How many pieces in a jigsaw puzzle are best for 7-9 year olds?

7-9 year old are in that in between age -  too big for kid’s puzzle but can also struggle with a traditional 1000 piece puzzle. A common question is therefore, how many piece jigsaw puzzles are best for 7 to 9 year old’s. 

In order to answer this pressing question, Nicola, one of the Journey of Something founders, has just the thing - an 8-year-old and a 9-year-old.

Nicola with Guinea pig number one -  her 8 year old daughter 

 

Nicola’s brother with Guinea big number two, her 9 year old son, doing a Journey of Something jigsaw puzzle.

 

Naturally, Nicola’s children live in a house with ample access to jigsaw puzzles of all shapes and sizes. So, here is what Nicola says on what jigsaw puzzles are best for 7 – 9 year old’s.

“Although my kids will not hesitate to tell you, that they are WAY too big for kid’s puzzle, if I leave a kid’s puzzle out on the table (even one as basic as our 24 piece puzzle) they still cant help but have a crack as they walk past. Here's one of the Journey of Something kid's jigsaw puzzles they love to do but wont admit ...

 

It may only take them a few minutes to complete the 24 piece puzzle, but there is still something satisfying in starting and completing the puzzle that I know they enjoy. Not every jigsaw puzzle has to take you 6 hours to complete. Even for a seasoned jigsaw puzzler like myself, I still enjoy taking a brain break by completing a mini puzzle or kid’s puzzle.

My 8 year old actually struggles a bit with our mini puzzles even though they are only 42 pieces. This is because the image on a puzzle is so much more important to a puzzle’s difficulty then the size and the number of puzzle pieces. In other words, she can nail a 500 piece puzzle that has lots of distinct imagery and not too much repetition of colour, but will lose focus easily over a small jigsaw puzzle that has lots of the same colour.

She doesnt like this mini jigsaw puzzle even though it's only 42 peices: 

 

But she enjoys this 500 piece jigsaw puzzle

Therein lies the answer of what size jigsaw puzzles are best for 7 – 9 year old’s. When selecting a jigsaw puzzle for this age group, focus less on the number of puzzle pieces and more on what the jigsaw puzzle image is.

The perfect kind of image is our 500 piece jigsaw puzzle, Memory Lane. Each toy is easily identifiable so there are lots of mini sections to work on. A kid can pick up a puzzle piece and analyse it to work out where in the jigsaw puzzle it belongs.”

If your 7 – 9 year old is avid puzzler, then the 1000 piece jigsaw we recommend based on the level of details in the imagery are:

1000 piece jigsaw puzzle, The Good Room

1000 piece jigsaw puzzle, Australia

And once they have mastered those 1000 piece puzzles, we suggest moving on to:

1000 piece jigsaw puzzle, Budgabulla

1000 piece jigsaw puzzle, Upside Downtown