Developmental benefits of Alligator Alphabet Floor Puzzle by Mudpuppy Press:
Apart from the obvious fun of building puzzles this activity is sure to develop several functions of the brain simultaneously.
Most notably developed in this process are the abilities to reason, deduce, analyze, sequence and the development of logical thought and problem solving skills.

Alligator Alphabet Floor Puzzle
Lets look at the the skills applied and developed while building puzzles in more detail:
* Cognitive skills:
Problem solving, reasoning, seeing whole-part relationships,concentration and focus
* Visual Acuity:
The visual ability to resolve fine detail
* Fine motor skills: Manipulating the pieces of the puzzle to make them fit, development of the pincher grasp
* Hand-eye coordination: Being able to place or remove a piece in/from the puzzle without breaking the puzzle, manipulating the puzzle pieze to see if it fits
* Recognise shape and size
Puzzles help in the development of math and pre-reading skills by enhancing the ability of children to recognize shapes and sizes as well as the skills applied as discussed in the cognitive developmental skills above.
* Social skills:
Working in a team to finish a puzzle develops a lot of social skills at once, learning to ask for a particular piece to be passed, learning to handle frustration when a piece does not fit and the self-control needed to leave the puzzle alone between working on it

Guidelines and activities for selecting Puzzles for your toddler or child:

Age: 1 to 1.5 years

Simple wooden lift-out puzzles with big knobs that little fingers can grasp and manipulate with ease and matching pictures on the wooden base and puzzle piece are a great for introducing puzzles to babies and toddlers. Try choosing a puzzle that features pictures on a topic that interests your child - this not only helps them to match the puzzle piece to the correct space on the board but also provide something for the two of you to discuss while playing puzzle. Some wooden puzzles also comes with different textures on the puzzle pieces that enhances tactile stimulation.

Age: 1.5 to 2 years

Every child develops at his/her own pace - these are just guidelines and you are ultimately the judge of how difficult a puzzle is suitable for your child. The number of pieces or complexity of the puzzle picture your child can handle is not just determined by your child`s age but also by how often your child has been exposed to puzzle play. If your 3 year old has never played with a puzzle before then giving the child a 6 or 9 piece puzzle is only going to lead to a lot of tears and frustration. Give your child a chance to establish the basics of puzzle building by starting off with an easy puzzle with a simple picture and allow your child to set the pace for introducing puzzles with more pieces or more complex pictures.

Your toddler's first jigsaw puzzle should consist of 2 chunky puzzle pieces that have clear pictures and are easy for little hands to grasp and manipulate.
When your toddler start building 2 piece puzzles with ease - start introducing puzzles with 3 and 4 piece puzzles.

Age: 2 to 3 years

Your 2 to 3 year old will most probably be able to manipulate puzzles from 3 or 4 pieces (2 year old) to 9 pieces (3 year old). Try and get progressive puzzles that are sold in a box set - usually the box contains one or more 4 piece, 6 piece and 9 piece puzzle. You can also introduce wooden puzzles without knobs and without pictures on the puzzle board so that they can start to match puzzle pieces based on shape and size (wooden puzzles) as opposed to pictures.

Age: 3 to 4 years

At around 3 years of age you can start introducing cube puzzles. Remember that every cube has 6 pictures on them - 6 possible matches. If you are just introducing cube puzzles start with a simple two cube puzzle that features clear easy to match pictures before progressing to something more complex. Your 3 year old will most probably be ready for a 9 piece puzzle and by the time your little one is 4 he/she can most probably handle a 20 piece puzzle with an easy uncluttered picture.

Age: 4 to 5 years

Your 4 to 5 year old would like puzzles that range from 24 pieces to around 49. If they have been playing with cube puzzles they may already be at the point where they enjoy playing with 12 cube puzzles.

Age: 5 to 18 years

Once your child is in school you can introduce cardboard puzzles and from here on the number of pieces does not play as big role as the complexity of the picture. Again - start with an easy clear picture with little fine detail and then your child can graduate to puzzles with more complex pictures and more detail.

The following developmental skills and benefits are encouraged by Alligator Alphabet Floor Puzzle learning toy:

Alligator Alphabet Floor Puzzle develops Motor skills
Motor skills are actions that involve the movement of muscles in the body. They are divided into two groups: gross motor skills, which include the larger movements of arms, legs, feet, or the entire body (crawling, running, and jumping); and fine motor skills, which are smaller actions, such as grasping an object between the thumb and a finger or using the lips and tongue to taste objects or for speech.

Alligator Alphabet Floor Puzzle develops Fine motor skills
Fine motor skills involve a refined use of the small muscles controlling the hand, fingers, thumb, wrists, feet, toes, lips, and tongue.

The development of these skills allows one to be able to complete tasks such as writing, drawing, buttoning and speech. Fine motor abilities develop over time, starting with primitive gestures such as grabbing at objects, that develop into basic grasping and manipulation skills to more precise activities that involve precise hand-eye coordination in preschool years and onwards.

The preschooler becomes quite adept in self-help, construction, holding grips, and bimanual control tasks requiring the use of both hands. When the child enters middle childhood they make great progress in their artistic abilities. They begin to express themselves through drawing, sculpting, and clay modeling.

Alligator Alphabet Floor Puzzle develops Language and Speech
Speech is the ability to both understand and use language. The determination for achievement of this milestone will change depending on a child's age. For example, a 12-month-old baby saying dada as his first words and know that it means daddy, a two-year-old being able to name parts of her body while pointing to it, or a five-year-old learning to say "feet" instead of "foots".

Alligator Alphabet Floor Puzzle teaches reading and writing

Alligator Alphabet Floor Puzzle develops problem solving/Cognitive Development
Cognitive development is the process by which the brain develops the abilities to learn, remember and solve problems.

The foundation for these abilities starts during infancy as the brain begins forming countless synapses, or connections, between brain or nerve cells. The brain is made up of neurons (nerve cells resembling long wires).

When a baby is born there are relatively few connections between the neurons, and it is you and your baby's primary task to make new ones. Connections (synapses) between brain cells are made when a baby receives stimulation. As you engage and responds to your baby, you are helping to activate the formation of synapses. The synapses will combine to form neural pathways, and the configuration of those pathways will determine the child's ability to learn, relate to people, manage emotions, and function in the world.