New Zealand Floor Puzzle product reviews

This giant floor puzzle is such a bright and vibrant coloured creation that young children are instantly drawn to the pieces and start to put the puzzle together. However I am a bit worried about the age level 4 to 6 years or older as the 4 year olds at my workplace struggled to put the puzzle together without support from one of the teachers, and these are the children that love to do puzzles.

Once the 4 year old children had seen the puzzle put together a few times they were able to put a few more pieces together by themselves but some of the pieces of the puzzle fit together but aren't meant to go together but the children didn't realise the picture didn't match and because the pieces slotted together they assumed it was in the right place and this caused confusion when the other pieces didn't fit together.

The puzzle is a great piece of kiwiana and I love all the places/landmarks animals etc that make our country unique are all displayed on this puzzle, even the skytower in Auckland because young children know the skytower before they know Auckland so it is super cute to see this landmark on the puzzle. Even having a Pukeko and Takahe, Hectors Dolphin children are able to learn about the protected and endangered animals that live in or around New Zealand....not that Pukeko's are endangered but they are unique to New Zealand and we see them everywhere.

The box the puzzle comes in is a handy reference for the children to look at to see where the pieces are meant to fit together and it is also a handy storage system but I do agree that it could be bigger to fit the puzzle pieces into as children not tend to pack away in a tidy manner, usually they throw the pieces into the box and the lid won't close....it will only close if all the pieces are laid just right so they lay flat and what young child will do that?!

The puzzle pieces are thick cardboard which is good for younger children because they aren't that gentle when trying to fit the pieces together...if they think it fits or not they are determined to make it fit and when it comes to pulling the puzzle apart they more or less rip the pieces apart so the puzzle needs to be sturdy enough to withstand this action.

We have had the puzzle for 2 weeks now and it has been played with everyday since, and the puzzle still looks brand new and none of the pieces have bent or the picture hasn't peeled off like some other puzzles can do, so that is great! Because the children as most 4 year olds aren't exactly careful so for this puzzle to be tested like it has and have survived this long is a good testament.

Just recently brought this form the book man that goes to the preschool with lots of different things that he sells. My kids love puzzles so this was a no brainer to buy as they love the big floor puzzles. I loved that it was a floor puzzle of NZ and has all the main areas on it, animal life and more, its great to teach them about places as they are doing up the puzzle.

Now my daughter who is 4 which is the age the puzzle is designed for she has no problems getting this together, doing the outside edge first which is awesome since its all the same and you know what bits go next to which just gotta word out which real piece it is, as they all have the same boarder. Once made up we sat and talked about NZ and where she lived etc. The puzzle does have its tricky bits and does challenge her a bit.

It comes in a neat little carry box, the only prob I have with the puzzles that come in these types of boxes the kids can't seem to get it all back into the box how it was when you first get it, they just want to push it all in and get it to fit. they would be better to come in boxes a little bit bigger to fit the pieces instead of having to line them up in the box to get them to fit right. Its a lovely designed puzzle and nice bright colours