6 Fun Ways To Teach Your Child To Solve Puzzles

Puzzles are a great way to keep your children occupied and quiet while teaching them essential life lessons like patience, problem-solving, and cooperation. Young children may have trouble understanding the concept of a puzzle at first, but with some explanation and help, they will quickly catch on.

But you can’t teach puzzle solving correctly, especially the custom photo puzzle, if you don’t know the proper techniques. This blog will teach you what you should know to solve the puzzle.

Why It’s Essential to Give Your Kid Lessons in Puzzle-Solving

One of the essential benefits of solving puzzles is to improve the child’s cognitive skills. Because this toy challenges their brain to think and learn, you should support your child to make learning easier for them as a parent.

Here are the following benefits of playing puzzles for kids:

1. They can enhance their concentration & memory.
2. They will easily recognize shapes and colors.
3. They can improve their hand-eye coordination
4. They are able to improve their logical thinking and problem-solving skills
5. A puzzle can teach the child to be patient.

If you want to make your teaching more accessible, you can make your own puzzle for your child. Because if you personalize your child’s puzzle, it can make your teaching easier.

Through this, the child will appreciate the puzzle even more because the picture used is something they are familiar with. For example, the puzzle is a family picture or any picture that is memorable to them. Teaching them this game will further develop your bond to your child. 

Now let’s find out the right ways to teach puzzles to our children. Here are the following:

Introduce the Puzzles to Your Child Properly

1. Ensure your child’s puzzles are appropriate for their age and ability

You can start by using hardwood puzzles with just a few pieces. When you reach an advanced level, you can introduce personalized puzzles with fewer parts.

Always remember, the puzzles with 4-12 pieces are suitable for children aged 2-3, 12-50 pieces for children aged 3-5, and 50-100 pieces for children aged 5-6.

2. Choose some puzzles you find interesting

If your child enjoys puzzles, you can create your own puzzle. It could be a puzzle featuring an animal, a cartoon character, or a word puzzle. Colorful ones can also depict nature scenes or everyday events.

3. Join them in doing the photo puzzle

Rather than treating it as a necessary task for your child’s mental development, treat it as a game or bonding session with your child if they are uninterested.

Children enjoy playing games, and if they see you enjoying the puzzle and spending time with them while you do it, they will be much more likely to try it themselves.

4. Be patient with your child

Who likes being put under pressure? No one, especially children. Therefore, you should give your child ample time to master puzzles and develop an appreciation for them.

You must not show signs of losing patience or interest while instructing them. Be positive and encouraging; for example, when they finish a puzzle, you should tell them how great they did.

Six Ways to Teach Your Child How to Solve Puzzles

1. Know first the interest of your child

The first thing you should consider in choosing the right photo puzzle for your child is the things that you think will get his interest. You can let your child choose which one he prefers. For example, he likes pictures of animals, nature, space, or famous people.

The reason why you need to know this is so that he keeps his interest in solving the puzzle.

2. One-Piece Puzzles for Your Child

The simplest puzzles are those made up of just one piece. They are made up of objects that must fit into a hole or outline. Your 18-month-old child can start doing these.

3. You Should Give Your Child Cues and Clues

Give verbal cues or point out the pieces to help your child learn where pieces go in a puzzle. Try saying things like “This goes here!” or “Try this!” This will help them to think more quickly as possible while solving.

• The pieces should be shown up close so your child can see how well they fit together. You can reduce the number of cues they receive as soon as they can put together the puzzle on their own.

4. Increase the Difficulty of the Puzzles

When your child is familiar with the basics of the puzzle and has solved one piece, you can gradually increase the difficulty level, but be patient and do not stress your child. The child will soon be able to do more complex puzzles.

• Ensure that your child understands where each puzzle piece goes before moving them. It is okay to shuffle the pieces once they are confident they can complete the puzzle independently. You can enhance the engagement of a puzzle by holding back one of the crucial pieces until the end.
• In order to keep your child’s mind active, consider trading puzzles with other parents. Avoid frustrating and confusing your child by forcing them to solve challenging puzzles.

5. Assess Your Child’s Intuition in Photo Puzzle Solving

Here you can check how good your child is at solving the puzzle. You can use customized photo puzzles to let you know if he can complete difficult pictures. It is also recommended that you let him figure out a puzzle without showing him the whole concept of the puzzle.

If your child finds it challenging to complete the puzzle, you can give him hints so that you can guide him in the right way to solve the puzzle.

Final Thought

You, as a parent, are in charge of your child’s growth and development. Therefore, you should be the first to assist them in making the process simpler or quicker. By instructing them in the six techniques outlined in this paper, you will certainly enjoy teaching more while simultaneously enhancing your child’s skills.

Since you have reached this section of the paper, you have learned a great deal about how to teach them effectively so that they encounter little difficulty. If you do not guide them, achieving the desired improvement may take longer.