Puzzles are often touted as the epitome of educational toys - but why? Virtually every child uses them. Even adults find putting together large jigsaw puzzles entertaining. Kids are having fun, but what are they learning if there are no keyboards and computer chips?

"Children are interested in puzzle making because they can be active as observers, problem solvers, and learners…", says Nancy S. Maldonado, Ed.D ("Puzzles, a Pathetically Neglected, Commonly Available Resource" in Young Children magazine. May 1996). Young preschoolers are dependent upon adults for virtually every emotional and physical need. But, they can act independently in their puzzle play as they complete a simple picture puzzle and experience making a whole out of a few disjointed parts.

"Between the ages of two and three, children enjoy simple inset puzzles. With each solution they gain skills and self-confidence." Says Dr. Helen Boehm (in her book, The Right Toys, copyright 1986). Dr. Boehm and other professionals praise the large, colorful shapes and the unique textures of the Lauri Crepe Rubber puzzles for refining trial-and-error strategies and helping memory in young preschoolers. For instance, Familiar Things features one-piece objects that fit into a frame which prepares toddlers for more challenging multi-piece puzzles. As children try to place the chunky shapes, through trial-and-error they learn and remember which ones fit and which ones do not.

Unexpectedly, puzzles lay the ground work for mathematics. "Fitting puzzles together requires recognizing shapes (pre-geometry), some trial and error, and a lot of logical elimination of possibilities (math thinking skills).", explains Mary Pride in her book, The Big Book of Home Learning. She includes Lauri puzzles in the ones she recommends and purchases for her own children. From basic shapes to BIG Puzzles with up to 92 pieces, Lauri helps build higher math skills needed later in life.

Lauri Early Learning Puzzles are frequently praised because each piece represents a specific shape or logical part. This allows young children to identify and name each part of a whole. Imagine the confusion for a preschooler if a wheel and piece of a train engine are on a single puzzle piece. "An overly complicated puzzle will leave a child frustrated and bored.", states Dorothy Einon in Play With A Purpose (copyright 1985). Logically divided parts make construction of Lauri puzzles uncomplicated for beginners. Lauri even supplies a pattern in each Early Learning Puzzle. Showing each part on a pattern allows children to find a solution without help from an adult.

Puzzles build pre-reading skills too. The skills used to select a puzzle piece to fit a specific hole are the same skills used to detect the difference between the letters "b" and "d". In her book, The Best Toys, Books & Videos (copyright 1996), Joanne Oppenheim says Lauri Kids puzzle "…pushes kids to look at small differences just as they must when reading words that look almost alike, such as "cap" and "cup".".

Normally puzzle fun ends when a piece is lost. "Nothing frustrates a child more than to find that the final piece to complete a puzzle is missing…young children have a need to see a thing whole, complete.", says Nancy S. Maldonado. Fortunately, Lauri replaces lost pieces -- there’s a fifty-cent "finder’s fee" and we ship it within 72 hours. For 25 years this unique service has made Lauri puzzles more valuable to daycare centers, teachers and parents. Complete puzzles help kids attain a greater sense of accomplishment to assemble a whole, perfect puzzle.

In early childhood, "puzzling" is one of the earliest and most basic developmental activities preparing kids for complex tasks and higher levels of learning. Lauri Crepe Rubber puzzles are timeless classics and ideal manipulatives to teach young learners independence, logical thought and reading, writing, and math skills. They are superior in durability to foam, plastic and cardboard. We hear how great it is that Lauri puzzles are so quiet, too. Lauri puzzles, and the skills they help kids to develop, can last a lifetime.