Orchard Toys – Big Police Car, shaped floor puzzle review

The lovely people at Orchard Toys recently sent us one of their new products to try. We were sent Big Police Car shaped floor puzzle. We love Orchard Toys here and have a large cupboard full of various Orchard Toy products that I have bought over the years.

Rowan was at home when the parcel arrived and was so excited when he saw the Police car on the box. He abandoned what he was playing with a found a space on the play room floor to set to work on the floor puzzle. I’ve found that floor puzzles work really well with younger children as they are able to get down on the floor and really get to grips with trying to put the puzzle together and then once complete are able to examine the picture closely. You will more often than not find Rowan and the child I am currently caring for on the floor playing.

Rowan has become quite methodical in his approach to putting puzzles together, he likes to empty the whole box onto the floor and then spends time turning pieces over so they are face up before sorting them into pieces with edges and those without. However The Big Police Car had him stumped. I realised it was because there were not the edges he was used to. I explained that the puzzle was a bit different and that when it was finished it would form a shape. He spent a further five minutes or so looking at each piece in turn and running his finger around the sides. Once happy he sat on the floor with the box to one side of him and started trying to fit pieces together. He needed a little bit of help with a couple of pieces but managed to put the rest together himself. Then he stood up to have a look at his handy work. We talked about the different Police things in the picture, one of Rowan’s uncles is a Police Officer so he always seems to enjoy Police related activities as he can make the connection to his uncle.

Then Rowan took the puzzle apart and put it away again, I wasn’t quite sure why but when the older two came home from school he got the box out again and this time put the whole puzzle together on his own. Then he called his brothers over to show them the puzzle, he was quite proud of himself for putting the puzzle together himself. Needless to say that Trystan had to then take it apart and put it together himself.

The recommended age for Big Police Car is 3 years plus but one of the children I look after who is two years old has managed to complete the puzzle with some help where needed. Each puzzle piece is well made and chunky making them perfect for small hands. This is a perfect tool for helping young children learn about people that help us. Another great product from Orchard Toys which will be used again and again.