| This puzzle is my 2 1/2 year old son's absolute favorite. He does it on his own, and is starting to know the state names. He will do it over and over and over again, and thinks it's great fun. I think it's a great way to help him learn! It's kind of nice when a learning tool has to be pried out of my child's hands.... If I had one complaint, it would be that Alaska is on the bottom left corner of the puzzle; it would have been nice if they'd made the puzzle larger so they could stick Alaska in roughly the right place. Not a big deal, though. |
| My 3 year old son spotted this puzzle while we went browsing in the store. He wanted it SO badly even though it was rated for older children. Within 3 days of playing with this puzzle, he quickly mastered all 50 states, knew exactly where they all go at a moment's notice. Then in a few days, he is able to clearly identify and pronounce each state accurately. He can read a little bit, and I had to show him North and South so he could place the Dakotas in their places. We had moved to Arizona from California a few months earlier, so he understood that his "small house" was in CA and that we now live in AZ. Two weeks after playing this puzzle, we went to California to visit our old friends and favorite places. Upon returning home, he demonstrated he really understood the map even more and even knows Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Ocean and several cities. Because he has 2 other USA maps, he has said several times that "Michigan is a mistake! They forgot to cut out Upper Peninsula (Upper Michigann)"!!!! I was originally from Michigan and know that Michigan has 2 parts. What I'd like to see in this puzzle is 50 individual pieces, even though they may be small and that their cutouts reflect more accurate shapes (maybe make the states a bit bigger!). My parents still have the wooden puzzle from late 1960's with all 50 pieces. Now, where can I find wooden maps of other places: Europe, Africa, South America, and Asia, showing pictures of the countries, along with capital cities and other information? My son is already learning a few countries in Europe and is so eager and so ready to absorb more information in geography! We play the USA map puzzle practically every evening before he goes to bed! He's already map-literate far ahead of his peers and even amazed his summer camp teacher! Who says a 3 year old can't learn geography?! ;-) |
Great Educational Toy!
Kid-approved "sneaky education"
