the layered look
Filed Under Stuff, Tips & Tricks | October 13, 2009
If you’re still wondering how to broach the topic of sex with your tots after our articles on “the talk“, we may have discovered the perfect ice breaker - Beleduc’s five layer Your Body boy and girl puzzles.
These wooden, non-toxic, European-designed puzzles are focused on teaching kids about their bodies. Working from the ground up – or perhaps the inside out would be more accurate – the base layer of each puzzle is a skeleton, the next the organs, then the muscle, then the skin and finally a clothed little girl or boy. The layers allow you to mix your body science chat in with a discussion of about what we look like without our skin on, how big our brains are and more, potentially diffusing the situation for you and your kids.
With 29 pieces, the Your Body puzzle is aimed at kids of three and up and isn’t particularly challenging from a puzzle point of view, but we’ve tested it with kids from three to six, all of whom loved layering up the different parts of their anatomy. Admittedly they also got a little silly, “forgetting” important puzzle pieces like oh, say, underwear…but that was the perfect opening for us to discuss the private parts of one’s body.
Beleduc also makes other five layer puzzles including fish and cat body puzzles, a From Caterpillar to Butterfly puzzle, a 4 Seasons puzzle, a Grandma and Grandpa puzzle that shows a person’s development from baby to an “older person” (their words, not ours) and puzzles that show how honey, cheese and wool go from raw to finished materials. In fact, in a perfect world we’d have a five layer puzzle handy to illustrate most of our conversations with our kids about what’s happening in the world around them.
Your Body – 5 Layer Girl & Boy Puzzle: www.pedagogytoys.com
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