When you search online for puzzles you're overwhelmed by hundreds of options. Would you prefer an 18-piece puzzle? Do you prefer 26 pieces? What is the subject? Will a puzzle of the planets be appropriate?

As with all purchases it isn't easy to select the best puzzle roll up mat. You know that if you choose the wrong option, your child might not like this toy for learning. Perhaps, they will dislike the experience and decide not to attempt the puzzle in the future.

Imagine handing a two-year-old a 100-piece puzzle. The child would be unable to figure out what to do. It's because most toddlers are too young to have the fine motor skills, concentration, and cognitive skills necessary to tackle such a complex puzzle.

Finding the appropriate difficulty level is essential to choose an appropriate puzzle for children of any age. Additionally, the child's desires and safety issues come into play. But, how can you tackle this?

Here are some tips to remember that can help reduce your search time and allow you to choose the right puzzle for your child.

Puzzle Type

Despite there being an abundance of puzzle types, they all boil down to two main categories; inset puzzles and jigsaw puzzles.

Inset puzzles are usually comprised of wood, but sometimes foam. They consist of large chunky pieces that do not connect in the same way as Jigsaw puzzles do. Each puzzle inset comes with frames or trays that allows the pieces be placed in the appropriate place. The most well-known instances of this are the peg and knob puzzles, but there are also hefty puzzles that lack knobs.

Jigsaw puzzles, in contrast to the inset ones, feature interlocking pieces. They also come in many sizes and difficulty levels. Floor and frame puzzles are the most common kinds of Jigsaws.

Quantity of Pieces

Envision a 6-year-old completing the 9-piece frame puzzle. They'll be able to complete it in less than a minute. A 400-piece puzzle, on contrary, is probably far beyond their abilities.

This shows how crucial the amount of pieces in the puzzle is for the child's ability to complete it. When choosing the correct puzzles to help little ones with their learning, the number of pieces is crucial.

Topic

There are a variety of themes you can find on a puzzle, including gorgeous landscapes, puppies, animals, and cartoon characters. One child may love a puzzle with a prominent unicorn, a different child may dislike it.

Children can find motivation from a picture that is clear and simple. It can encourage your child to complete an activity that is beyond their normal difficulty level.

Dimensions of the pieces

Puzzle pieces are available in a wide range of sizes. In general, the younger the child, the bigger the pieces you need to look for.

For small hands, bigger pieces that are thicker are more manageable to handle and put together. This is usually the case with puzzles made of foam.

You may have seen puzzles with an indication of 3+ or something similar. It is basically saying that the puzzle mats is intended for children 3 and older. Because small pieces can cause choking in babies and toddlers who love to put stuff into their mouths.

Material

Puzzles are made of wood, cardboard and foam. Cardboard warps and tears easily especially if it's not of good quality. This can make it difficult for kids who are just beginning to learn to play with as the pieces do not remain in place.

Foam can be more easy to interlock and stay in place when compared to cardboard, however they're not suggested for children due to the possible risk of choking due to small parts.

As previously mentioned that wooden puzzles are typically either inset puzzles or frame puzzles that are great for children who are younger. But generally speaking wood toys must be checked prior to distributing to children because they could be dangerous if the edges aren't properly sanded.

Image Type

From photos to drawings cartoons, illustrations, and more, the image of a puzzle plays an important factor in its appeal as well as difficulty level.

Images with lots of foliage, like, can be very difficult puzzles since the pieces appear to be identical. However, a jigsaw puzzle featuring a graphic image with three brightly colored animals is far easier to put together.

Puzzle Shape

The majority of jigsaw puzzles have a rectangular shape with interlocking pieces. However, some of them may come in unique shapes related to the topic of the foam puzzle mat or consist of oddly-shaped pieces. You may have seen an image of a butterfly or t-rex outline. There are US map puzzles that feature pieces in the shape of the states in which they reside.