How good is your 4 year old at puzzles?

[laohaire]

It's a silly question, it's just because I'm honestly impressed with how well my kid does puzzles.

But then again was thinking, maybe it's not anything unusual at all

It doesn't even matter if it's unusual or not, I was just curious, you know?

[SoulCakes]

What kind of puzzles?

My daughter (just turned 5) was always surprisingly good at jigsaw puzzles for a 3 or 4 year old. She does other puzzles and plays games on the computer, too, but I don't really look over her shoulder that often so I don't know if she solves them quickly or slowly, much less how quickly other children her age can solve them.

Sorry, I guess I'm not much help.

[laohaire]

Sorry, yeah, I meant jigsaw puzzles.

Like, would a typical 4 year old be putting together 100 piece puzzles, that sort of thing.

[MJB]

My 4 yr. old has been doing 100 piece puzzles since 3.5. He is gifted though so I don't think that's typical. I think typical would be more like 50 pieces at 4. I do think 100 pieces at 4 is within the normal range, though.

[LynnS6]

I'm pretty sure that typical for 4 is about 25 piece puzzles.

One of my kids is quite good, the other is not. The one who isn't has motor planning issues, and has a very hard time orienting the pieces. He never got much pleasure from puzzles.

[4evermom]

My ds never took to puzzles so he wasn't even doing 25 piece ones at 4. That's probably his level now at 8, lol. But he was excellent at mazes.

[LeslieB]

My son can barely do a 10-piece puzzle. He just doesn't care for them much. I need to find some new, more interesting ones so maybe it will hold his interest when it gets tough.

[laohaire]

Thanks! Again, it was silly of me to even ask. DD isn't gifted or anything but I thought it seemed kind of cool. It's just nice when your kid shines at something.

[Joyster]

We've been working on large puzzles since he was 3.5. As long as it has dinosaurs or ocean animals, he's good for up to around 200 pieces. He's not gifted, just brilliantly bright like his mother.

[StrawberryFields]

My ds just started doing puzzles. I bought him a 35 piece with a busy scene and he did it REALLY quickly. So I am guessing that maybe twice that would be more appropriate for him? I'm not sure, he really hasn't been exposed to puzzles very much.

[redpajama]

My son just turned five. We didn't really discover that he loved puzzles until he was 4-or-so--at which point he could do 24-piece really quickly and easily, a 70-piece puzzle kept his attention and was engaging and challenging, but not difficult, and a 100-piece puzzle was doable, but he would sometimes get overwhelmed by it and walk away for a while before returning to finish it.

[lyterae]

DD just turned 4 and can easily do 60 piece puzzles. The 100 piece puzzles are overwhelming for her though.

[dex_millie]

DS does 24 pieces at 3. I am thinking at 4 it might be 50 pieces, we'll see. He is very active and puzzles is one of a few things he does quitely.

[Daffodil]

No way could I see my 4 year old doing a 100 piece puzzle. I doubt he would even attempt a 10-piece puzzle by himself. For some reason, neither of my kids have ever seen puzzles as something they could sit and do by themselves - they expect me to help. DS has been interested in puzzles lately, and he can find some pieces that go together, but if he, 7 year old DD, and I do a 100-piece puzzle, I probably do at least half of it, DD does most of the rest, and DS does maybe 10%, with a lot of help.

[sunnmama]

Originally Posted by laohaire

It's just nice when your kid shines at something.

Yes, it is!

My son is 3 and does 48 piece puzzles, with a little support from me. He wouldn't do them alone, but enjoys it if I am there saying "Hey, here's the green dinosaur's head!"

It's cool, though, because my 9 yo dd really never couldn't master puzzles when she was small. We would both just get frustrated, lol. She watches her 3 yo brother do these puzzles and is just amazed and impressed! That is kind of cool and sweet in its own right

But, my dd is incredibly gifted in other areas. It really is amazing to see them reveal their individual interests and strengths

[Enudely]

If I could keep them organized, I might find out!

[velochic]

I think some kids like puzzles and others don't... those that do probably excel at them because they are interested. It's certainly not silly to ask about it! These are things parents get curious about.

My mom lives with us and she does the big 1000 piece puzzles. Dd, who just turned 8 last month, has been helping her for years. A large part of that is she enjoys puzzles but also she has a long attention span and patience. She was doing 100 piece puzzles by herself at 4 because she enjoyed them. I don't attach labels to her, so I have no idea if she is "gifted", but she's the top of her class in an academically rigorous school that you have to test into, so I suppose it could be that. However, IMHO, I think it's more about enjoyment and patience than anything else.

[Landover]

My 4.5 year old doesn't like puzzles (neither do I) and he won't even put together a 25 piece puzzle. That being said... he has been reading at a 1st grade level since he was 3.5. Doing puzzles has a lot to do with interest level, family involvement and interest level, and desire to do them versus intelligence.

[4Marmalade]

DD1 (who will be 5 in May) went through a crazy puzzle phase about a year ago. Daily, she would take out all our puzzles and do them all over the upstairs floors. They ranged from 35-100 pieces. Now she can regularly do the 60 piece puzzles within a short time and the 100 piece ones in a bit of a longer time frame. Ds1 (7-1/2) has absolutely no interest in puzzles and I doubt he has even finished a puzzle on his own unless you count the wooden baby ones .

[minkin03]

my dd just turned 4 in december and has loved puzzles for as long as i can remember. right now she's capable of doing 300 piece puzzles but takes her several days.

eta: she hasn't been tested, but i suspect that she's gifted.