Puzzle Activities for Toddlers

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Puzzle activities for toddlers are a great way to boost their problem solving, visual perception and fine motor skills in a hands-on way.

Working with real life puzzle pieces, instead of using a device, is important for developing visual skills like focusing the eyes and eye-hand coordination. And doing the puzzles alongside your toddler helps to grow their communication skills and your bonding experience.

Have fun with your little one as you try these recommendations!

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simple puzzle activities for toddlers

1. Starting Off: One Piece Puzzles & Shape Sorters

For toddlers and young children just beginning their puzzle journey, one-piece baby puzzles#Ad and shape sorters are ideal. These will introduce your child to the concept of things fitting together.

  • Look for simple puzzles featuring shapes or animals that fit into corresponding holes. These wooden Montessori shape puzzles#Ad are excellent.
  • Shape sorters#Ad are another great option, as they can teach your toddler to recognize and match shapes, and how to turn a shape to make it fit.

If your toddler seems overwhelmed, start with just a few shapes to build confidence.

one piece puzzle for toddlersAn example of a one piece puzzle
shape sorters are great puzzle activities for toddlersStart with just a few shapes

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2. Peg Puzzles

Wooden Peg Puzzles#Ad are also excellent at helping toddlers develop the concept of fitting things together. They can also help your child develop fine motor skills and eye-hand coordination.

  • Start by putting just one piece at a time next to the correct hole and helping your toddler place it in.
  • Putting the shapes next to the correct holes initially can help a toddler gain confidence with this activity.

With my own toddlers, I would leave a few peg puzzles all around the living room, with pieces next to the correct hole, like this, and they took great joy in putting all the pieces in!

Wooden peg puzzles are great for toddlers!Start with one piece at a time
wooden peg puzzles teach toddlers to do puzzlesPut the pieces next to the correct hole.

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3: Completing the Picture: Two-Piece Puzzles

Once your toddler understands the concept of fitting pieces together, introduce two-piece puzzles.

 These will help your toddler see how how to create a whole picture from individual pieces.

  • In front of your toddler, show how a picture is completed by fitting pieces together.
  • Have your child complete a variety of 2 piece puzzles in this way to get lots of practice.
two piece puzzles for toddlersShow how a picture is put together
  • You can even create DIY homemade two-piece puzzles for your toddler by cutting pictures from magazines or cereal boxes. Paste them onto thick card to make them last longer.

Perhaps you and your friends can each buy or make a different set of two piece puzzles and take turns sharing them for variety? You can try these lovely ones from Amazon or your local store:

easy homemade toddler puzzles - two-piece puzzles

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4. Mastering Four-Piece Puzzles Step By Step

Older toddlers may be ready for four-piece puzzles, which offer a new level of challenge. Here is a step-by-step approach to help your toddler master puzzles!

Step 1: Show the Complete Picture

Build the puzzle in front of your child and show your child how the puzzle makes a picture when completed.

Teach your toddler to do puzzles - step 11) Show how the puzzle makes a picture

Step 2: Remove One Piece

Take out one piece, and then encourage your toddler to fit that piece back in to complete the picture.

Repeat with a different piece.

Teach your toddler to do puzzles - step 22) Take away one piece at a time

Step 3: Remove Two Pieces

Increase the challenge by removing two pieces at a time and encourage your child to put them back. Take away a different 2 pieces each time!

Teach your toddler to do puzzles - step 33) Take away two pieces

Step 4: Orientated Pieces

Break the puzzle up, keeping the pieces orientated correctly, and encourage your toddler to put it back together.

Teach your toddler to do puzzles - step 44) Put together 4 correctly orientated pieces

Step 5: Mixed Up Pieces

Once your child has mastered step 4, mix the pieces up completely so your child has to orientate them as well as place them.

Teach your toddler to do puzzles - step 55) Put together mixed up pieces

Your child may take many attempts to master this step, so be patient and give lots of encouragement and praise!

Toddler Puzzle Sets#Ad often come with different piece counts (4,6,9 and 12)  in one box. Mastering a single 4-piece puzzle does not mean your child will be ready for a higher piece count (although some kids learn quickly). Rather offer a variety of 4-piece puzzles before increasing the difficulty.

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Tips for Puzzle Play

  • Keep puzzles accessible - encourage independent play and exploration by leaving puzzles within easy reach for your toddler. You can put a different one out every day or two for variety.
  • Use puzzles for other skills - talking about what you see on the puzzle piece can help develop language skills. You can use puzzles to reinforce colors, shapes and counting skills, as well as themes shown on the pictures. This can be a wonderful bonding time!
  • Give lots of praise and encouragement each step of the way, and remember, some children take longer than others to master new concepts.  Toddlers have short attention spans, so if they get frustrated or bored, take a break and try again later.

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Benefits of Puzzle Activities for Toddlers

Incorporating puzzles into your toddler's playtime can have many benefits for future learning. Here are a few:

  • Problem-solving: Puzzle activities can teach your toddler to work things out by trial and error.
  • Fine motor skills: Moving puzzle pieces around can help strengthen the hand muscles and improves dexterity.
toddler doing a 4 piece puzzle
  • Hand-eye coordination: Fitting shapes into holes and fitting pieces together, helps to develop this important skill.
  • Spatial reasoning: doing puzzles can help toddlers understand how things fit together in space, and how to turn pieces around to make them fit.
  • Visual perceptual skills: visual discrimination, figure-ground perception and form constancy are specific visual perceptual skills that can be improved by practicing puzzles.


Remember to choose age-appropriate puzzles and to adjust the challenge as your toddler improves.

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Related Visual Perceptual Activities for Toddlers

 Boost your toddler's development by strengthening other visual perceptual skills with simple activities like the ones below:

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