Since the stay-at-home orders a few years ago, puzzles have become a popular entertainment option among many families again. This is great because puzzles can be an important tool for building a youngster’s brain!
The Best Puzzles for 1-Year-Olds
The Melissa & Doug Touch & Feel Puzzle and the Vehicles Peg Puzzle are more unique than the other puzzles. The GYBBER&MUMU Puzzle is the best-selling puzzle at an inexpensive price compared to the other puzzles for 1-year-olds.
Melissa & Doug Touch & Feel Puzzle
The Melissa & Doug Touch & Feel Puzzle is all the fun of a touch-and-feel book in a puzzle!
You probably have a few touch-and-feel board books on your child’s bookshelf. Tactile books are staples in beginner libraries because they encourage sensory awareness and hands-on interaction.
Your child gets the same benefits from this Melissa & Doug puzzle board. It’s the sensory benefits of a touch-and-feel with the cognitive development and motor skills engagement of a puzzle.
The chunky puzzle pieces are a sweet dog, cat, rabbit, and bird. They’re all painted with bright basic colors and have furry textures. They also stand up for pretend play.
The center is a diamond-shaped mirror, where your little one can make some silly faces while they play.
This puzzle board is probably best suited for younger toddlers, so 12 months and older.
Pros
- Touch-and-feel animal puzzle pieces
- Has a child-safe mirror
- Features pictures under puzzle pieces
Cons
- Customer complaints of wood being thin
Melissa & Doug Vehicles Puzzle
The Melissa & Doug Vehicles Puzzle is a cute vehicle puzzle featuring all the classics.
I hope you’re prepared for more than a few Melissa & Doug entries on this list.
The company, known for its popular wooden toys, has cornered the market on toddler puzzles.
Not that I have anything against that if my own toddler’s puzzle rack is any testament. He absolutely loves Melissa & Doug’s puzzles board – and so do I.
This M&D offering is a cute vehicle peg puzzle. It has all of your toddler’s favorites, including a fire truck, a school bus, and a garbage truck (other toddlers love garbage trucks as much as mine, right?)
This hand-crafted puzzle has colorful chunky pieces and bright red pegs and it’s a great learning tool for teaching the names of vehicles.
Pros
- Features fun vehicles
- Easy-to-grab pieces
Cons
- Thin puzzle board
GYBBER&MUMU Shape Puzzle
The GYBBER&MUMU Shape Puzzle is a high-quality shapes puzzle board.
Puzzles are a fun way to teach your child concepts like shapes. I also like to sneak in a lesson in colors (“Yes, a triangle! And what color is the triangle, sweetie?”).
That’s why I love this GYBBER & MUMU puzzle board. It’s the perfect tool for both shape and color recognition.
You can go over all the basic colors: yellow, blue, and red, for example. You cover the basic shapes: square, triangle, diamond, and more.
Although, if your toddler manages to pronounce a “dark green quincunx,” let me in on your secret to parenting. Personally, I’ll just stick with calling that piece a “flower.”
All the chunky shapes fit into a smoothed wood puzzle board. This product has passed rigorous tests to be certified lead, BPA, and phthalate-free.
Pros
- Encourages shape and color recognition
- Made from smooth wood and non-toxic materials
Cons
- Very similar colors can be confusing
- Inclusion of “quincunx”
Learning Journey: My First Match It
Learning Journey: My First Match It is a beginner’s introduction to jigsaw puzzles!
In this box, you’ll get 15 different 2-piece puzzles. These are self-correcting puzzles, meaning only the correct halves will fit together. Wrong pieces will not.
I ordered the Things That Go version. Other versions include: At the Ocean, Colors, and Shapes, On the Farm, and Dinosaurs.
The “All My Toys” theme is ideal for introducing your toddler to jigsaw puzzles. It features objects they encounter every day, like a baby doll or a rubber duckie.
Although, this is the first puzzle toy I have bought that was an organizational challenge for me. My son’s other puzzles fit on a puzzle rack or had their own container.
These 2-piece puzzles come in a plain cardboard box that was damaged in the mail. Therefore, I find myself cleaning up and attempting to store 30 puzzle pieces every time my son plays with them.
As far as downsides go, it’s a minor one. It’s well worth it for how excited my son gets when he puts together the puzzles. His favorite? The bicycle!
Pros
- Durable cardboard pieces
- Self-correcting puzzles
Cons
- No convenient storage for pieces
Hape Block Sorter
The Hape Block Sorter is an elegantly simple puzzle for young toddlers to learn basic shapes.
