Jigsaw Play

We went to our local Toddler group today! Once we had helped set up 'M' chose to sit with the jigsaws initially. Spotting a simple shapes one she proceeded to take each shape one at a time, take it out, have a look at it and then put it back in it’s spot.

After she had done this a couple of times with each shape I wanted to challenge her a little more. So I took two pieces out of their spots and placed them on the table next to the board. She easily put them both back in their correct places.

  

After seeing how easily she managed this she was happy to help me take all 4 shapes out onto the table and then she proceeded to put them back.

We did this a number of times, 'M' seemed to enjoy the challenge. Occasionally she would get a bit stuck on the rectangle or the triangle and after giving her a chance I would say “turn it round a bit” and it would fit back into the correct place. She rarely went to the wrong space with a piece, perhaps already having recognised the colour correlation, she just needed to try it a different way round.

 Characteristics of Effective Learning

'M' is definitely a child who likes a bit of a challenge! She seems to enjoy working things out and seems to notice details that other children may perhaps miss. She persevered in placing the shapes over and over. I mixed and spun the shapes around but 'M' was happy sat for quite some time repeatedly placing the shapes back into their correct spots, not getting frustrated but determined to get it right!

Next Steps

'M' already enjoys playing with my shape sorter I have at home but she just takes the top off! Bit of a cheat! Sit with her to encourage she uses the shapes around the sides. Present her with slightly harder jigsaws, perhaps two or three piece images too.