Why Puzzles Are an Important Way for Toddlers to Learn

In many households, puzzles have become a great way to spend some quality family time, just appreciating each other’s company and having meaningful conversations around the puzzle. But for toddlers (ages 1 – 3), playing with puzzles is a critical and important part of their developmental and social skills acquired while building the puzzle. Parents tend to put puzzles out for toddlers to simply keep themselves busy, not realising the importance of the valuable time a toddler spends with a puzzle and how this will have an impact on their development. Puzzles change their thinking patterns and is a great way to exercise their minds. Parents need to understand the importance of puzzles and the impact it has on their toddlers.   Let’s unpack some of the benefits and opportunities puzzles have on toddlers.

Cognitive Skills:

At SucZeZZ, we have puzzles ranging from themes and topics such as shapes, numbers, animals, transport and colours. Playing with these will increase the toddler’s visual-spatial awareness and develops a deeper understanding of themes and topics. Children learn differently and puzzles are a great medium for grasping an understanding of certain themes such as numbers, time or shapes.

Hand and Eye Coordination:

Toddlers will find that playing with the SucZeZZ Wooden Knob Puzzles, requires a trial and error process which involves a lot of hand and eye manipulation. For example, when a toddler places a piece of the puzzle incorrectly, they will try over again where their action involves doing what they actually see.

Problem Solving:

Completing a puzzle, be it a 2 OR a 12 piece sets a single goal to achieve. Toddlers must think and develop strategies on how to approach or achieving the set goal. This process involves problem-solving, reasoning skills and developing solutions which toddlers can later be transferred into their personal/adult life.

Fine Motor Development:

A fun way for toddlers to develop their fine motor skill is by engaging with puzzles whereby they pick up, pinch and grasp pieces, like our wooden knob puzzle range and manoeuvre them around placing them in slots, sorting them and placing them into the correct space.

For further information on how SucZeZZ may help you find the right puzzle for your toddler, do not hesitate to contact one of our stores near you for professional advice on what to purchase for which age group.