Parents and toddlers alike love this shape puzzle. It’s simple, but there’s no need to reinvent the wheel when it comes to shape sorting.
These bright wooden shapes are toddler tested and mother approved. Many rugrats have made chew toys out of these chunky pieces and yet the non-toxic paint stays put. Instead of knobs or pegs, the pieces have 3D shapes for grasping. All the edges are rounded, even on the puzzle board, so there are no sharp edges.
This puzzle is great for teaching the concepts of shapes, colors, and even counting (“how many pieces are there?”).
Plus, with Hape, you always know you’re getting a quality child’s toy with no toxic materials.
Pros
- Durable wood pieces
- Large shape handles
Cons
- Too simple for older toddlers
TOP BRIGHT Number Puzzle
The TOP BRIGHT Number Puzzle is a unique and fun number puzzle board!
I’m really drawn to this number puzzle board. My son has a similar Melissa & Doug puzzle board, but it just doesn’t have the character of this one.
I especially like the different learning opportunities packed in this one puzzle. It teaches numbers, but it also has lessons about animals and nature.
Each number has a little creature hanging around it. The numbers are then decorated with a pattern of that creature’s favorite snack.
For example, the 3 has a dog and a bone pattern. The 6 is topped by a frog and painted with 6 flies.
Once your little one has the numbers down, you can teach them the different animals and what their corresponding pattern means.
Physically, these puzzle pieces are chunkier than most, making them easy for little hands. The edges are rounded and the paint is water-based.
Pros
- Brightly colors and fun graphics
- Easy-to-grasp pieces
Cons
- No images under puzzle pieces
The Best Puzzles for 2-Year-Olds
The Hape Alphabet Puzzle is the most educational puzzle whereas the Fat Brain Toys Puzzle is the coolest puzzle for its personalization feature.
Melissa & Doug Construction Puzzle
The Melissa & Doug Construction Puzzle is a construction puzzle that is guaranteed to entertain those who love bulldozers, trucks, and all the construction vehicles.
This wooden puzzle includes 6 construction vehicle puzzle pieces that fit into a board with a dirt and sand background.
It helps promote fine motor skills but also lets the imagination run wild.
Pros
- Teaches matching skills
- Thick peg pieces
Cons
- Pieces don’t hold up well against chewers
Melissa & Doug Farm Puzzle
The Melissa & Doug Farm Puzzle is for the littlest of puzzlers!
There’s a good chance your toddler loves the song “Old MacDonald Had a Farm.” What could be better than a catchy tune and animal noises?
This beginner’s puzzle brings the classic song to life. Your little one gets to put Old MacDonald and all his animals in their rightful place in the puzzle board!
This cute Melissa & Doug barnyard puzzle is perfect for the tiniest of hands. The large wooden knobs on every puzzle piece are easy to grasp and lift.
As your toddler places the correct animal in the right spot, review the animal’s signature noise and maybe a verse or two of Old MacDonald. They’ll love it.
Pros
- Features barnyard friends
- Large knobs that are easy-to-grasp
Cons
- Board is not solid wood
Hape Alphabet Puzzle
The Hape Alphabet Puzzle is a colorful way to learn the alphabet!
An alphabet puzzle board is essential when it’s time to start teaching those ABCs to your toddler. An alphabet puzzle is a hands-on method to learn the 26 letters.
The alphabet is actually very exciting if my toddler’s experiences are any indication. He thinks it’s a lot of fun to yell the different letters as he pulls the pieces out.
If you’d like to bring that same level of joy to your household, try out this Hape wooden alphabet puzzle.
For bonus fun, the letters do stand up on their own. This will come in handy when it’s time to learn sight words.
Most importantly, Hape is a brand you can feel safe about giving to your toddler. The company only uses natural materials in its toys.
Pros
- Teaches letter recognition
- High-quality wood
Cons
- Customer complaints about paint chipping
Fat Brain Toys Name Puzzle
The Fat Brain Toys Name Puzzle is a personalized puzzle you have just got to have!
Your child’s name becomes a brightly colored and fun puzzle with this product. For a little one, it’s better than their name in lights!
These puzzles are a big hit in my friend circle. Every mom adores these personalized puzzles. Plus, it’s a fun way to introduce your child to their name and, later, how to spell it.
Not only is this a practical toy, but it’s also an attractive one. You can buy it early and until your child shows an interest in it, it makes an adorable piece of nursery or playroom decor.
Fat Brain Toys will personalize a puzzle with a name with up to 9 letters. If your child’s name happens to be longer than that, a nickname always works too!
