Buy a first jigsaw puzzle for toddlers

XXL Jungle puzzle by Goula with 16 large animal pieces that fit together from smallest to largest

Two, four, six pieces. In a first puzzle the count hardly matters: what matters is how thick the pieces are, how small the hands are, and whether the child can tell, without help, that a piece has gone in. That is where to start when you buy a first jigsaw puzzle for a toddler.

The first puzzles in our shop are rated from age 2 or 3. Before that, the brands do not recommend them, and they are right.

At this stage, the age on the box is about safety

On a 1000 piece puzzle, "14 and up" is a way of saying it is hard. On a toddler puzzle, the age has more to do with the size and strength of the pieces. An 18 month old still puts nearly everything in their mouth. The rule is simple: stick to the minimum age on the box, even if the child seems ready for more.

In our puzzles for babies and toddlers, the youngest start at 2. That includes the Educa Baby Puzzle Animals and the Baby Puzzle Wildlife, both with sturdy pieces and animals the child learns to name while playing.

Thick board, wood or magnets?

First puzzles come in three materials, and each one solves a different problem.

Thick board is the most common. It survives drops and the odd chew, and the pictures tend to be more varied. The Goula XXL Jungle puzzle is a good example: 16 large pieces that together make a line of animals 80 x 40 cm long. The animals go from smallest to biggest, which gives the puzzle a second game, comparing sizes. The brand rates it from age 2, and it wants the floor, not a table.

Wood lasts for years and gets handed down between siblings. In the Goula Wooden Farm puzzle, the animals lift out of a board and go back into the right spot, so the child does not need to work out how one piece joins the next. The Wooden Hen from the same brand splits a hen and her chick into large pieces, and makes a good second step. If you want wood with familiar characters, the Educa Disney Animals Wooden puzzle has two 16 piece puzzles, from age 3.

Magnetic puzzles work differently. In the Goula Magnetic Farm puzzle the pieces stick, come off and swap places, and there is no "right" way to finish. It suits children who get cross when a piece will not go in first time.

Close to 3: shapes first, pictures next

At 3 you can ask for a bit more. My First Puzzle by Apli Kids has 15 wooden pieces in geometric shapes and five boards with different pictures, each 28 x 18 cm. The child goes by colour and size and picks up the names of the shapes almost without noticing.

The Educa Jungle Animals progressive puzzles bring four puzzles of 5, 6, 7 and 8 pieces. It is the gentlest step we know from fitting shapes to doing a real puzzle: the 5 piece one takes minutes, the 8 piece one makes them look at the whole picture.

Then there are cubes, which parents tend to overlook. In the Clementoni Peppa Pig Cube Puzzle, six cubes hide six pictures: you turn each cube until Peppa and George appear in full. It trains the same skill as a puzzle, looking at one part and picturing the rest.

How to introduce the first puzzle

Start with the puzzle already done. Show the whole picture, take out one piece and let the child put it back. The next day, take out two. It sounds like very little. It is how they learn what you are asking of them.

Do not correct every attempt. If they try to put the lion's head where the tail goes, they are experimenting, and that is part of it. Step in when frustration starts to win, not before.

And keep the pieces in a box that closes. In a 6 piece puzzle, losing one means losing the puzzle.

What parents ask before they buy a toddler puzzle

My child is 1. Is it too early?

Yes, for now. We do not have puzzles rated for under 2, and at 1 children play better with single shape sorters. Keep the puzzle for their second birthday.

How many pieces to start with?

At 2, only a few per picture, often fewer than ten. By 3, many children manage puzzles of 12 to 25 pieces. When they are ready for more, our puzzles up to 100 pieces have the next step.

Will board survive a small child?

Thick board copes well with normal use. Water is another matter. If the child still drools a lot or likes taking the puzzle into the bath, wood lasts longer.