Dollar General Wooden Varied Animal Puzzle Review

The Dollar General Wooden Varied Animal Puzzle has nine puzzle pieces with a varied animal theme. The animals featured have at least one adult and at least one baby animal on each piece, including:

• penguins
• koala bears
• dolphins
• cate
• ducks
• elephants
• dogs
• zebras
• panda bears

My 2-year-old has recently become very interested in working puzzles, and this thick puzzle with knobs on top of the pieces is great for her because she can pick up and place these pieces much easier. The puzzle has an interesting mix of animals--many of them are zoo animals, but several are domesticated. It might have been more helpful to have made one with only zoo animals or one of only domesticated animals.

When you lift each piece, it has a matching picture underneath with the name of the animal printed on the base. My 5-year-old is starting to read, so she really likes to try to read the different animals names.

We have had this puzzle for several years, and it has survived intact and looking like new. All of the pieces sit flush in the base and only fit one way. This was a really good buy to me at about $2.00.

My Viewpoint:

I think puzzles like this are a great way for kids to learn about hand-eye coordination and how to match shapes. The puzzle is sturdy and is educational as children can learn the different names of the animals and see how to spell them as well. My kids especially like the baby animals pictured in this puzzle. I think it would help to have only zoo animals or only domesticated animals, but other than that, I really like this puzzle.