Puzzles are a great way to help kids learn. From infants to the elderly puzzles can help increase cognitive ability, improve memory and hand eye coordination, and they provide an incredible feeling of accomplishment when completed. But, puzzles can be great educational tools as well.
The unique process of adding and removing pieces offers puzzle designers a way to help kids learn a subject while still having fun. Here are some of our favourite puzzles that help kids learn at an early age.
The What's Inside puzzles series is a great way to teach kids about the foods they eat. These puzzles feature large, bright images of fruits and vegetables that reveals what the food may look like on the dinner table. Kids can see the inner parts of their fruits and veg and see things like the seeds or segment patterns.
What's Inside Fruits (left) and What's Inside Vegetables (right) puzzles almost look good enough to eat!
Puzzles can also provide a safe way for kids to get up close and personal with crawly critters and animals that they may not be able to get close to in real life.
The Mini Beasts puzzle set (left) and Wild Animals and Their Young puzzle set (right) come with 8 separate puzzles. Each puzzle offers a chance for kids to discover creatures from around the world and their own back yard.
Kids learn from what they see, and these puzzles help kids see abstract ideas that can be hard to understand. The Boy Body (left) and Girl Body (right) puzzles are a great way to help kids learn about their body and how it works. Learn about the skeleton, organs, and muscles with these multi-level puzzles.
Teaching puzzles use their visual medium to present kids with strong visual images. This can make them a great resource when helping kids learn about emotion. Emotion Tray Puzzles offer emotional images that can be used to discuss topics like sadness, anger, joy and surprise.
Puzzles are also a great way to introduce children to their community. Through the use of creative imagery these puzzles help kids learn about those they may see around them. From persons with disabilities (left) to the clothing of other cultures (right), community puzzles can help open up the mind and learn more about the people around them.