The 5 Best Wooden Puzzles for Toddlers & Kids

Wooden puzzles for toddlers remains an effective entertainment tool for the young ones in spite of the digital dominance in today’s world. Toddlers get attracted to electronic gadgets but chances are that they can damage them easily and, often, these gadgets are costly. On the other hand, wooden puzzles are relatively inexpensive and they add a pivotal role in mental and skills development.

Toddlers are naturally energetic as seen in their actions when they start breaking your glass kitchenware, opening fridges and doing all sorts of activities. To hone their skills, as parents, we need to aid them by introducing them to wooden puzzles that serve as educational and challenging tools.

Given this importance, it’s a must to have the best wooden puzzles for toddlers. Toddlers who’ve been exposed to puzzles tend to excel in their elementary classes. They get to improve their math and spelling skills by learning numbers and alphabets early. Other skills include color recognition, imagination, creativity and hand-eye coordination.

The puzzles come in different shapes, sizes, number of pieces and designs. We have reviewed both classic and new age wooden puzzles. The wood puzzles that  are designed to be lightweight and child-safe.

Since there is such a wide variety of puzzles to choose from it can become increasingly challenging to pick the best among them, especially if you’re a new parent. To make shopping easy for you, we have compiled the top 5 wooden puzzles for toddlers. Each puzzle has a purpose and you should buy accordingly. Without further ado, let’s delve into our reviews.

Melissa & Doug Farm Wooden Cube Puzzle With Storage Tray – 6 Puzzles in 1.

wooden farm cube puzzle 1

Melissa & Doug is not a new name on the market. Since 1988, the company has been providing quality educational toys for kids. This Melissa & Doug Farm Wooden Cube Puzzle is a reflection of the premium quality the company is renowned for.

Included with the storage tray, this wooden puzzle for toddlers comes as 16 pieces with 6 puzzles in one. It’s easy to store them in the tray after the toddler is done playing. While others cost more for more pieces this puzzle is charged under $15 with sturdy wooden pieces.

The toddler will be tasked to match the picture clues to complete 6 farm animals. This introduces animal recognition in a very fun way. This puzzle will also help your toddler with developing visual and cognitive skills at a young age.

This puzzle comes equipped with elegantly crafted 16 wooden cubes which are enough for a 3 year old toddler to play with. These cubes are 1.75-in in size, which is a perfect size to grab with ease. Read More Reviews

Positives
  • Six puzzles in one
  • 16 durable wooden cubes
  • Affordable

Negatives
  • The limit of 6 farm animals is too little for a 3 year old

Professor Poplar’s Puzzle Bundle: Alphabet, Numbers, Barnyard Helpers and People Movers Wooden Puzzles

professor popular wooden puzzle for toddlers

Professor Poplars Puzzle is our next reviewed wooden puzzles for toddlers weighing 3.8 pounds. The weight is ideal for toddlers around 3 years of age.  With this educational tool, your toddler can gain tremendous knowledge in letter recognition, numbers recognition up to 20 and boost mental development early. They will also become more familiar with barnyard helpers and people movers. The puzzle has a lot to offer although it is a little expensive when compared to our first choice above.

professor popular wooden puzzle for toddlers 2Its design embraces durable natural wood with a smooth finish. All the shapes are designed with entertaining colors and patterns. The learning outcomes of this puzzle include motor skills improvement, creativity and shape orientation.

The bundle contains 4 puzzles each with dimensions 11.75 inches long and 9 inches wide. All the puzzles can be stored upright after the toddler has played. If you want to prepare your 3+ years old toddler for the first grade, these puzzles can be a good consideration. Read More Reviews

Positives
  • 4 puzzles in a bundle
  • No tools to assemble
  • Learn alphabets and numbers up to 20
  • Smooth wooden cubes

Negatives
  • A bit bulky

Melissa & Doug Classic Wooden Peg Puzzles (Set of 3) – Numbers, Alphabet, and Colors

melissa and doug classic wooden peg puzzle 1

We are back with the Melissa & Doug – a renowned manufacturer of toddler play toys. As in the name, set of 3, the puzzle offers toddlers an opportunity to learn about numbers, colors, and letters. By engaging in this puzzle, your toddler will gain hand-eye coordination skills, visual skills, and fine motor skills. These are the skills that Grade 1 teachers struggle to equip kids with. Your toddler can stand above the crowd.  Included in the puzzle are grasp(able) pegs that make learning fun.

