Best Puzzles For Toddlers

Jess-Miller-Sunglasses
Published by 
Jess Miller
Last updated: 
April 13, 2023

Toddler and a baby

Toddlers can benefit from playing with puzzles. Puzzles help children develop motor skills and learn how to solve problems. Here are some puzzles to consider for your toddler.

Comparison Table

Puzzles help toddlers develop their motor and problem-solving skills. They are fun to complete and can also be a great way to connect with parents, siblings, and friends thanks to the social aspect of this activity. It’s important to provide your child with plenty of opportunities to discover new things and acquire new skills, which is why we have selected some of the best puzzles for toddlers.

We looked for puzzles adapted to toddlers and assigned ratings to help you find the best puzzles for your child. Here is what we looked at:

  • ​Puzzles for toddlers should have large and colorful pieces that your toddler can easily pick up.
  • ​We looked for puzzles with themes that young children find appealing and included different educational puzzles designed to help your child learn about shapes, colors, and more.
  • ​We selected games that your child will keep coming back to. A good puzzle should be challenging and fun to complete.
  • ​We included different types of puzzles so your toddler can discover new things.

​Top Nine Best Puzzles For Toddlers

These puzzles include different themes and designs that will keep your toddler entertained.

Melissa & Doug Farm Animals Peg Puzzle

This set comes with three puzzles. The puzzle boards measure 8.5×11.75×0.75.”

The themes of the puzzles include sea creatures, pets, and farm animals. Your child will recognize some of the animals they are familiar with and will learn new words.

These puzzles use large pieces with pegs. The pieces are colorful and feature cute animal designs. We like how the animals are easy to recognize.The pegs used on the pieces are somewhat small for a toddler. These puzzles are ideal if your child has completed peg puzzles before.

The quality materials used for these puzzles make them sturdy and durable. Your child will have fun playing with the large pieces and figuring out how they fit.

Gyyber&MuMu Wooden Preschool Colorful Shape Puzzle

This puzzle is an 8×8” wooden board with nine thick and colorful pieces. The pieces feature different shapes and colors.

We like the design of the pieces because they are a lot thicker than the puzzle board. This design makes the pieces easy to pick up and insert.

Your child will have fun discovering different shapes with the nine pieces of the puzzle. This puzzle is also a great way to talk about colors.

We recommend this puzzle for your child’s very first board puzzle. Your child will love the tactile aspect of the puzzle as they discover the different shapes and the bright colors will appeal to your child’s sense. The puzzle is fun to complete and will challenge your child since the cutouts correspond to different forms but don’t feature matching colors.

​Kaboochy Wooden Chunky Puzzle For Toddlers

This puzzle is an 8×8” wooden board with nine thick and colorful pieces. The pieces feature different shapes and colors.

We like the design of the pieces because they are a lot thicker than the puzzle board. This design makes the pieces easy to pick up and insert.

Your child will have fun discovering different shapes with the nine pieces of the puzzle. This puzzle is also a great way to talk about colors.

We recommend this puzzle for your child’s very first board puzzle. Your child will love the tactile aspect of the puzzle as they discover the different shapes and the bright colors will appeal to your child’s sense. The puzzle is fun to complete and will challenge your child since the cutouts correspond to different forms but don’t feature matching colors.

​Lewo Wooden Puzzle Toddler Toys

We like the original design and educational value of this puzzle. This puzzle is a wooden board with different pegs where your child can stack pegs.

This puzzle is different from traditional board or peg puzzles and will present a new challenge for your child. There are sixteen colorful pieces with different shapes. There are different ways to stack the pieces on the pegs.

This puzzle is ideal for learning about shapes and colors. Your child will have fun comparing the shapes and figuring out all the different ways to stack them on the board.

Your child will have to use their fine motor skills to get the pieces to fit on the pegs and stack them. As your toddler gets older, they will want to explore different ways of stacking and organizing the pieces by shape and color.

This puzzle is very versatile because a young toddler will be satisfied with getting the pieces to fit and your child will figure out more complex ways to stack the pieces as they become familiar with the puzzle.

​Melissa & Doug Disney Classics Alphabet Wooden Peg Puzzle

This set of three puzzles features Disney characters that your child will easily recognize. The puzzles have wooden pegs and include themes such as shapes, letters, and numbers.

The shape puzzle is suitable for young toddlers. There are fewer pieces and your child will have fun recognizing the different shapes.

The letter and number puzzles are more challenging since there are more pieces and they are somewhat smaller. There are images inside of the cut-outs on the puzzle boards to help your child figure out where the pieces go.

The number puzzle shows different elements that your child can count to figure out which number should go in the cut-out. The letter puzzle shows different Disney characters with a name that starts with the letter that should go in the cut-out.

We like the educational value of these puzzles and your child will probably love the Disney theme if they are already familiar with these characters.

