Puzzle Piece Count

[MikeDingas]

Anyone have any thoughts on the number of puzzle pieces for youngsters (by age group)? I've got some 1/4" 5 ply wood and 3/0 skip tooth Olson blades on order. My first puzzle attempt will be a blue frog for my neighbors 5 year old.

Why a blue frog? Well, James (that's the child) told us never to pick one up 'cuz their poisonous. Days later he brought me a frog book with, you guessed it, a blue frog picture. He had to show us he wasn't making it up!

I don't want to make it too hard, nor too easy for him. He's smart and I can't have him showing me up again!

[lucky788scroller]

hmm make it a 500 piece puzzle! That'll show him! I would say piece count should also coincide with puzzle size. I would think 25 pieces would be a good challenge. Dale

[PuzzledMoose]

This one would keep him busy - http://chrisandnaomi.hathawayhome.ne...jigsaw_puzzle/

[PuzzledMoose]

On a more sensible note I found this paragraph about five year olds and puzzles. Sounds like Dale's suggestion of 25 pieces is in the right ballpark ..

" Five-year-olds are good puzzle solvers. They can handle both small (up to 18 pieces) and large (18-35 pieces) puzzles, depending on the theme. They particularly like puzzles that offer a challenge, where “puzzling it out” is more apparent. They might have to figure out body parts or plant parts, for example, or distinguish between buildings in a busy city scene.
Five-year-olds move from the pleasure of the doing to the pleasure of task mastery. They also consider time on task an important factor in their work. They enjoy setting their own timeframe: the quicker the completion of the puzzle, the better, promoting feelings of satisfaction.

This overview of puzzles appropriate to children’s ages shows that puzzle solving develops through experience-related stages, from the simple to the complex. It’s important to note that not all young children have had experiences with puzzles. This means some 5-year-olds can do 35-piece puzzles without frames, while others have difficulty with 12-piece framed puzzles.
As teachers, you will observe and work with children to provide puzzles that fit various individuals’ needs. Know your children. By careful observation, you can provide for a range of developmental abilities, with puzzles ranging in type, size, and theme."

[workin for wood]

I agree with the 25 pieces, and don't show him/her what the picture should look like either. I have a 5 year old and she can handle that.

I suggest the puzzle be thick, like at least 1/2 inch. Them 5 year olds will break the pins off 1/4 inch puzzles, trust me they will. my daughter has put her puzzle i made for her together 20 times or more, and she has also chewed it, punched it, kicked it, mashed it into a container, you name it..anything short of pouring ketchup on it...that may still be yet to come !

I have to make her another one, because she has removed alot of the pins and lost them, so next time I'll go 1/2 inch thick...perhaps I'll go with 1/2 thick steel ?

[utbva]

A lot of it depends on the child. I still remember my first puzzles. They were framed puzzles with the shape of the pieces stamped in the backer board. I remember putting them together countless times. Then I graduated to more complex puzzles. I think it is important to keep the child interested and challenged, but not so complex that they become frustrated and then they give up.

[Carter-Johnson]

Mike, of my grandchildren, one isn't good with puzzles, one is great but doesn't care about them and another was putting together 12-piece puzzles at age 2. Who knows? For a five-year-old, around 20 pieces should be fine. 1/4" wood in fine also. It helps them learn the concept of flat jigsaw puzzles. They'll take care of them better than you think.

Here is a children's puzzle of about 35 pieces. Note that it has images within the picture that lend themselves to being cut as puzzle pieces. I'll post picture of both the front and the back. The overall size is about a square foot.

Have phun.....Carter

[GrayBeard Phil]

Mike D.

3/0 blade will be too small of a kerf for any child under 8 years. It has to do with the accuracy of placing the piece just-so to fit in with the rest of the pieces.

I cannot find the reference among my books but Patrick Spielman I am sure wrote in one of his books that #3 was the smallest kerf for young children, but a #5 was best. (I think it has something to do with the development of the fine coordination of the muscles in the finger tips. I hope someone with knowledge of child development will chime in.)

3/0 blade would be a good choice for Teenagers and Adults since the accuracy of exact fitting adds to the challenge.

But just be very accurate in making the table 90 degrees to the blade if you do use a 3/0 blade or even a 2/0 for puzzles. I have been there and made a puzzle that could only be put together by sliding the pieces in from the back.

Just IMHO

Phil

[Minnesota scroller]

Originally Posted by GrayBeard Phil

I cannot find the reference among my books but Patrick Spielman I am sure wrote in one of his books that #3 was the smallest kerf for young children, but a #5 was best. (I think it has something to do with the development of the fine coordination of the muscles in the finger tips. I hope someone with knowledge of child development will chime in.)

Phil

I questioned Ben Fink at bensscrollsaw.com, where I get some of my blades from, about this and he also said most people use #5 blades for small children's puzzles. I tried them in a couple simple 3 piece 3/4" puzzles and they worked good.

[SharonW0111]

Mike -- I made a few of the animal puzzles in SSW mags just for the sake of sawing- I put them on a shelf in baggies and when my grandaughter saw them when I was throwing out scrap wood she got all excited and wanted to do one. the first one she picked up was of the family of owls in a tree- not an easy puzzle for even grown-ups. but she put it together and wanted more.I was thankful that I had all the puzzles in baggies when they were in the shop and I just tossed bags and all in the burn pile. So we retrieved all of the puzzles and she happly put them all together with joy.She was 6 then and she now thinks I have to make every puzzle that I come across. She doesn't care for jigsaw puzzles but loves the ones out of wood. Go figure what makes a child think the way they do but you have to love em just the same.
Sharon