A Jigsaw Puzzle Progression

What comes after knob and peg puzzles? One next step is jigsaw puzzles! I generally see interest for simple 2-piece jigsaw puzzles around age two. While some toddlers take off and are ready for giant floor puzzles within months, others stick with 2- and 3-piece puzzles for some time. There isn’t one right timeline, but there is a typical progression. I’ll share that progression as well as some of our favorites in each category.

2-3 piece puzzles

My favorite 2- and 3-piece puzzles are by Learning Journey. There are several versions of these 2-piece puzzles and these 3-piece realistic animal puzzles have been S’ favorite for a while now.

4-6 piece puzzles

My favorite beginner 4-piece jigsaw puzzles are these Melissa & Doug wooden ones with the border for each puzzle. I do wish all four weren’t on one board, but you can still start out by only putting out one puzzle (4 pieces) at a time, and then adding more as your child is ready for more of a challenge.

Note that there are lots of cute 4/5/6-piece puzzle sets such as this farm animal one, which are cute but often a bit trickier as they aren’t consistent sizes and it’s not clear where the pieces connect. A better option for toddlers is this set by Eric Carle, where each puzzle (of varying pieces) forms a rectangle.

12-16 piece puzzles

Transitioning to this many pieces is usually a pretty big jump for toddlers, as they go from being able to clearly see how 3-4 pieces fit together, to having to do a lot of trial and error with a dozen or more pieces.

There are a variety of 12-piece puzzles, including the beautiful ones pictured by artist Jo Collier (gifted to us by Playroom Collective). Others include simple jigsaw puzzles by Mudpuppy (I love the ziplock it comes with!) or these 15-piece ones by Puzzle Huddle. Melissa and Doug make some fun 12-piece wooden puzzles as well.

24-36 piece puzzles

Once your child gets to this stage, there are endless options for jigsaw puzzles! D first got interested in puzzles with more pieces through any type of jumbo floor puzzle. From there, some of our favorite jigsaw puzzle shops have included: Puzzle Huddle, Crocodile Creek, and Mudpuppy.

Note that your toddler will likely still enjoy wooden peg puzzles even after being introduced to beginning jigsaw puzzles, and your preschooelr who is able to do 48-piece puzzles might still enjoy simpler ones. We can offer both! Meeting our child where they are at with puzzles will not only boost their self confidence but also their frustration tolerance, concentration, and problem solving skills!

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