Fine motor development
A toddler practices using his/her entire hand or all his/her fingers to manipulate puzzle pieces.
Puzzle with large pieces (see Be Prepared)
Be Prepared: Select a puzzle that will be of interest to the toddler and has large or chunky pieces, to provide practice in using an entire hand or all fingers to manipulate puzzle pieces. Do not use a puzzle with pegs (the focus of Option 2). In addition, select a puzzle that will be sufficiently challenging to assemble. Considerations include: number of pieces; color contrasts; whether there are pictures on the puzzle board under the puzzle pieces; and whether the puzzle has some characteristics of a jigsaw puzzle, such as pieces that represent part (rather than all) of a pictured item. Conduct the activity at a low table that is clear of all other materials.
Invite a toddler to join you at a table to work with a puzzle. Draw attention to the puzzle’s topic. Put the assembled puzzle in front of the toddler, with you sitting or kneeling at the side. Encourage the toddler to look at the entire puzzle. What does it show? Talk with the toddler about the images and their locations in the puzzle.
Explain that the puzzle pieces are large. We can lift a piece out of the puzzle frame with our entire hand (or all fingers). Demonstrate and describe how to lift a piece from the puzzle board. Invite the toddler to grasp the piece you lift out with his/her entire hand or all his/her fingers (not hold it in palm of hand only).
Invite the toddler to take apart the puzzle, spending time to talk about each piece. Encourage the toddler to describe the piece. Example: Ask the toddler to point to a specific feature of the piece and/or to feel bumps on a piece, if available. Invite the toddler to feel around the edge of the puzzle piece and the space in the puzzle board. Remind the toddler that it is important to pay attention to what a puzzle piece looks like and try to remember where it goes in the puzzle.
Offer verbal support for lifting a piece from the puzzle frame. Example: “I think you can get the piece out of the puzzle if you use all of your fingers. Try putting your thumb on one side and your fingers on the other side.” Describe how the toddler is using his/her hand/fingers to lift a puzzle piece. Encourage the toddler to put the removed pieces to a side of the puzzle.
After all pieces are removed, invite the toddler to put pieces in the puzzle board. Draw attention to a space in the puzzle board. Example: “Let’s look at this space on the puzzle board. Do you think the space on our puzzle board looks like the shoes or the jacket?” Also draw attention to features of puzzle pieces, such as image and/or shape. Give verbal clues combined with helpful gestures. Example: Rotate your hand when you suggest the toddler “turn the puzzle piece.”
Encourage the toddler to remember where the piece was located in the puzzle. Describe how the toddler is using his/her hand/fingers to pick up and move the piece.
Recognize the toddler’s progress and use of puzzle skills. Example: “You remembered where the shirt piece fits.”
Conclude the session by acknowledging the toddler’s efforts, including use of hand to hold and move the pieces. Invite the toddler to help you put the puzzle away.
Fine motor development
A toddler practices using several fingers to manipulate puzzle pieces with pegs.
Peg puzzle (see Be Prepared)
Be Prepared: Select a puzzle that will be of interest to the toddler and has pegs to provide practice in using several fingers to manipulate a puzzle piece. In addition, select a puzzle that will be sufficiently challenging to assemble. See considerations in Option 1’s Be Prepared section. Conduct the activity at a low table that is clear of all other materials.
Use the Option 1 strategies to invite a toddler to participate and to take apart and put together a puzzle with pegs. Begin by putting the assembled puzzle in front of the toddler, with you sitting or kneeling at the side. Encourage the toddler to look at the entire puzzle. What does it show? Talk with the toddler about the images and their locations in the puzzle.
Demonstrate and describe how to lift a piece out of the puzzle board with its peg. Invite the toddler to try holding the piece with its peg. Example: “I am holding the little knob with my fingers. Now you try it.”
The following strategies suggested in Option 1 are important to include in the current activity:
The current plan offers fine motor practice in manipulating large puzzle pieces (Option 1) and peg puzzles (Option 2). It complements the Block 15 activity plan that focuses on self-regulation aspects of puzzle work. Puzzles are complex materials to manage, and it is worthwhile for a toddler to have repeated experiences that emphasize different aspects of puzzle work.
