25 piece okay really only 24 pieces

When I was a child puzzles were one of my favorite things to play with. I still love puzzles and I think this is the reason why I love to quilt. I think of quilting as one big puzzle. So when Anna showed some interest in a puzzle that Geralyn gave us I was very excited.

Anna has a Clifford the big red dog DVD that she enjoys. Anna loves anything with an animals. Down came the puzzle out of the closet, I spread the 25 pieces out on the floor and quickly remembered the table is a better choice for puzzles. I not sure when I learned how to put together a puzzle or sure if anyone had to teach me to do one or whether I just followed one of my older sisters but I can see where a puzzle can be hard for a child.

When all the pieces were out she looked at them like they were foreign objects which to her they were I am guessing. For the past 6 weeks the puzzle has come down out of the closet on average of 3-4 times per week. Some where along the line we lost a piece of the puzzle but in an effort to make lemonade out of lemons we practiced saying the word "piece". Which she now points out to me that there is a piece missing every time the puzzle gets put together along with an "Uh-Oh."

No lie we put the puzzle together at least 10-12 times each time it comes down. I am not proud to say this but I am now tired of playing with this puzzle and have secretly wished that it were a different puzzle but Anna loves it. If we had more then one puzzle I think it would have been harder for her to get the concept down. I am amazed at her level of attention when the puzzle comes down because she and I will play with it for about an hour or longer.

I see where she is starting to really get the concept of how to put together a puzzle now. I could put it together in less then a minute but it is not about me any more. We went from trying to join any to pieces to trying to join two pieces of one color. Now she is able to see the connection between Clifford's eyes and the fact that his mouth goes under his eyes.

The past 2 or 3 times that the puzzle has come down I have noticed that she is getting faster at putting it together. Yesterday, I decided to just give her 2 pieces at a time, then the next 2 pieces to see if she realizes how they match up and she did. A proud moment for me. Then I started to mix it up even more and give her 3 pieces for the upper right hand side then 3 pieces for the lower left hand side. She figured it out.

By the end of our hour of playing with the puzzle I was able to hand her 5 pieces at a time and she could put them together with no prompting from me at all. What a difference, what a wonderful difference. I am so happy to see her growing and learning. She amazes me every day.