Jigsaw puzzles for kids: how many pieces for each age

How many pieces for each age

Children vary a lot, and a child who has done plenty of puzzles will race ahead of these numbers. But as a starting point for jigsaws on a screen:

If a child gives up, drop down a size rather than helping too much. The aim is a finished picture and the "I did it" feeling; the next size up can wait until the current one feels easy.

Which jigsaw app for which age

Yuzool has two free places to do jigsaws, made for different ages:

• Ages 2 to 8: Tiddlebay. Its Jigsaws game starts with a picture cut into two halves, with the picture shown faintly where the pieces go, and builds up a level at a time through four and six pieces to real knobbed pieces and on to 24. Friendly characters say every instruction aloud, so it works before a child can read. There is nothing to buy in the children's part: grown-up things are behind a grown-ups' gate.
• Ages 5 and up, and families: Jigsaw. Classic interlocking jigsaws from 12 pieces upwards, 44 pictures drawn for the game, a Daily jigsaw, and puzzles from your own photos. It suits a child who can drag a piece accurately and enjoys a proper picture, and it is the same app the grown-ups use.

Both run in the web browser on a tablet, phone or computer, with no account and no adverts.

Pictures children like

The picture matters as much as the piece count. Children do best with pictures full of things they can name: a boat, a dog, a red door, a kite. Big skies and soft landscapes are hard at any age.

In Jigsaw, good first pictures are the ones with lots going on and strong colours:

• The sweet shop and Pick and mix: jars and sweets in bright colours.
• Beach huts and Regatta day: stripes and sails you can sort by colour.
• Kite day and Balloon festival: distinct shapes against the sky.
• Button box and Patchwork quilt: patterns where every piece looks different.
• Island map: a treasure-map island to talk about as you build it.

Best of all is often a photo of something they know. Tap Add a photo and choose a picture of their pet, their bedroom, a grandparent or their own drawing; a 12 or 24-piece puzzle of their own dog is hard to beat. The photo is cut up on your device and never uploaded. Our guide to making a jigsaw from a photo explains which photos work best.

How to teach a child to do a jigsaw

1. Look at the picture together first. Name what is in it. In Jigsaw, the Picture button keeps the finished picture in a corner, like the box lid.
2. Find the corners. Every rectangular jigsaw has exactly four. Ask "which pieces have two straight sides?"
3. Then the edges. Pieces with one straight side go round the outside. The Edges button hides the middle pieces so only these are left.
4. Match what you can see. Half a boat goes with the other half of the boat. Two pieces dropped close to each other click together, and a small sound and buzz says they have joined.
5. Fill in the rest. When a part is plain, look at the shapes: a knob fits a hole.
6. Celebrate the finish. The pieces' seams fade away at the end and the time and number of moves come up on a card.

Screen jigsaws or cardboard ones?

Both are good, and they teach the same things. Cardboard pieces are better for small hands learning to grip, and for a puzzle on the kitchen table that everybody joins in. Screen jigsaws are tidier (no lost pieces, no tidying up), travel well in a bag, can be any size, and can be made from your own photos in seconds.

Some practical points for screen puzzles with children:

• A tablet is easier than a phone: bigger pieces at the same count.
• Turn off Show the clock in Settings if timing would make it feel like a race. The time is still kept, out of sight.
• Puzzles are saved as you go, so a child can stop for tea and carry on later. Up to 12 can be on the go at once.
• Pieces never need turning in free puzzles; every piece starts the right way up.

When they want more

A child who has mastered 48 pieces is ready for the Daily jigsaw: about 60 pieces, the same picture for everyone each day, so they can race a parent or a grandparent over breakfast. After that, 80 and 120-piece puzzles on a tablet, and the order of work in our guide to free online jigsaw puzzles: frame first, sort by colour, clumps of things you recognise, plain areas last.

For a different kind of puzzle on the same idea of looking carefully, Tiddlebay also has shadow matching, patterns and logic paths for the younger ones.