“The M&S Woodland Wonders jigsaw is excellent. It has large pieces that little hands can manage and is a nice way to teach your child about woodland animals while encouraging dexterity.”

Buy in store at M&S

Price £5

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Initial Thoughts: I have to confess that I am not a fan of jigsaws, because in our house it seems to be a law that some piece will eventually be lost forever. Honestly, I have never enjoyed putting them together myself, so the idea of ‘helping’ little fingers doesn’t fill me with joy. However, looking past the fact that this is a dreaded JIGSAW, this is actually eight small puzzles each with just two or three pieces, and which slot together into pictures of woodland animals.

We liked: The simplicity. For a toddler a whole jigsaw can be overwhelming but a mini jigsaw of two or three pieces is much more achievable. Ben had great fun identifying animals he knew and learning about a few new ones (like the fox). At just over two he is maybe a little too old to be excited by different textures, but Ciaran (7 months) liked stroking the textured pieces and I can see that a younger toddler would get a kick out of the different textures.

Perhaps the key selling point of this, for Mums like me at least, is the fact that an older toddler can be left alone to get on with it, and after a little practice can put the jigsaw pieces together alone on the floor while you clean up the breakfast things.

We weren’t so keen: Ciaran did seem to hurt himself with some of the edges, but to be fair, this is a toy aimed at older children and if I am going to take my eyes off the baby, then he is bound to find something to hurt himself with. Tsk.

As with any jigsaw in a messy house we have lost pieces, but there is nothing that Marks and Spencer’s can do about that – and thankfully there are seven other animals to make if you do lose one of the pieces.

Overall: For a jigsaw this is excellent. It has large pieces that little hands can manage and is a nice way to teach your child about woodland animals while encouraging dexterity. If I could get over my loathing of jigsaws I am sure this would get a much higher mark.

[Ellen - World of a Mummy]