Toys your kids will love


Game for Kids to Play

Last night, I took down an old favorite,olds. Keep in mind not only the size but
the ABC Floor Puzzle from Mudpuppythe time, patience, and focus required.
Press, to play with my 22-month-old. TheAge 5-10: 100 piece puzzles are usually
puzzle is made up of 24 big 8" squarejust right for ages 5-10.
pieces that fit easily together and areAge 8-11: 200 piece puzzles.
easily manouverable by a little tyke.Age 10-12: 300+ piece puzzles will match
The box says 3+, but he enjoyed seeingthe skill level of 10-12 year olds.
the picture come together and was prettyMy daughter (age 6) and I often put
darn happy when he could fit one piecetogether a 40 piece puzzle before
to another. And I found it sufficientlybedtime. It's quick, fun, and gives us a
stimulating to enjoy spending seven orchance to wind down before the pre-bed
eight minutes down on the floor with it.routine.
Check out Mudpuppy's other puzzles, tooRecently, we also tried the highly
- they are well made and designed, andrecommended Global Puzzle. With 600
they come in boxes that make storagepieces and dimensions measuring three
easy.feet wide and 18 inches tall, it's a
There is something zen about putting abig, big puzzle. But it's also a fun
puzzle together. It has no reallearning tool. Except for the oceans,
productive purpose and is therefore verymost of the puzzle is made of pieces in
effective at driving Type A familythe shape of the countries they
members up the wall, though I've seenrepresent. The puzzle is somewhat
obsessive-compulsives unable to focus onfragile that way, since most countries
anything else until every last piece wasdo not naturally interlock with their
put in the puzzle. Me, I like it becauseneighbors. Some of the pieces are very
I think it focuses the brain on colorssmall, though very tiny countries and US
and shapes and their inter-relationship.states are conglomerated into pieces
With Brain Awareness Week coming up,that don't require a pair of tweezers to
it's a good time to think ofmanipulate. My daughter, still at six,
incorporating puzzles to stimulatewas a bit young to do more than fit
neural pathway development (in yourtogether big pieces of land in the same
child) and maintenance (for you, oldcolor (Antartica), but her grandmother
codger).and I spent two days trying to figure
A good puzzle is a great way to spendout where to put Cameroon and
time with your kids. Here's a roughMadagascar.
guide for puzzle size, though kids willFor a slightly older child (the box says
vary greatly:nine years, but could go younger
Ages 1-3: Very simple block puzzles willdepending on the child), and for most
help the child understand relationshipsAmerican adults, this puzzle is a great
between colors and shape.exercise in humility as you realize you
Age 2-4: 20-35 piece traditional jigsawcan't even get Canada or Latin America
puzzles are appropriate.in the right order. It's also sold by
Ages 4-7: 60 piece traditional jigsawthe National Geographic on-line store.
puzzles are perfect for most 5 yearHighly recommended.



1 A B C D E 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116