To learn about colors, your toddler will be challenged to match the correct colored fish together. For help with learning their alphabet, a colorful picture is placed under each piece shows an image beginning with the same letter. Last, counting is made easy with the 0-9 puzzle.

The wooden construction makes it a durable educational tool every parent should consider. Not only is the wooden construction colorful but also intuitive in skills acquisition. Read More Reviews

Positives
  • Learn numbers, colors, and alphabets
  • Affordable puzzle
  • Solid and smooth wooden construction

Negatives
  • It’s a bit bulky at 3 pounds for a 2 year old

Melissa & Doug Animals 4-in-1 Wooden Jigsaw Puzzles Set

melissa and doug 4 in 1 wooden puzzle set

Here’s another pet puzzle with lots of fun for toddlers. It’s a 4-in-1 puzzle with a four slots carrying case to help keep the pieces organized. All in all, there are 12 pieces in this wooden puzzle. There’s no confusion about placing the pieces because they are color-coded.

Melissa & Doug Animals Jigsaw Puzzle can significantly enhance the motor skills and hand-eye coordination skills of your toddlers. It will also help them recognize everyday pets such as dogs, cats and birds with vibrant colors. The puzzle is recommended for kids over the age of 3 years. We agree that the age of 3 years is ideal because the placement and the learning of colors require a certain degree of judgment.

Your toddler will have lots of fun playing with these color-coded pieces. Once they appear to be bored or tired of one set of puzzles you can present them with the other. The carrying case that comes with this puzzle makes it the ideal puzzle for traveling. Read More Reviews

Positives
  • Lightweight puzzle
  • Affordable
  • 4-in-1 puzzle with colorful pieces
  • Durable wooden construction

Negatives
  • Number of animals to learn is insufficient

 

BeginAgain Counting Chameleon Wooden Number Puzzle

BeginAgain Counting wooden Chameleon Puzzle

BeginAgain Puzzle for Toddlers is a 19-piece puzzle designed to make your toddlers unique in their early grades.  If your kid is bilingual in Spanish and English, this educational tool will be very helpful. Toddlers can count up to 15 on one side of the puzzle while the other side helps them know the numbers in Spanish. The puzzle is fun-sized, coming with a tray that measures 7 inches wide and 10 inches long it becomes easy to store the pieces without them getting lost.

BeginAgain Counting wooden Chameleon Puzzle spanishA variety of colors are used to help the toddler is recognizing the colors and patterns. In addition to that, it hones their skills in harness problem-solving issues, identifying the number sequences and mastering two languages at the same time.

Design-wise, the puzzle is made of the long-lasting rubber-wood. The design is aesthetically pleasing and smooth. Also praiseworthy is the light weight of 1.4 pounds for kids as young as 2 years to hold it. Read More Reviews

Positives
  • Lightweight 19-piece puzzle
  • Affordable puzzle for toddlers
  • Durable rubber-wood construction
  • Colorful pieces

Negatives
  • 19 pieces insufficient especially if you have twins

VERDICT

This marks the end of our comprehensive review of the best wooden puzzles for toddlers. It should come to your attention that purchasing these puzzles is a challenge that requires not only price consideration but other factors such as the number of pieces and color varieties. Having many pieces is helpful to know because kids get to spend hours honing their skills. The age factor is also important, most of these puzzles are meant for kids 3 years or older.

Our award goes to the Professor Poplar’s Puzzle Bundle. It is a little bit more expensive than the other puzzles on this list but it provides lots of value . Melissa & Doug products are also a great buy depending on your child’s interest in needs.

Professor Poplar's Puzzle Bundle

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