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Our Top 3 Picks for Best Puzzles for 2-Year-Olds
Puzzles are one of the best toys for kids. There are so many benefits for their development, and they are fun! Even 2-year-olds love to play with and figure out puzzles. But what is the best puzzle for 2-year-olds? You want to find one that challenges them, but isn’t so hard it doesn’t get used or is discouraging.
These are the top 10 best puzzles for 2-year-olds out there. We found a variety of puzzles that will challenge toddlers, encourage development like motor skills and problem-solving, and they will love doing them, so you can find the perfect puzzle for your little one.
- Our Top 3 Picks for Best Puzzles for 2-Year-Olds
- The Best Puzzles for 2-Year-Olds
- 1. Melissa & Doug Wooden Peg Puzzle 6 Pack & Puzzle Storage Rack
- 2. Ayeboovi Puzzles for Kids
- 3. Kidzlane Sorting & Matching Educational Egg Toy
- 4. Melissa & Doug Disney Peg Puzzle Bundle
- 5. GETIANLAI Wooden Sorting Block Puzzles
- 6. 2 Pack Chunky Wooden Peg Board Alphabet Puzzles
- 7. Melissa & Doug Pattern Blocks and Boards
- 8. The Learning Journey Self-Correcting Animal Matching Puzzles
- 9. CozyBomB Wooden Number Puzzle
- 10. LIKEE Wooden Pattern Blocks Animals Jigsaw Puzzle
- FAQ on Puzzles for 2-Year-Olds
- Final thoughts
The Best Puzzles for 2-Year-Olds
1. Melissa & Doug Wooden Peg Puzzle 6 Pack & Puzzle Storage Rack
Simple wooden puzzles are perfect for toddlers, and this pack of six even comes with a wire rack for easy storage.
Included are numbers, letters, farm animals, safari animals, pets, and vehicles. All great for learning and the animals and vehicles are fan favorites with little ones.
Storing puzzles like these with the little knobs can be a pain because they won’t always stack well. Plus, kids can’t see which puzzle is which without moving them around and probably dumping puzzle pieces everywhere. The wire storage rack is handy for fixing this problem. It provides easy storage, and toddlers can peek at which puzzle they want to pull out without knocking them all over.
There are other puzzle-and-storage rack bundles available, but this one gets the no. 1 spot for two reasons. First, Melissa & Doug is a well-loved and trusted brand. Second, the wire rack holds 12 puzzles, so you have room to add more.
2. Ayeboovi Puzzles for Kids
Knob puzzles can be great for children learning fine motor skills and pre-writing, but some kids might prefer a simpler style. These adorable puzzles don’t have knobs and are nice and thick, making them a bit easier to grasp.
This set of six puzzles comes with an owl, a dog, a firetruck, a turtle, an elephant, and an airplane. The designs are really cute with beautiful colors that would be really enticing to a toddler.
Parents who purchased this say that it’s the perfect size for 2-year-old hands, and easy enough for them to learn to put it together fairly quickly.
Also, because the pieces are thick and chunky, they can stand up on their side, which is really neat. It also adds an additional way to play with them.
3. Kidzlane Sorting & Matching Educational Egg Toy
This simple egg puzzle is perfect for 2-year-old children. It’s really simple to use, perfect for developing fine motor skills.
There are two variations of this puzzle. One has different colors and dots inside the eggs for toddlers to count and match together. The other has shapes and colors to match.
Children don’t need help from an adult to figure out if they got it right because it’s self-correcting, meaning either the two sides of the eggs fit together or they don’t.
Also, if you have a kitchen set, these are a perfect addition for older kids to play with too!
4. Melissa & Doug Disney Peg Puzzle Bundle
These peg puzzles from Melissa & Doug featuring beloved Disney characters would be a great addition to our top choice puzzle pack above, or just a great buy on their own.
It’s the perfect educational pack of numbers, letters, and shapes/colors for toddler learning. Plus, the Disney characters mean toddlers will reach for this even more than others because they will probably recognize them. Though if you’re following a specific learning style, like Montessori, this might not be the best choice because of the characters, and a more neutral design would work better.
5. GETIANLAI Wooden Sorting Block Puzzles
Sorting and stacking are activities toddlers love, and this puzzle lets kids do both!
