where they go, the way the pieces interlock will become more and more natural over time. Eventually those skills will grow and develop into the ability to solve new puzzles, I compare it to figuring out phonics. At first they might only recognize the words they have been taught, but eventually they can read new words they have never seen before. Same concept!
-I also agree with the suggestion of big floor puzzles. When we jumped from 12 pieces to 24 pieces, we opted for the big Melissa and Doug ones. The graphics were simple and the big pieces were easier for little hands to manipulate. But the over sized pieces are just a fun novelty, just like big text in a book.
-Expect the process to be very hands on in the beginning. Each time, offer the child more control and independence as appropriate, helping them out with suggestions when they get stuck.
-Try to avoid puzzles with lots of pieces that look the same. For example, a puzzle with pieces that all have black and orange tiger stripes will be a lot more difficult than a puzzle with many different images & colors to match up that is easier to differentiate.
Sorry if some of these suggestions are obvious, I just figured I’d include them all! Just keep working at it, and he will learn with practice! And above all keep it fun!
http://www.amazon.com/Melissa-Doug-Happy-Harvest-Puzzle/dp/B00146K0JA (24 piece floor puzzle, excellent quality, the pets one is great too)
Are there unique benefits to working on 2 dimensional puzzles?
I don’t think my 4 year old has ever done a (2D) puzzle over 12 pieces. Just not at all interested in them.
My child does, however, greatly enjoy 3 dimensional puzzles (such as Montessori binomial and trinomial cubes), and playing with tangrams and similar objects creatively (i.e. making own designs).
What are the skills doing puzzles are trying to accomplish?
In general, puzzles teach eye-hand coordination, problem solving skills, logical thinking,skills, spatial awareness, and stimulate memory skills.
Offhand, I would think that 2D jigsaw puzzles provide a better concept of “big picture” thinking and 3rd puzzles are simply more tactile in general because they need one more dimension of manipulation to solve. So, in my non-expert opinion I would think that both are very valid forms of skill building and just emphasize slightly different approaches. I can’t image one being that much better than the other but I am definitely curious to hear other opinions on the subject. I suppose one benefit to 2D is that they are capable of to a having higher number of pieces versus a 3D puzzle. I prefer to incorporate both types into our home.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzfYaj0gHes
I’m a member at this teacher’s supply store here in Canada and was just sent this via their overkill email advertising (seriously, do I need a tempting email EVERY DAY???) …anyway, I thought some of you might be interested in this product.
The face one in particular looks a bit tricky as each piece has straight sides making it a bit harder to see what should be on the perimeter of the puzzle.
Thank you every one for yr. wonderful suggestion. I will try them and will keep u updated about his progress.
i also found this 3D puzzle on youtube for those who r interrested. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0phpbPQ9vE&feature=fvwkrel
I Know that 3D PIC is a good eye muscle excersise for speed reading???
what does “3D PIC” refer to?
3D images
3 dimentional images
i assumed you were talking about 3d pictures, but since you said it helped w/ speed reading, i wasn’t sure. (i had no idea showing her those images would help w/ reading.) thanks for the info! i will try to find the ones from page 1 for her. 