Melissa and Doug First Shapes Jumbo Puzzle

I am a huge fan of puzzles for every age group, so I wanted to introduce them to Kira as soon as possible. They have so many benefits, including cognitive, fine motor and attention, and they are inexpensive compared to so many other toys out there. We've always loved the Melissa and Doug brand for it's durability, bright colors and basic, traditional approach.

This Melissa & Doug First Shapes Jumbo features a house with each shape making up a part of the picture. The circle is the sun, the rectangle is the house door, the square is the window, the oval is a tree and the triangle is part of the roof. Each shape has a large, wooden knob to help little hands manipulate and grasp. Each puzzle piece is chunky and bold.

These puzzles are quite heavy, so I used to have to help Kira if she attempted to carry it by herself. Now she's fine, but it would be painful to drop on little toes! She was initially drawn to the puzzle because of it's bright colors and the fact that it had a door (she's was really into doors around the year mark!). She was starting to become consistent with shape recognition around 14 months, and this puzzle helped a lot. I could ask her to find the circle, for example, and she will pick it up and put it in the puzzle. This made shape learning fun for her. She found the circle and triangle fairly easy to put in, but struggled a bit with the oval. The square and rectangle were hit and miss depending on the day. Sometimes, she got a little frustrated if she couldn't fit the shapes by herself. I wouldn't attempt this puzzle with kids any younger than 13 months, and she probably would have been less frustrated if she was a little older.

Kira has thrown and dropped the pieces multiple times, but they are tough and have even withstood a little chewing here and there. We have bought more puzzles from the Melissa and Doug line as Kira has outgrown this one.