If your child likes puzzles, check these out!

[August Mom]

DS is a puzzle fanatic and is quite skilled at puzzles for his age. MIL gave the Melissa & Doug Jigsaws in a Box to him about a month ago and they are great! It's really hard to find jigsaw puzzles with under 20 pieces. But, in this set, there are 4 puzzles with 12 pieces each. The epinions review linked below provides relevent details. We have the transportation set listed, but there are other themes as well. I highly recommend these puzzles.

http://www.epinions.com/content_81543204484

[brubeck]

Something that my DD also liked was frame puzzles. Like this:

http://www.charactersntoons.com/product-690.html

They have the complexity of normal puzzles (in terms of the way pieces are put together) but having the 'frame' helps them place pieces. DD went straight from these to those 20 piece ones you get at TRU. Now she's doing 100 piece puzzles!

[August Mom]

Is there a national B&M store that carries these? We have 1 25-piece Thomas framed puzzle, that DS can do very well. We bought it at TJ Maxx. However, I bought some other 25-piece puzzles without the frame and he's not advanced enough for those yet. I definitely need to help him with those. I found a couple on-line that I liked, but the shipping was ridiculous (more than the item), so I didn't buy them.

[brubeck]

You know I think Golden Books stopped making these a couple of years ago. I bought a bunch in bulk (to save on shipping), I found some in book outlet stores (ie: the generic 'bookstores' in outlet malls) and I also got some pretty cheaply on EBay.

[raynjen]

DD is a puzzle fanatic too and loves these puzzles! She will do all four in a sitting then break them apart and do them again. I recently bought her a bunch of 25 piece puzzles where 3 of the pieces are shaped (a pig, a cat, and a bunny) and the rest are normal. She loves doing them over and over again. Glad she likes this as our family has a tradition of doing puzzles whenever we get together.

We can't use the pressed board shaped puzzle here - it is too humid. Once you get the pieces out they swell and won't fit back in. The wooden ones work fine, but not for the price. I got her 25 piece puzzles for less than $2 apiece!

Jen in Okinawa
Mom to a wonderful preschooler,
who just turned three, Noelle!

[Hallie_D]

Do you know where your MIL got these puzzles? I found them on Amazon (through their Toys R Us affiliation) but when I tried to buy them, it seems that it won't be shipped until January 29!!! I went to my local TRU, only to find that they carried a million other M&D products but not these puzzles.

I have found a few toy web sites that seem to carry them but I've never heard of the stores...I'd prefer to get them from a trusted place or in person, KWIM?

Anyway, thanks for the fantastic idea--DS loves puzzles but we haven't given him any jigsaws yet!

TIA,

[August Mom]

MIL says she got them at TRU (although when I looked at my TRU, I didn't see them). But, I recently saw them at TJ Maxx for $7 I believe (instead of $10).

[kalebsmama]

I saw them today at Stein-Mart. I would have picked some up, but DS was with me. I'll have to go back later.

Thanks for the great idea!

[Hallie_D]

Thanks! I actually found the Vehicle Puzzles set at Borders by chance and grabbed them!