How to Solve Picture Puzzles for Kids

Choose an age-appropriate puzzle. Puzzle boxes usually indicate the intended age range for most puzzles. Puzzles for younger children have fewer, larger pieces with brighter colors and simpler whole images; more advanced puzzles likely have a larger amount of smaller pictures and finer detail.

Spread out all the puzzle pieces onto a clean work table so that the picture sides are facing upwards. Invite your child to flip over pieces that have landed face down so that she understands which sides are useful and which are not.

Prop up the top of the puzzle box so that it is in clear view during puzzle building. The puzzle box top has an image of the final picture. Refer to the box so the child understands that all the small pieces create a larger piece that looks like the picture on the box.

Help your child make three distinct piles of puzzle pieces. One pile should contain four puzzle pieces with two flat edges. The second pile should contain the puzzle pieces with one flat edge. The last should have pieces with no flat edges.

Begin with the pieces with two flat edges. Explain that each of the four pieces represents a corner of the puzzle. Invite your child to hold each corner piece up to the picture on the puzzle box to match the corners. Place the corners on the work table in their respective locations to create a frame about the size of the whole puzzle.

Scan through the pieces with flat edges to finish the frame of the puzzle. Explain that the flat edges face the outside of the frame. Show your child how to look for matching colors, shapes or letters between to pieces to match them. Demonstrate that the shapes of the curved edges of the pieces interlock to create a complete frame.

Add the last pile of pieces to the interior of the puzzle. For larger puzzles, it is useful to work with the interior pieces on their own to create small clusters of images before transferring them into the puzzle frame. If your child's puzzle has fewer pieces, build the interior pieces directly into the frame. The interior is usually the most challenging part of puzzle building, so refer your child back to the picture frequently to match colors, shapes and words as well as match interlocking edge shapes.

Place the final puzzle piece into the puzzle. Compare the final puzzle to the picture on the box to double-check your work.