Here’s a fun way not just to do puzzles with a toddler, but to make finding the pieces a part of the puzzle, too!

Veronika and I played around with this idea in two ways. For the first, I wanted puzzle pieces that were small enough to fit inside of plastic Easter eggs (well, they almost fit), leaving them slightly open and in very obvious hiding spots. I was hiding them for a two-year-old after all!

I laid a few of the puzzle pieces out on the coffee table to capture Veronika’s interest, but then told her, “Oh no! Where are the rest of the pieces?”

The bright plastic egg colors caught her eye, and she was soon trotting off to bring the pieces over.

A jigsaw puzzle is beyond her abilities, but she loved watching the images of favorite trucks come together.

She even slotted in the final few pieces!

For the second version of the game, I used a chunky toddler puzzle that she can solve all by herself. Once more I hid the pieces, although “hiding” was again a relative term, really just scattering the pieces under nearby pillows.

She was so delighted when she spotted them and immediately knew how to fit each animal over its image on the puzzle board.

Hmm, she was missing three pieces. Was anything hiding under the scarf?

Ta da!

I loved watching her brain do double the puzzling in this fun activity.