How to Teach a Child to do a Jigsaw Puzzle
Jigsaw puzzles are a great way to spend time with your child while increasing their dexterity and hand-eye coordination. It is sometimes difficult to teach a child to put a puzzle together, because it takes patience and trial-and-error, which children do not have in abundance. Follow these steps to teach a child to do a puzzle.
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Instructions
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Find a quiet place to sit down. On the floor or at the kitchen table are ideal for doing puzzles. Be sure there are no distractions such as the TV, or they will not last long.
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Explain what a jigsaw puzzle is. Tell the child that the pieces where cut out of the picture and that they have to find where they belong.
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Show them how to do the puzzle. Move the pieces in a circle until the piece fits. Point out the straight edges and curved edges and then have them look for that same shape in the puzzle. Show them how the picture on the puzzle box matches up with the picture on the puzzle pieces.
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Encourage them with positive praise. It can be very frustrating for a child to learn to do puzzles. You will have to show them over and over how to use trial-and-error to make the pieces fit. Tell them what a good job they are doing and that the more they practice, the better they will get at putting them together.
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Increase the difficulty with age and skill. When first starting out, children should do large wooden puzzles where one puzzle piece fits into one space on the puzzle. As they get older and better at it, they can do puzzles that have 10 to 15 pieces or more, until they are doing entire floor puzzles as a fun family project.
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Tips & Warnings
Good puzzles for small hands have little knobs on the puzzle pieces for the child to hold on to.
