Puzzles

The jigsaw puzzles take some time. My son is the same way - great at the wooden pegs, struggling some with the jigsaws.

I sell Discovery Toys and have one that has been really helpful for him. It's a set called "Progressive Puzzles" and it comes with 9 jigsaw puzzles. Three of them have four pieces, three of have six pieces, and three have nine pieces. It's a great intro to puzzles and they can start small then progress to the bigger ones. He's learned a lot from them!

If you're interested, you can check them out here: http://www.discoverytoyslink.com/esuite/control/product?P...

K.
http://www.discoverytoyslink.com/karenchao

What about the wooden puzzles without the pegs? They make so many of them...and I am sure you will be able to find some that challenge him more...my family has collected wooden puzzles for years and my Aunt just told me that ebay is an excellent place to look for them.

One of my favorite childhood memories is of having "puzzle races" with all my cousins at my Grandmas house...she had TONS of wooden puzzles that we all new by heart and we would flip them all over into one big pile and then race to see who could finish the most! I never won (2nd youngest cousin out of 13) but it was a blast...and let me tell you, some of the puzzles were HARD, with a bazillion lil' pieces...wish I had those puzzles for my kids...

Stick with the jigsaw puzzles and teach him how to look for similar colors and turn the shape to make it fit. Sit with him and hand him the first piece and show him where it goes... then pick up a piece that goes next to it and talk about how/why it fits there.... hand him one piece at a time and help him. Toddlers love, love, love repetition, so even though you will go bonkers over the same darn puzzle, just keep doing it with him every day and you'll be surprised at how quickly he'll be able to master it on his own.

Also, Discovery Toys carries a set called Progressive Puzzles. It's 12 all in one box-- they are sturdy cardboard. There are 4 that have 4 pieces, 4 that have 6 pieces, and 4 that have 9 pieces (... or maybe it's a total of 9 puzzles with 3 in each group-- I forget!) I don't think they are in the current catalog. You can go to the DisoveryToys website to find a local consultant and ask her if she has them, or better yet search for it on ebay.

Target has Dora and Diego puzzels that have big pieces without pegs. There are like twelve pieces, and they are the wooden puzzles. You might also look at Doug and Melissa Puzzels. They have a great variety, and my kids love them!

Ok not a puzzle but another suggestion for a fun age appropriate activity that is fun and stimulates language development , the first step look and find books are great. My son has some Disney Themed ones and we have a great time looking for the pictures on the pages. Another idea is a simple matching game, of course for age 2 you are going to start with just a few cards at a time and it may take a while to get the concept of making a match, but these do not have to be anything fancy, I have used flash cards from the dollar store to make an easy match game for my son. Play dough is a manipulative, lacing beads and lacing cards, not just for girls anymore we bought the cutest set of lace up cards at TJ MAX of all places that are dinosaur themed. They make games for Toddlers ages now, which is great for helping with turn taking. Also, my olderdaughter was playing with some card board tangrams and my son loved playing with the shapes, especially when we cut some out of foam.
Lots of luck, try googling manipulatives for toddlers and see if you come up with any suggestions too. My son can easily do the peg puzzles but he still enjoys them, a felt board or a magnetic easel might be something fun and different....sorry to ramble its just my son is only a bit older so I know how it is trying to find something new to entertain/challenge him. = )

Melissa and Doug has a 16 piece block puzzle that makes 6 different puzzles. It's great for this age group!

Hi! The First Jigsaw Puzzle-Square by Young Minds At Play is a 4 piece jigsaw puzzle. It has interchangeable pieces so any two pieces fit together, but only if they do it "correct" will it turn out to be a square. My son could connect the pieces at age 1, but only since he's turned 2 has he realized it's supposed to be a square. He hasn't figured out how to always make it into a square though so it's a good challenge for him without getting frustrated. It won a couple of Dr. Toy awards this year so it's on their website (www.drtoy.com) and their website is www.youngmindsatplay.com. There is a video on their website so you can see what it's like. Amazon also sells it.