Pros
- Attractive personalized name puzzle
- Teaches letter recognition and name spelling
Cons
- Colors are chosen at random and cannot be personalized
The Best Puzzles for 3-Year-Olds
The Asher and Olivia Puzzles offer the most bang for your buck with multiple wooden puzzles and a puzzle rack. For an inexpensive option that offers variety, the Aitey Puzzles meet this standard the best.
Asher and Olivia Puzzle
The Asher and Olivia Puzzles include a complete puzzle set and rack.
I repeat: this puzzle set includes a rack. Why is that important? I speak from experience: trying to find a puzzle rack after amassing a large collection is a puzzle in itself.
It’s a whole thing. Even if you buy the brand’s specified puzzle rack, not all their puzzles will fit. With this Asher and Olivia set, you won’t have to search for a suitable puzzle rack!
Beyond the now well-documented rack, this set includes 6 wooden insert puzzles with large pegs. It also has a foam clock for learning how to tell time!
These easy-to-grasp puzzles feature every toddler’s favorite themes: shapes, animals, numbers, letters, vehicles, and tasty fruits.
Pros
- 6 themed peg puzzles and a foam clock
- Puzzle rack
- No-questions-asked return policy
Cons
- Puzzles do not have images under the pieces
BEESTECH Wooden Puzzles
The BEESTECH Wooden Puzzles is a 4-pack of jigsaw fun!
In one box, you get 4 fun animal jigsaw puzzles! The pieces are perfectly sized for little ones, but large enough to not be a choking concern.
The manufacturer recommends these puzzles for ages 2 and up. However, I think these are better suited for 3 years and up. There are just too many pieces for a 2-year-old to put together.
Each puzzle has a different number of pieces for varying difficulty levels. The smallest puzzle is 9 pieces, while the largest is 20 pieces.
Included in the box set is a guide that features images of all 4 of the puzzles completed. It’s just a piece of paper, so try to keep track of it!
The box it comes in can be reused as a storage box. It’s not exactly a puzzle rack, but it will do!
Pros
- Large thick puzzle pieces
- Varying difficulty levels
- Includes storage box
Cons
- Guide paper is easy to lose
Wooden Animal Puzzles
The Wooden Animal Puzzles is a great bundle of colorful animal puzzles!
This bundle of lovely wooden puzzles will delight your toddler! The bright eye-catching colors will tear your kid’s attention away from anything, even “Baby Shark” or “Johnny, Johnny.” I swear.
Chunky puzzle pieces come together to create bright and colorful animals like a turtle, an owl, and a giraffe.
The organization addict in me loves how this puzzle set includes a drawstring bag. This makes storing the pieces a breeze and allows the boards to be stored separately and upright.
The major downside to these puzzles is that they lack a guideline image under the puzzle pieces. This might make it complicated for new puzzlers.
Pros
- Includes 8 puzzles
- Bright colors
- High Quality
- Smooth to the touch
Cons
- Doesn’t have matching images under puzzle pieces
Aitey Animal Puzzles
The Aitey Animal Puzzles includes 6 puzzles with different baby animals on them (Squirrel, Panda, Giraffe, Zebra, Elephant, Tiger). Colors are bright and vibrant, enticing your child to have fun while they solve each puzzle.
Each puzzle features 9 pieces, making this a simple and fun beginner puzzle for toddlers. They each measure 5.7″ x 5.7″ x 0.2″.
Pros
- Cute and vibrant animal illustrations
- 9 puzzle pieces each
- Great beginner puzzle
Cons
- Pieces are thinner than expected
Sesame Street Floor Puzzle
The Sesame Street Floor Puzzle is a fun floor puzzle featuring everyone’s favorite monster!
For toddlers, Elmo is practically Elvis. This makes him the perfect subject for a toddler floor puzzle!
Your toddler will love putting together the alphabet piece by piece with fun Sesame Street characters. The pieces are made of soft thick foam and are tough enough for some roughhousing.
The manufacturer’s recommended age is 2 to 10 years old. It’s a great way to build vocabulary and early spelling. Also, it makes a great floor mat too or kids can use it to build a block.
Currently, at a few months shy of 2 and a half years, my son can’t put this together correctly, but he certainly has fun putting it together incorrectly!
Meanwhile, his friend who is a few months ahead of him can put this together, so gauge your child’s skill level before buying. They can also grow into it!
This foam puzzle features all the favorite characters along with a coordinating word to match each letter. It has 27 pieces in total and is 12 x 2 x 12 inches tall.
