Toddler's First Puzzles: The Next Step

So your toddler's mastered 3pc, 4pc, 5pc, and 6pc puzzles - what's next? Don't make that eager trip to Hobbes just yet! 24 pc puzzles and beyond may still be too much to handle for your little puzzle master. Thankfully, there is a puzzle between 6pc and 24pc - a 15 pc puzzle! I discovered this type of puzzle at the toy section of Landmark Department Store. It comes in three types - Justice League, Disney Princess, and Winnie The Pooh. The puzzle pieces are large and well suited for toddler's hands. There's also a picture at the righthand corner to serve as a guide. My daughter enjoyed  the feeling that she's now able to work on "big" puzzles! We helped her build the puzzle for the first couple of weeks and now she's able to build it on her own.

Another alternative is to get a 24pc puzzle with large pieces and set up all the corner/edge pieces on the frame. That way, your toddler will only need to figure out the remaining 8-piece puzzle in the middle.

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Disney Princess Dress Up

Of all the dress up and paper doll books I've encountered, the Disney Princess Dress-Up (A Sticker-Activity Storybook) is by far the best and most convenient for a toddler. It features the 6 princesses (Cinderella, Snow White, Aurora, Belle, Ariel, and Jasmine). Each princess has their own sticker sheet of clothes (including their standard costume) and set of accessories. Since all the princesses sport the same size and pose, all the clothes, shoes, and jewelry can be mixed up to form dozens of combinations.

The set makes use of reusable vinyl stickers, which do not have the stickiness of regular stickers, but cling easily to the board book. This makes it more suitable for toddlers and lessens the chance of the stickers being torn apart. I also favor this version over the magnetic one, which I gave to my niece last Christmas. We discovered that it was difficult to put the magnetic accessories on top of the clothing magnets as it doesn't stick and has a tendency to fall off. Also, the magnetic pieces were quite small and not fit for toddlers. In contrast, the vinyl stickers stick quite nicely on top of each other.

My only gripe is that the vinyl stickers are quite opaque and you can see through the material, making the base garment clearly visible. This is especially evident for Ariel's white wedding dress. It doesn't seem to bother my toddler in the least, but may be noticeable to older children. Also, Ariel is positioned near the middle of the book such that a fold is formed on her dress when you attempt to close the book.