When your child manipulates puzzle pieces,
she practices control of the small muscles in the hands. The control of these fine muscle movements develops slowly and depends upon a great deal of practice. Puzzle pieces should be large enough and sturdy enough to allow for chubby preschool fingers.

A simple first puzzle may consist of only one piece that
fits into a cut out slot. You can improve such puzzles for use by clumsy little hands
by attaching knobs to the pieces.

Another skill that puzzles help perfect, is hand-eye coordination.
A preschooler can begin to use visual cues such as patterns and colors to help match pieces together. Puzzles teach children how parts fit together to form a whole. For the inexperienced preschooler, choose a puzzle that has a clear single image such as one large puppy or fish.
Also look for puzzles that have pieces based on recognizable parts of a single image, such as the tail, nose, eye, or fin. Parts of the body are easier to learn when one can be picked up individually
and fit in it's proper place.

Puzzles help exercise a child's memory. Many children delight
in seeing just how fast they can fit puzzle pieces together once they have figured it out. A valuable tool in remembering how pieces fit is the ability to verbalize or talk about how pieces go together. You can help your child by using verbal directions such as "All the blue pieces go here", or, "Where does the puppy's tail go?" As puzzles get more complicated you can point out shape relationships such as "You need a smooth piece here." or "this edge is curved."

Another way to encourage the use of verbal skills is to ask
your child to tell you where he is going to put a piece, or encourage him to describe the kind of piece that will fit. A simple form board; a puzzle with single geometric shapes can help teach
your child shape discrimination.