I first stumbled upon this awesome puzzle at Satara, a local baby boutique here in Madison. I quickly fell in love for several different reasons.
1) Everyone love this puzzle. Babies love to chew on the animals. Toddlers love to story tell and use their imaginations with the animals. Older kids love the challenge of putting the puzzle together. Adults love the challenge, too. (It really IS tricky at first!)
2) Eco-Friendly. The rubber wood that it’s made out of is safe for babies and toddlers to put in their mouth. No toxins leeching here.
3) Educational. One side of the puzzle has capital letters, the other side has lower case letters. You can practice all sorts of letter recognition and beginning sounds.
It costs a pretty penny . . . around $35-$4o. But it makes a great gift, or maybe if you’re kids are good, Santa can bring it.
They also have a HUGE version of this puzzle that is really, really cool. (It runs about double the price.) However, for the reasons above, it just may be something that you can justify purchasing!
There are several other smaller puzzles of the same idea. This little guy is desperately reeeaaaaching for his beloved snail puzzle pieces that have numbers on one side and roman numerals on the other. His 2 year old sister LOVES putting this one together. Check them out and choose the best for you. http://www.beginagaintoys.com
Happy Monday,
Kristi