The very first puzzle IZ has gotten was from a gift exchange on Christmas Day in 2011, right after he turned 1 year old. A Melissa & Doug Farm Animals Peg Puzzle.
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| Got this from the Gift Exchange! |
His fine motor skill was not so fine then.. and his hand-eye co-ordination was not well co-ordinated so to say.. Haha!
However, I think it was a great gift. It could not just aid him in developing his fine motor skills, hand-eye co-ordination, but I could also teach him about farm animals, and sometimes even counting.
From then on, I’ve never missed any chances to LOOK AT puzzles when there’s sales or whenever we passed by children’s toy department.
I remember Jann Phonics shared with us, that there’s no need to purchase expensive puzzles, the key is variety.
I’ve got the following in orders.. but sadly IZ was not the least interested in any of them. He was easily defeated once he was not able to place one properly, despite all the encouragement and try-together.
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| Got these for a few dollars in Giant |
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Bought these from some sale, but these are not genuine Melissa & Doug puzzles.. they delaminate easily! :-(
And I think the illustraion for each piece (underneath) was confusing for IZ |
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| Good to learn about shapes |
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| He couldn't do this at all, until after "life-changing" puzzle below, he could do these ranging from 5-9 pcs odd-shaped puzzles easily |
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| As he was obsessed with clock, I bought these.. as you can see, the shapes are exacly the same, so, for someone who can't count yet, it was confusing. Now he could recognise the numbers, but he still can't understand this yet. |
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| Bought these Kumon Step 1 puzzles, 2 sets each of 2 pcs, 3 pcs, 4 pcs and 6 pcs to start him with puzzles as I thought the above were all too difficult for him, but after the life-changing puzzle, this became too easy that I had to mix all of them together for him to "solve"! |
Until the week I brought him to stay for a week with my parents while helper was away on home leave. I packed and sent the 28 pcs floor puzzles home before our arrival. Thank to my brother being the delivery man.
As my niece has not much toys, except for A LOT of SOFT TOYS and BARBIE DOLLS, I brought the puzzles out. Even when I knew IZ was the least interested.
Boy, was I wrong. With my niece doing it together, IZ found interest in that particular puzzle! He could play with it a few times a day and mastered it within a day. The next few days, while my niece got bored “NOT PUZZLES AGAIN”, IZ still worked on the puzzles diligently. I think that was the “life changing” puzzle!
So while we went shopping at Popular, I saw a box with 23 pcs of a Humpty Dumpty puzzle and a hardcover book. IZ went crazy seeing the Humpty Dumpty, so I bought and let him have a try.
This puzzle does not look like the conventional type puzzles with even sides. But IZ was really determined to play with it. Starting with the Humpty Dumpty’s face, slowly he made his way to his limbs and the wall. As he played, he sang “Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall…”
Within 2 days, he managed to do it on his own.
And so the puzzles craze grow.
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| "Life-changing" puzzles |
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| 23pcs Humpty Dumpty Puzzle in odd shape |
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| Bought these online, genuine Melissa & Dough, really different kind of quality |
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| Obsession for clock continues.. the clock doesn't just teach about numbers, but time, colour as well as shapes |
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| Bought these for S$2.90 each at neighbourhood shop |
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| Saw this 35 pcs puzzle on promo, it may be difficult for him, but he likes being challenged |
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| 35pcs Carnival Puzzle |
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| Bought this and another pattern for $2 from Daiso, not bad quality |
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| Happy with new puzzle |
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| Bought these from Qoo10, shipped from Korea |
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| 12 (was in progress in the previous pic), 16, 18, 24, 30 pcs Pororo Puzzles |
