Here are some terrific homemade puzzles for toddlers using paper plates! They are so easy to make and their level of difficulty can be easily adjusted to suit the individual needs of the child.
Possum (aged 2.2 years) has shown a keen interest lately in learning about colours. Maybe it’s a toddler thing. Whilst she isn’t yet able to correctly name them, she is more than happy to have a guess and that’s what we strongly encourage within our household. Some of the activities that we have done in the past to assist her learning include sorting colours with sticky contact paper and with coloured envelopes.
Another great interest of Possum’s at the moment is puzzles! I often will borrow wooden ones from the local Toy Library, which is a good, cheap way to keep up with her interest and challenge her thinking.
Being conscious of these areas of interest I decided to make some homemade puzzles using paper plates!
To make these you will need –
I love when children are included in the making process as such activities. Of course Possum is a massive fan of using paint and the paper plate made a simple surface for her to cover. It was also a lovely to paint together as mother and baby. 😉
Paint one colour for each paper plate and allow it to dry completely. Talk lots about colour with your child.
One your paper plates have completely dried, you can go about cutting them into puzzle pieces. For toddlers like Possum, I would suggest cutting your plates as I have done (above). It isn’t just about putting the piece together according to their shapes, but also sorting and matching the colours so be sure not to make the puzzle too difficult.
Once all the pieces were cut I simply presented the puzzles to Possum to sort and solve. Of course, the can be simplified by handing your child only one, two or three puzzles at a time. Remember, keep learning fun and always positive
Possum didn’t have any difficulty sorting the colours. She seemed to naturally go about grouping the puzzle pieces according to their colours before working out how the puzzle pieces fit together.
The puzzle that was divided into quarters (4 pieces) was quite difficult for her but was able to complete it once she was shown how it was to look when completed. Once Possum has experienced playing with these puzzles for some time and is confident to complete it, I will consider cutting the up further to increase the difficulty.
The wonderful thing about these handmade puzzles using paper plates, they are so easily made to suit the needs of your own children.
Would your child enjoy these homemade puzzles?
Here are some other ideas you might like –
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Love simple, doable, effective ideas like this! Thanks for sharing. Pinned 🙂
So easy to do Debs and ongoing fun!
Such a simple but fun activity.
Thank you very kindly Claire! It was so simple and lots of fun to play with. I also love that they take up no room to store. 🙂
I love this inexpensive and fun idea for a birthday party! This and the playdough
Thanks Erika!!! I hadn’t thought of it for birthday parties but think it’s a fabulous idea. Thanks for your comment. 🙂
My preschooler saw the pictures and immediately asked if we could do them. Thanks for this fantastic learning activity.
Fantastic! We still play with these puzzles. I like that I can just keep cutting them as her skills grow. Thanks for your comment Deborah. 🙂
Absolutely ingenious! I tried to make simple shape puzzles from the paper plates that were left over from my son’s recent birthday party. He absolutely enjoyed every step of it. From the coloring, to the cutting and to solving the puzzle itself.
So glad to hear that Tashya! Thanks so much for taking the time to share that with me. 🙂
Awesome idea. Never thought of that before. Thanks for sharing. Please keep sharing such amazing and doable ideas.
You’re welcome Kajal!