Child Level:
Cognitive age of 1+ years
Best for teaching critical thinking, hand eye-coordination, fine motor, and visual perception skills.
How to Teach Your Child How to Complete Plug-In Puzzles
Some suggestions:
Begin with puzzles that are simple in nature, like the Kid O Recognizing Shapes Puzzle only has 3 items for the child to discriminate against. Then work up to more complex puzzles like the Melissa & Doug Large Shapes Jumbo Knob Puzzle which has several shapes to discriminate against. Also, if your child is not interested in puzzles, begin with puzzles like the Melissa & Doug Farm Sound Puzzle, which is a highly reinforcing puzzle for children.
How to teach:
Begin by having all of the pieces in, except for the one piece you would like the child to learn. Hand the piece to the child and say, “Do Puzzle”. Help them if necessary. As soon as the child is able to put the piece in (independently or with a little bit of help) reinforce them (a big hug, tickles, a small treat, etc.). Keep repeating this process until the child knows how and where to put the chosen piece, then pick a new piece for the child to learn and follow the same procedure. Continue this process until your child can consistently put in one piece of the puzzle at a time. Next, move on to 2 pieces out and then 3 and 4 and so on. Have your child master several plug-in puzzles before moving on to jigsaw puzzles.
Products:
Kid O Recognizing Shapes Puzzle, Melissa & Doug Large Shapes Jumbo Knob Puzzle, Melissa & Doug Farm Sound Puzzle
