The Amazing Mess Gift Guide: Part 2 (Puzzles & Games)

Part 1 of our gift guide can be found here (it includes books, building, & imaginative play).


Continuing with our gift guide for little ones, I’d like to focus on puzzles and games.  Puzzles are a great gift — perfect for developing fine motor  and spatial skills.


Board games are a favorite around our house, as well!  They are great for developing numerical skill, and the ever-necessary cooperative/social skills.  (Yes, we have some sore losers around here sometimes — including me!)


Puzzles:

Our TOP PICK is the Melissa & Doug Deluxe Classic Peg Puzzle (Pack of 3).  It contains three great puzzles for learning letters, numbers, and colors.

 

The Melissa & Doug Deluxe Latches Board has all kinds of latches to explore.

This Melissa & Doug Magnetic Hide and Seek Board is the perfect beginner puzzle for toddlers and prescholers!

Hands-on practice with tying, buckles, etc. is so easy with this Melissa and Doug Basic Skills Board.

We love how the Melissa & Doug Farm Sound Puzzle makes the animal sounds as you put in the correct puzzle piece.

We don’t have this Melissa & Doug Puzzle Storage Case Single Wire, but we have a similar one.  It’s nice to have a place to store all of our puzzles!


Can you tell we are Melissa & Doug fans around here?!!


Games:

 

Sequence for Kids is one of our favorite games.  It says ages 3-6, but I think it has enough strategy in it, older kids will like it as well.

What can I say?  Candyland is a classic!

 

Candy Land Castle Game is a great beginning game for toddlers.  We used to play this with all the girls even when our youngest was just under age two.

 

Chutes and Ladders is another classic!

 

Hi Ho Cherry-O is great for those early numerical skills.

 

ThinkFun Zingo is just fun!

If you need an active game, Elefun is the way to go!

 

Tri-Ominos For Kids was one of my favorite games as a little girl.

Count Your Chickens is a cooperative game — it’s nice because there are no winners or losers!  Everyone is helping each other.


Do you have a favorite puzzle or game I missed?