How many times have you wondered what size puzzle is right for your child's age? 

Just like choosing the right level of book for reading skills, choosing the right size jigsaw makes the difference as to whether a child enjoys or dislikes jigsaws. We've put together this buying guide to help make a good selection for your child. After all, anyone can enjoy assembling an interesting picture and benefit from all the skills that are honed in the process: from spacial awareness to pattern recognition. 

How to choose the right jigsaw puzzle: 

3 years old

The size of the pieces and complexity of the image are important considerations as well as the number of pieces. Generally puzzles should be about 36 pieces or less and puzzles can start at as few as 12 pieces. We recommend Djeco silhouette puzzles like Goldilocks or the Sheep where the puzzle comes in an attractive silhouette shaped box. 

4 years old

Choose 60 pieces or less for your 4 year old's jigsaw. Ensure the image is something they're interested in and remember to mix up the larger or more complicated puzzles with some of the simpler ones to reinforce their independence and build self-esteem when they can solve it all by themselves. Check out our larger Djeco Silouhette Puzzles or 60 Piece Ravensburger Jigsaws. 

5 years old

As dexterity increases, kids are ready for puzzles with slightly smaller pieces, but they may still need a low piece-count to complete the puzzle before their concentration runs out. We find the Ravensburger 49 piece puzzles are great for this age as they come with three images to be completed one at a time or all together for a bigger challenge. 

6-7 years old

At this age, go for a 100 piece puzzle to provide a good challenge while still including pieces that are large enough to be handled easily. Kids really care about the picture so choose something that matches their interests. There's still plenty of good choices for boys and girls together - it's not all unicorns or monster trucks, though we offer plenty of gender aligned choices too. 

8 years old

Kids at 8 years old now have the attention span for a 200 piece puzzle. They're ready for the challenge and these puzzles typically have slightly larger pieces than a standard adult puzzle, but still support use of fine motor skills in turning the pieces around to fit the puzzle. Of course, there's plenty of arranging pieces by colour or pattern to complete the puzzle. 

9 years old and beyond

Choose a 300 piece puzzle for this age. Kids will find a great intro to adult sized pieces in the Ravensburger 300 collection but a small enough piece-count that they cans still finish them easily. 

Check out our full range of jigsaw puzzles.