Take advantage of the one-to-one setting to tailor a toddler’s experiences in this activity, beginning with your puzzle selection (see considerations in Option 1 Be Prepared). The amount of help you provide depends on the child’s experiences and skill with puzzle work. Pace the activity to the toddler’s existing skills. Acknowledge a good try! Success may be getting one puzzle piece in the puzzle board. Some toddlers may complete the puzzle quickly and be interested in more puzzles.
Remind a toddler to slow down if there’s a tendency to rush, including skipping the opening segment when it is important to look at and discuss the whole puzzle. Look for opportunities to support a toddler’s understanding that each piece has its own space, and to see similarities and differences in the size, shape, and images of puzzle pieces.
If it appears the toddler is losing interest or the task is too challenging, place one of the pieces in the puzzle board with the toddler’s permission. This may lead to a collaborative approach to the puzzle work and provide additional demonstrations of how to approach a puzzle. Also, it is not necessary for all pieces to be removed from the puzzle. Limit the number of removed pieces if you anticipate the toddler is losing interest or finds the task too challenging.
Extra support
Enrichment
Fine motor development
A toddler practices taking apart and putting together a chunky puzzle without pegs that focuses on size differences.
Excellerations® Ducks Chunky Puzzle (see Be Prepared)
Size
Five Little Ducks by Raffi
Be Prepared: Use a version of this puzzle that does not provide pictures under the puzzle piece. The puzzle has three sizes of ducks, as shown in the accompanying picture. The puzzle also offers differences in the direction a duck is facing. The puzzle used in this activity complements the five little ducks story used in the Communication/Language activity in this block.
Invite a toddler to work with a puzzle that has little ducks and a mother duck. Begin by talking with the toddler about the entire puzzle picture. Ask the toddler what he/she notices about the ducks in the puzzle. Emphasize the following:
Remind the toddler of how we lift up and move chunky pieces in a puzzle. Demonstrate and describe holding a puzzle piece with your thumb and index finger. Invite the toddler to do the same.
Watch as the toddler takes apart the puzzle and begins to put it together. Remind the toddler that the ducks are different sizes and they are not going the same way. Encourage the toddler to look at the bill of each duck to help determine the place. Positively acknowledge any trial and error approaches a toddler may use in putting pieces in the puzzle.
The puzzle may seem simple but the differences in size and direction offer appropriate problems for a toddler to consider. At this age, toddlers may refer to size as they know in their families. Biggest may be called “Mommy” or “Daddy” and small size is often called “Baby.” Help the toddler see and feel the difference between the smallest (baby size) and the slightly larger ducks (big sister or big friend).
In the opening segment, a toddler may notice color differences across ducks. Positively acknowledge this recognition and then draw attention to differences in size and direction.
Some toddlers may grip puzzle pieces with their entire hand. Other toddlers may be able to hold the puzzle piece at an edge using only fingers and thumb.
Extra support
Enrichment
Materials needed: Hands Can by Cheryl Willis Hudson, toddler pegboards, toy dishes and pans, play food, shape sorters and builders
Provide additional fine motor play materials for exploration. Pegboards engage the same muscles as the puzzles. Add props to a dramatic play area to foster fine motor skills, such as objects that go in a pan or bag. Shape sorters and fit-together building materials also support development of fine motor skills. Share the Hands Can book with several toddlers in a cozy sitting area.
Materials needed: small toys, muffin pan, ping-pong balls, cardboard tubes, stacking cups, puzzles, nonslip placemat
Infants who are sitting with good balance will enjoy taking small toys out of a muffin pan. Mobile infants may enjoy putting items into the muffin pan, or dropping ping-pong balls into cardboard tubes. Two stacking cups create an easy puzzle for infants. Mobile infants will enjoy discovering which cup fits inside the other. If you are unsure of a toddler’s existing skill level with puzzles, first offer a simple puzzle. If a toddler has continuing interest, offer a puzzle with a bit more challenge.
When presenting puzzles to toddlers and preschool-age children, foster their ability to focus by removing unnecessary toys from the low surface or floor. It is often helpful to place a puzzle on a nonslip placemat to outline work space for one child and to prevent the puzzles from sliding.
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