Pros
- Features popular Sesame Street characters
- Soft foam pieces
- Teaches the alphabet
- Can work as a floor mat
Cons
- May not be suitable for some 2-year-olds
The Best Puzzles for 4-Year-Olds
Compared to the other two puzzles for 4-year-olds below, the Melissa & Doug Vehicles Puzzles are highly-rated, come with a storage box, and are sold at a very inexpensive price.
Wooden Puzzle
The Wooden Puzzle is a toy made for creative problem-solving.
I won’t lie. I was pretty skeptical of the recommended age range on this one. The recommended ages for this puzzle are 2 to 8 years.
I didn’t doubt the abilities of children, necessarily. I just couldn’t imagine my grown self fiddling with this thing for long without growing frustrated.
Am I smarter than a 3-year-old? No, I am not. I wouldn’t give this to a 2-year-old, but it’s definitely acceptable for 3 years or older!
There isn’t just one way to complete this Tetris-inspired puzzle. Multiple solutions work, which makes this an entertaining challenge.
Don’t worry – the back has an answer key if you need some help (like me!)
It includes 40 wood pieces and a puzzle board. All parts are made from high-quality wood and colored with non-toxic paint.
Pros
- Multiple solutions encourage creative problem solving
- Giftable
Cons
- Too complicated for young toddlers
Melissa & Doug Puzzles in a Box
The Melissa & Doug Puzzles in a Box is a fun puzzle set in a box.
Peg puzzles are typically made for younger children. Jigsaw puzzles, however, require more skill, which is why this is recommended for ages 3 to 6.
This nifty puzzle set includes 4 jigsaw puzzles and a wooden storage box. Each puzzle has 12 pieces each and creates a vibrant scene with a vehicle.
The company added a neat trick to these puzzles. If you’re afraid your child might dump out all the pieces and mix them up, don’t be.
On the back of every piece is a shape stamp. All the pieces for one puzzle have one corresponding shape, while another puzzle has another shape. Genius, right?
I’m highlighting the vehicle puzzle which has a train, a school bus, a fire truck, and a racecar. Still, don’t be deterred if your little one isn’t into things with wheels.
This set also comes in construction, dinosaur, fanciful friends, pets, and wild animal versions. There is something for every kid!
Pros
- Comes in several different themes
- Stamps on pieces differentiate between puzzles
- Includes storage box
Cons
- No guide image to help put pieces together
PlanToys Weather Dress-Up Puzzle
The PlanToys Weather Dress-Up Puzzle is perfect for Montessori teaching!
If you aren’t familiar with the Montessori style of teaching, it focuses strongly on independent learning. One aspect is learning about different weather.
When children understand the different seasons and the expected weather, they can then make independent choices, like choosing their own outfits for the day.
That is what makes this a must-have for any Montessori followers. The circular wooden puzzle is decorated with four children representing the different seasons.
Each character is dressed for a particular season, like a coat and a hat for winter or a swimsuit for summer.
The pieces also have depictions of the weather, like flowers in spring or barren trees in fall.
This sustainably-sourced puzzle is two-sided! The flipside of the tiles are stencils to make coloring time extra special!
Pros
- Great for Montessori education
- Teaches concepts of weather and seasons
- Made from chemical-free wood and water-based dyes
Cons
- Pricey
Comparing Toddler Puzzles
The table below compares only the recommended products on this page. A low or high Price means it is low or high compared to the other products listed. The Popularity Score reflects how often readers click on and buy the product. The Quality Score is our assessment of the overall performance and satisfaction with the product compared to others in the table.
| PlanToys Weather Dress-Up Puzzle | 8.9 | 9.0 | 39.98 |
| Asher and Olivia Puzzle | 9.7 | 9.2 | 36.99 |
| Sesame Street Floor Puzzle | 8.5 | 8.6 | 35.98 |
| Fat Brain Toys Name Puzzle | 9.8 | 9.8 | 26.95 |
| Wooden Animal Puzzles | 8.5 | 9.6 | 20.99 |
| Hape Alphabet Puzzle | 9.2 | 9.6 | 16.10 |
| Melissa & Doug Touch & Feel Puzzle | 9.8 | 9.4 | 12.99 |
| Hape Block Sorter | 8.1 | 9.6 | 12.76 |
| Melissa & Doug Puzzles in a Box | 9.9 | 9.4 | 11.99 |
| Learning Journey: My First Match It | 7.2 | 9.4 | 11.00 |
| Melissa & Doug Vehicles Puzzle | 9.8 | 9.6 | 9.99 |
| Wooden Puzzle | 9.9 | - | 9.99 |
| Aitey Animal Puzzles | 9.8 | 8.8 | 9.99 |
| Melissa & Doug Construction Puzzle | 9.8 | 9.8 | 9.74 |
| GYBBER&MUMU Shape Puzzle | 9.7 | 9.4 | 7.99 |
| TOP BRIGHT Number Puzzle | 4.8 | 9.4 | - |
| BEESTECH Wooden Puzzles | - | 8.2 | - |
| Melissa & Doug Farm Puzzle | 3.9 | -0.2 | - |
Gift Ideas for Toddlers
Gifts That Will Make Your 2-Year-Old Smarter
Best Books for 2-Year-Olds
Best Toy and Gift Ideas for 3-Year-Old Girls
Best Toy and Gift Ideas for a 3-Year-Old Boy
Best Toy and Gift Ideas for 4-Year-Old Girls
Best Toy and Gift Ideas for 4-Year-Old Boys
Buying Criteria for Toddler Puzzles
Durability
As with any toddler toy, it has to be able to take a beating. For this list, I wanted to include toddler puzzles made of strong materials.
