Sweet Pea is 25 months old.
From: Sweet Pea’s chunky 4 and 5 piece puzzles were getting too easy for her so I picked up this letter puzzle from Target for about $10.
Observations: This puzzle was much harder for Sweet Pea than I thought it was going to be. I wrongly assumed that it would be more of a letter matching exercise. Instead, the space under each letter shows an object that starts with that letter. For example under the “M” is a picture of the moon. Also, the pictures under the letters are not the same color as their corresponding letter. Worse, the spaces under the letters don’t exactly match the shape of the letters. (See the “M” moon spot in the picture above for an example.) Sweet Pea had a tough time, but still enjoyed it. I had to help her quite a bit, but she actually did understand the concept that “D” made the noise “duh” and went with the “Duck” picture. I credit the fantastic Leap Frog Letter Factory dvd with her understanding of letter sounds.
Notes from the Trenches: I think Sweet Pea is just a bit too young for this puzzle, but for all the reasons explained above, I think I would buy a different letter puzzle if I had it to do over again. Any suggestions?
Rating: 2 Stars * (Easy, Fun)
Try the Melissa and Doug alphabet puzzle. It’s more expensive but worth it.
Thanks for the tip Julie. I will look at that one.
We love the letter factory dvd too!
This is the alphabet puzzle we have http://www.melissaanddoug.com/dyn_prod.php?p=3833 and Bear enjoys it.
We started to buy puzzles in book frames (5 puzzles in one book) from places like TJ Max. They are usually 16 or 20 pieces. Anna has one wooden puzzle from Melissa and Doug with transportation scheme – unfortunately I wasn’t able to find it online. These interlocking puzzles are still a little hard on Anna – she usually needs me nearby to guide her, but she finally starts to understand the concept of edge and cornet pieces. It’s interesting that it seems so obvious to me, but far from obvious to her.
OK – I found the one we have from Melissa and Doug – http://www.melissaanddoug.com/dyn_prod.php?p=2931. This one Anna could finally do without help at about 2.5 months.
Natalie, I am going to assume that you meant Anna was 2.5 years and not 2.5 months. lol.
Thank you for finding that link for me. Another friend recommended TJ Max for puzzles, too. I will probably try to go there sometime in the next week and check out what they have.
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