There are five shapes and four colors, so kids can sort them by shape how the puzzle is intended or go rogue and sort them by color independently. It’s rated for children ages three and older, but plenty of reviewers said their children as young as one-year-old were able to do this puzzle.
6. 2 Pack Chunky Wooden Peg Board Alphabet Puzzles
Simple, but perfect. This pack of uppercase and lowercase letter puzzles will grow with your child for a few years.
As toddlers they’ll love putting the puzzles together, and as they get older you can use the letters when learning to read. Spell simple words with them to practice.
7. Melissa & Doug Pattern Blocks and Boards
This pattern block puzzle game is rated for ages three and up, but precocious 2-year-olds could definitely give it a try.
This set comes with 120 colorful wooden pieces and five wooden puzzle boards. Plus, you can print puzzles for these pieces off the internet for free with a quick Google search. They can even be used to create beautiful mandalas.
It’s a great jumping-off point for your child’s imagination and creativity beyond just completing a puzzle.
8. The Learning Journey Self-Correcting Animal Matching Puzzles
Your child’s first jigsaw puzzle! Many jigsaw-style puzzles are a little too advanced for a lot of 2-year-old children, but the limited number of pieces makes this one a great choice.
This set includes 15 two-piece animal puzzles. One each piece is an animal head or tail for kids to match, which gives them the chance to work on problem-solving skills and learning different animals too.
9. CozyBomB Wooden Number Puzzle
This is like three puzzles in one. There are numbers, shapes, and pegs to stack rings and practice counting.
The counting and accurately sorting the rings might be a little advanced for a 2-year-old child, which is probably why the manufacturer recommends this for children three and older. However, a toddler could easily do the number and shape portions, and will have some room to grow with this puzzle.
The biggest drawback is that there are a lot of pieces for parents to clean up.
10. LIKEE Wooden Pattern Blocks Animals Jigsaw Puzzle
Here’s another chance to grow their imagination, plus learn colors and shapes, with this unique puzzle game.
This one is a little old for 2-year-old children to exactly follow the instructions, but many parents who purchased it say they still enjoyed “freestyling” with the shapes.
The premise is simple. There’s a box of different colored shapes with cards depicting different things for the child to copy with the shapes. It’s similar to the Melissa & Doug pattern blocks also on this list, but we like how this one comes with little storage boxes, making this one good to take on the road.
FAQ on Puzzles for 2-Year-Olds
Can 2-year-olds do puzzles?
Yes. We wouldn’t recommend breaking out the 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle, or even the 150-piece jigsaw puzzle yet, but there are plenty of fun and engaging puzzles designed for 2-year-old children.
Every puzzle on this list is one a 2-year-old can play with. A few are a little more advanced for a precocious toddler who might be closer to three, but even those are still fun to play with and will help with learning things like colors and shapes.
What age should toddlers do puzzles?
Toddlers can start doing puzzles as soon as they can grasp the pieces. Even children as young as a year old can begin doing some of the puzzles on this list, like this type of egg puzzle that even the tiniest hands can grasp.
Are puzzles good for 2-year-olds?
Puzzles are a great choice for 2-year-old children because they are educational and help with development. Most will give the opportunity to work on learning shapes, numbers, colors, animals, letters, and more.
Plus, the physical act of grasping and moving around the pieces helps children develop fine motor skills. Toddlers also start to learn problem-solving skills and persistence through doing puzzles.
What kind of puzzles can a 2-year-old do?
The most popular and easiest puzzles for 2-year-olds are the big knob puzzles that are fairly easy to grasp. These are also self-correcting puzzles, meaning there is only one space each piece fits into, so kids can know if they get the puzzle correct even without parental help.
How many piece puzzle should a 2-year-old do?
It depends on what type of pieces they are. If you are looking for a knob puzzle like the first puzzle set on our list, then some 2-year-olds will be able to do as many as 20 or more pieces, like the alphabet.
However, if it is more of a jigsaw puzzle, it’s best to keep it to just a few pieces.
Final thoughts
Puzzles can keep toddlers busy for hours if you choose the right one. This list packed with the best puzzles for 2-year-olds is a great starting point to finding a puzzle your little one will love.
Looking for more toys for 2-year-olds? Here are the best toys for 2-year-old girls.