Toys For Toddlers - 3 Reasons Jigsaw Puzzles Are the Best Toddler Toy

When trying to find toys for toddlers there is a vast spectrum of options. One of the best toys you can get for your toddler is a jigsaw puzzle. This article will discuss 3 reasons why jigsaw puzzles are the best toddler toy.

1. Improve Motor Skills: As toddlers learn, progress and become increasingly mobile, it is important that they develop fine motor skills. Putting together jigsaw puzzles is one of the best ways they can begin using and improving this skill. Grasping small objects and manipulating them can help toddlers increase these skills dramatically.

2. Develop Cognitive Skills: Cognitive skills are the mental capabilities of learning something. By developing these skills and using games like jigsaw puzzles to do so, a toddler will be getting their brain ready for the many academic skills they will be learning later in life.

3. Enhance Hand Eye Coordination: Coordinating your eyes and hands is an important ability of guiding your hands to do what your eyes are seeing. By requiring a toddler to place a puzzle piece in an exact location, either by changing its direction or by matching colors and shapes, jigsaw puzzles are one of the best toys for toddlers that help enhance this ability.

In this article we discussed 3 reasons jigsaw puzzles are the best toddler toy. By putting puzzles together children improve motor skills, develop cognitive skills and enhance hand eye coordination. All of these skills are a necessary part of functioning well and will help them later in life when they begin their academic journey.

Children's Floor Puzzles - Great For Kids Hand-Eye Coordination

Hand-eye coordination begins during infancy through providing infants with objects and colorful toys that will encourage them to reach out and grasp them. By the age of 4-5 months infants can bring their hands into their field of vision, and during toddlerhood further progress in hand-eye coordination comes with the ability to see and grasp objects accurately. They develop the "pincer grasp" during this time.

By three to four years of age children learn to handle eating utensils and button small buttons. By five years of age the child's hand-eye coordination is beginning to advance as he approaches, grasps and releases objects with precision and accuracy.

By six years of age the child's visual orientation changes as they shift their gaze more frequently and follow the progress of objects rather than staring at the object. By the time they reach school age through middle childhood they make great advances in speed, timing and coordination of hand-eye coordination.

Between the ages of three and six it is important to provide as many opportunities for children to develop their hand-eye coordination. But, what to do when it rains, snows or gets dark too early? Because visual feedback is vital for fast and accurate hand movements it is important to allow children to continue to develop their hand-eye coordination.

One great solution is a giant floor puzzle. These puzzles are very colorful, made of large enough pieces to not harm the child if they put them in their mouth, and provide an opportunity to develop hand-eye coordination while learning shapes and patterns.

Over the years I have cared for many children, and I have observed their behavior with floor puzzles. I take the diagram of the completed puzzle and seal it in plastic so they can refer to it without destroying it. Children will spend a lot of time learning the puzzle, and once they do they always want an adult to watch them and spend time with them putting the puzzle together. When they are older they will only put it together 2 or 3 times before losing interest, but they always go back to it when bored indoors.

Safe and educational, giant floor puzzles make a great indoor activity for when the weather keeps them indoors.

Structure - The Last (Or First) Piece of the Article Marketing Puzzle

Have you ever noticed how boundaries and structures that seem limiting at first actually give us more freedom? We think we don't want to be fenced in, we think we don't want to be controlled, but then we realize that boundaries give us freedom FROM and freedom TO.

For example:

Limiting the number of cups of coffee you drink frees you FROM the harmful effects of too much caffeine
Letting calls to your business line go straight to voicemail on evenings and weekends frees you TO cultivate your personal relationships and practice self-care

When it comes to article writing and article marketing, I know you probably have no shortage of ideas for how to help the members of your target market solve their most pressing problems.

Are you blocked by your thoughts? Start with structure.

But sometimes your ideas get blocked behind your thoughts (like "I'm not a writer," or "No one will want to read what I have to say," or "Who do I think I am, some kind of expert?"). You feel disheartened, discouraged and defeated, and you end up with no words and no article.

Writing structures like editorial schedules, generators and templates free you FROM hurtful self-talk, and FROM clutter and overwhelm. Writing structures free you TO write consistently and strategically, and TO let your creativity flow.

When you're blocked, I suggest you START WITH STRUCTURE:

Begin with a simple affirmation that will shut down your inner critic and unleash your creativity, e.g., I have a message that someone needs to hear and that person is only tuned in to hear it from my unique voice.
Create an editorial schedule with potential ideas for future articles or blog posts. It's much easier to start with an outline (or even a title) than a blank page.
Use a generator like the Top 10 Article Generator. People use formulas for a reason - they work! Or create a template based on an article that got a lot of attention from your audience.

Are you bogged down by your ideas? Finish with structure.

Other times, your ideas flow out so quickly that you feel overwhelmed, scattered and confused. You end up with words everywhere but still no article.

In an earlier blog post called, Writing structures - friend or foe? I told you to walk away from structure when you're bubbling over with ideas, suggesting instead that you capture your ideas as they flow instead of trying to box them into any kind of format.

I'm not contradicting that advice here, but I'm broadening my definition of structures to include idea catchers like journals, mind maps, voice recorders or a session with a ghostwriter.

When you're buzzing with ideas, I suggest you FINISH WITH STRUCTURE:

Begin by giving yourself the time and space to let all of your ideas out with the help of an idea catcher like a journal, mind map or voice recorder.
Use a readability checklist to hone in on the one main point you are trying to make.
Refer to your editorial schedule or content strategy to make sure you're being consistent with the message and brand you are delivering.

So I invite you to free yourself with the boundary of a writing structure. You will be giving a gift to everyone who is waiting to hear your unique message.