​Muxihosn Home Learning Preschool Early Educational Development Colorful Fruit And Vegetables Wooden Peg Puzzle

This set of two puzzles has a very cute theme. One board shows different fruits and your child will learn to recognize vegetables with the other.

We like these puzzles because the pieces have large rounded pegs that a toddler can grasp easily. The pieces are large and colorful. They represent different fruits and vegetables and playing with these puzzles would be a great way to teach your child how to recognize these foods.

The puzzle boards have images of the different fruits and vegetables inside of the cut-outs. The images will guide your child as they complete the puzzles.

We think these puzzles would be ideal if you want to introduce peg puzzles and help your child develop their fine motor skills.

​Melissa & Doug Shape Sorting Cube Classic Wooden Toy

This fun three-dimensional puzzle game will keep your toddler busy and interested. It’s a wooden cube with different holes where your child can insert large and colorful shapes.

There is one side of the cube that slides out so your toddler can dump the shapes out and start again. Manipulating the cube to figure out where the shapes fit will help your child develop a wide range of motor skills.

Your child will also want to play with the large shapes. The shapes are fun to stack if your child likes to build things.

We like this puzzle toy because it’s adapted to a wide age range and your child will have fun interacting with the wooden cube.

​Wooden Chunky Puzzle Animal Figurines For Toddlers

This puzzle board features large and chunky pieces with different animals. We like the large pieces because they stand out from the puzzle board.

If you have a young toddler who is still new to puzzles, the large pieces will be perfect for them. They are easy to insert and remove from the board.

The puzzle board has different colorful images inside of the cut-outs so your child can easily find the corresponding pieces.

​VTech Spin & Learn Animal Puzzle

This interactive puzzle features more than 60 different songs, phrases, and noises. There are five large animal-shaped pieces that your child can insert into the puzzle board to discover different phrases and songs.

There is a large wheel in the center of the puzzle that your child can turn to explore different phrases and songs. We like this interactive puzzle because there are several phrases that will keep your child interacting with the toy, for instance, by mentioning a specific animal-shaped piece.

The lights, music, and phrases will keep your child interested and the phrases are a great way to learn the names of different animals.

This interactive toy is a great introduction to puzzles. The pieces are large and feature animals your child is probably familiar with. The lights and sounds will make completing the puzzle more fun and provide your child with different ways to interact with this toy.

​How To Choose The Best Puzzle For Your Toddler

Markus Spiske AoX 1zm1NOM Unsplash

​The best puzzles for toddlers depend on your child’s current developmental stage. Here are a few tips to help you select a puzzle for your child.

What Are The Benefits Of Puzzles?

Children need to interact with a wide range of toys and activities to develop motor skills and socialize with others. Introducing new toys will encourage your child’s curiosity and will help them acquire new skills.

It’s important to introduce new puzzles regularly. Puzzles are a fun way to develop problem-solving skills and to figure out how things work. This activity will teach your child how to be patient and encourage them to focus on something.

Your child will go through a process of trial and error to figure out how the pieces fit. This activity requires them to use a wide range of motor skills as they pick up pieces and insert them on the puzzle board.

Puzzles also encourage your child to use all their sense to explore their environment. Your toddler will figure out that they complete the puzzle by finding colors that match or by using the shapes of the different pieces.

Some puzzles have an educational value because the pieces represent different shapes, colors, numbers, or letters. You can also find puzzles with animals and other things that your toddler is learning to recognize.

The social aspect of puzzles is also important. You can guide your child as they complete a puzzle and encourage them to describe the pieces to you.

There is a sense of accomplishment when your child completes a puzzle, and they can use their memory skills to complete the puzzle again.

​What Makes A Puzzle Adapted To Your Child’s Age Range?

Babies typically discover puzzles through in-and-out toys. These toys include several objects that are easy to grasp and that your baby can fit into holes before dumping them out.

Once your child turns two, you can introduce board puzzles. These puzzles come with large and thick pieces that your child will have to fit into a specific spot. Look for large and colorful pieces and make sure the puzzle board has matching images or colors underneath where the pieces go.

Baby boy sitting on the floor

It’s best to get started with puzzles for toddlers that use large pieces before switching to thinner pieces with pegs. Peg puzzles require your child to use fine motor skills.

You can introduce puzzles with numbers and letters once your child turns three. They will start to count and might recognize a few letters. A puzzle with numbers or letters will help them become familiar with these symbols.

As your toddler gets older, look for puzzles that don’t use matching pictures to make the activity more challenging. You can also gradually introduce jigsaw puzzles with large pieces.

The puzzles we recommend above are perfect for a toddler. Your child will have to use their problem-solving and motor skills to solve them and will have fun while learning to recognize different shapes and colors.

Our Purpose

Simple: To write awesome guides. Kids don’t come with instructions. We are not afraid to dive right in and get messy. The result? The most detailed guides on the internet; from gear guides to parenting advice.
Copyright © 2024 parent.guide All Rights Reserved