puzzled

Before Christmas if I had given EM a puzzle to put together he would start whining, "I can't do it."  "Its too hard."  I tried the most basic of puzzles

He'd try and try and wouldn't get any where.  Then Dad comes in and offers simple instructions like "Match the colors," and BAM EM is doing puzzles.  I was telling him to line up the outside, look for things that were similar, but it didn't click until Dad comes along with his grand ol' words of advice.  We moved from the simple puzzles like the Melissa and Doug one above to more complicated one that didn't fit into a board frame.  It had 24 pieces.  I told Dad, "I think it's too much for him at one time."  Dad said, "Watch."  Again simple instructions from Dad, "Fine the picture inside the puzzle and put that together and then work on the rest."  BAM! puzzle success! All this puzzle success was giving EM a great since of confidence.  He gets sooo excited when he learns a new skill.  After he's mastered something then he works on speed.  "Watch me complete this puzzle supa fast!"

He spent a week doing a 24 piece puzzle "supa fast"  before we upped the puzzle game to 48 pieces.
He's now a pro.  Now he's in supa fast mode with the 48.  Moonpie suggests we get a 1000 piece puzzle of the milky way for his next adventure.