Melissa & Doug Wooden Bear Family Dress-Up Puzzle

I once worked as a parent educator bringing child development information and activities to families. During some of these sessions, we helped young children learn to identify the emotions they saw on people's faces. As adults, we sometimes assume that those emotional expressions are obvious and need no special attention, but for many children, what they see expressed on another's face can be hard to identify, leading to misunderstandings or even fear.

These Melissa and Doug bear dress-up puzzles are helpful in that they give children experience focusing on the emotions and facial expressions in a safe context. Each of the puzzles I've featured here has interchangeable faces for the bears as well as a variety of clothing options.

Your child can enjoy dressing each bear and deciding how the bear is feeling today. Together you can use the bears to act out stories the two of you already know, such as Goldilocks and the Three Bears or a story in the Little Bear series. If you'd rather, you can make up your own stories using the bears, too. Children playing together can also use the bears to spark their imaginations in free play scenarios.

Product Features:

• 45 pieces to mix and match
• Mama, Papa, and Baby Bears
• Wooden box with three compartments
• Box lid serves as a puzzle board
• Storytelling fun
• Quality made wooden puzzle
• Fun for travel, home, or school
• Recommended for children from 36 months to 5 years

Product Features:

• 18 interchangeable pieces, including 6 facial expressions
• Outfits include hats, shoes, dresses, and bows
• Hand crafted, hand painted
• Solid wood construction
• Comes in wooden box with place to display bear
• Faces help children learn about emotions
• Ideal for travel, home, and school
• Recommended for children aged 3 and up

Both of these bear dress-up puzzles would be fun for kids, and either one would be a good choice for a gift. They both have story-telling possibilities, but the bear family puzzle probably can be used in a wider range of stories. Both puzzles are made by Melissa and Doug, a company known for making high quality wooden puzzles for kids.

One thing that will decide your choice will be price, and the smaller 18- piece bear dress-up puzzle is certainly less expensive. If, however, your main consideration is versatility, the bear family would be a wiser choice for play value. With three bear figures, you will have just that many more scenarios you can act out.

The main use for both puzzles, however, is the way children can learn to recognize the facial expressions on the bears and come to understand what emotion each face expresses. The road to emotional intelligence is a long one, and these puzzles will do much to nudge your child along in this direction. For this reason, either of these puzzles would be a wise choice and a welcome gift.