No matter the piece-count, tackling a jigsaw puzzle is a fun way to boost your child’s brainpower. Puzzles are especially great for little ones because they teach many essential life skills, without your child even realizing they are actually learning through play! We looked at the best floor puzzles specifically designed to foster early brain development in children aged three to six. 

A Little bit of History

The year was 1767 when an English mapmaker by the name of John Spilsbury created the very first jigsaw puzzle by mounting a map on a sheet of wood and cutting it into little pieces using a saw. He challenged the public to reassemble it – which proved extremely perplexing back then because there was no picture to work off. A wave of artists followed suit and began cutting up their paintings and drawings and selling them as puzzles. Today puzzles are loved by both young and old, and it is no surprise why. 

Puzzles are more than just a form of passing time. They challenge the entire brain – both the left and the right hemispheres. That is because the left side of the brain (our analytical side) works to logically sort the pieces, while the right side of the brain (our creative side) serves to see the finished product. Puzzles are particularly important educational learning tools for toddlers and young children as they provide many skills and mental learning benefits. Completing a puzzle sets a single goal to achieve, and helps develop problem-solving, reasoning skills, and developing solutions. Whether your child’s attention span is a minute-long or an hour-long, keep in mind that it takes time for children to develop smooth fine movements so start with larger puzzle pieces first, and then move onto puzzles with smaller pieces. 

If You Have Time On Your Hands

Currently, the world's largest jigsaw puzzle is by camera company Kodak. They released a whopping 51,300-piece puzzle that stretches 28.5 by 6.25 feet when complete. "Wonders Of The World" consists of 27 separate jigsaws of various photographs of landmarks across the globe, such as the Great Wall of China, the Colosseum, the New York City skyline, and the Taj Mahal. The puzzle comes split into 27 separately packaged puzzles, which then interlock to become one giant puzzle. Another mammoth puzzle is the “Memorable Disney Moments” - with over 40,000 pieces, measuring 22 feet long and over 6 feet wide, and with an estimated completion time of about 600 hours. The image displays 10 scenes from the most popular Disney films, including Snow White, Fantasia, Dumbo, Bambi, Cinderella, Peter Pan, The Jungle Book, The Little Mermaid, Beauty, and the Beast, and The Lion King.