Most of the puzzles on this list are made from strong high-quality wood. They are made to survive your chewing and drooling little love bug.
Difficulty
Toddlers can’t complete a 500-piece puzzle of Portland’s skyline. Most of them don’t even know what a skyline is.
Still, toddlerhood covers a varied range of ages. Most sources consider a toddler to be between 1 and 4 years old.
A 1-year-old needs a very different puzzle than a 4-year-old. For this list, we tried to include offerings for every step of toddlerhood.
Themes
There is a puzzle of everything. If you can dream it, you can print it up and cut it into jigsaw pieces!
Still, toddlers are drawn to certain looks and themes. Toys with bright colors and familiar themes grab a toddler’s attention first.
So, what themes are considered toddler favorites? Little ones love vehicles and animals. Of course, favorite characters like Elmo are always a hit.
They’re also drawn to shapes, numbers, and letters.
FAQs – Toddler Puzzles
What are the benefits of toddler puzzles?
Puzzles are vital to a toddler’s cognitive development. In fact, a child’s ability to complete puzzles is highlighted in the CDC’s milestones list.
By age 3, toddlers should be able to complete puzzles with 2 to 4 pieces. This is because completing any puzzle involves the mastery of a whole list of cognitive and physical skills.
Putting together 2 puzzle pieces doesn’t seem like a monumental task, but you aren’t seeing newborn babies accomplish it.
Through only a couple of years of play and exploring, children build up a skillset from scratch. Puzzles can show these skills all working together.
What skills do puzzles help strengthen and build?
- Hand-eye coordination
- Spatial awareness
- Fine motor skills
- Gross motor skills
- Concentration and focus
- Problem-solving
- Patience
- Shape recognition
- Memory
What kind of puzzle is right for my younger toddler?
Puzzles are a fantastic learning tool, as long as you are choosing developmentally appropriate ones. After all, you wouldn’t hand a 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle to a 2-year-old, right?
Choosing the right puzzle for a toddler is striking a balance between challenging and frustrating. Your little one should be mentally stimulated but not discouraged by something too difficult.
For young toddlers, which cover 18 months to 2 years old, stick with puzzle boards. These are also called insert puzzles. They are exactly what they sound like: pieces are inserted onto a board.
Small hands and clumsy motor skills do best with pieces that have large knobs to grasp. The Asher & Olivia puzzle set mentioned above is an example of this.
Toddlers at this stage can also stick with chunky puzzle pieces that have no knobs but are still easy to grasp. Look to the Hape Alphabet puzzle or the TOP BRIGHT Number puzzle.
As fine motor skills strengthen, your toddler can graduate to peg puzzles. The pegs are significantly smaller than the knobs. The first entry, the Melissa & Doug vehicle puzzle, is a peg puzzle.
What kind of puzzle is right for my older toddler?
Peg and knob puzzles are best for younger toddlers, but they are far too simple for older ones.
Eventually, your child won’t need the aid of knobs or pegs or even thick puzzle pieces. Now, they can break out the jigsaw puzzles.
Of course, they aren’t jumping into that 1,000-piece puzzle I brought up before. A lot of toddler jigsaw puzzles are only 2 or 3 pieces!
The BEESTECH Animal Beginner Puzzles are simple enough, as they are only 4 pieces. When your child has mastered the small puzzles, they can add in more and more pieces!
Outside of traditional puzzles, 3D puzzles are an entertaining learning tool as well.
You know your child best, so trust your instinct when choosing a puzzle for him or her!
