My daughter used to rave about these wooden puzzles that she put together at daycare, so I finally asked to see them one day when I was picking her up. She was so proud that she could put the whole puzzle together by herself that I just had to find some for home.

They are wooden jigsaw puzzles by Melissa and Doug and they are so fun and easy for small hands. Our favorite puzzles are the ones that come in the wood carrying case and have 4 puzzles per case. They have them in a variety of themes including:

~ Vehicles in a Box Jigsaw Puzzles

~ Construction in a Box Jigsaw Puzzles

~ Pets in a Box Jigsaw Puzzles

~ Sea Life in a Box Jigsaw Puzzles

~ Melissa & Doug Deluxe Zoo in a Box Jigsaw Puzzles

These wooden puzzles are large enough that a two-year old can start to put them together with help and by the time your child is three and four, he will easily be able to do them alone. They aren't so childish that older children can't have fun with them though - my seven year old loves them just as much as her 4-year old sister!

Here's a tip for you when using your puzzles - each box comes with 4 puzzles. If you don't want to have to put them all together each time that your child uses them to figure out which pieces go with each puzzle, take a felt-tip pen when you first get your puzzles and write a different shape on each piece of the matching puzzles. For example, one puzzle will get all circles, another all squares, another diamonds, and another triangles.

Your kids will be able to put the pieces away themselves and learn shapes at the same time. You could also mark each puzzle piece with a letter or number! It's a great way to help them learn while cleaning up.

After finding and buying these wooden puzzles, I've become a big fan of all things Melissa and Doug - they have so many educational toys that are well-made and fun to play with!