Puzzle Problems

Addilyn loves puzzels, but she is at the stage where the traditional 25-100 piece puzzles are too hard for her but the kiddy ones with the knobs are too easy.  What's a mom to do?  Then it hit me.  I would take a few of her "big-girl" puzzles and make them "little-girl" friendly.  It's so easy that I was suprized I had not thought of it sooner.  All I did was remove one piece of the puzzle at a time and trace around the edges with a sharpie marker.  Once I had traced every piece I removed them all and let Addi try her new and improved puzzle.  It worked perfectly!  By drawing the shape of the missing piece on the background  it helped Addi make a decision on which one fit in that spot.  It really made all the difference.  Instead of having a frustrated little girl asking me "Where this one go? where this one go?" I had a perfectly happy and content puzzle-putter-together.

The Ernie puzzle and the Big Bird/Elmo puzzles were especially hard because they have all straight edge pieces, unlike typical puzzles.  Not any more...now they are perfect for my little one who is becoming great at matching irregular shapes!

Posted in: DIY Family, Matching, Shapes