At a Glance
This print-and-go elf puzzle offers a fun, hands-on challenge for preschool, kindergarten and other early learners. Children will practice their scissor skills and spatial awareness as they cut out the missing pieces and glue them in place to complete the cute little elf. It is a fantastic, low-prep activity for building visual discrimination and fine motor control during a Christmas unit or as a holiday morning bin option.
Looking for a low-prep activity to keep your little elves busy this Christmas? This cut and paste complete the elf puzzle is just the ticket!
Your children will need to carefully cut out the four puzzle pieces and match them to the correct spots to complete the cute elf image above. It’s a great way to sneak in a bit of problem-solving while working on those all-important fine motor skills.
This cut and paste activity is easy to prepare (just print off and grab some scissors and glue) and although puzzles like this may seem simple to us, there’s actually a lot of skills that are needed to solve a puzzle like this.
They’ll have to have decent cutting skills to be able to cut the pieces out neatly enough that they line up where they need to go. Problem solving skills to work out where to place them. And great fine motor control to stick them in position!
If your little learners are after some more fun Christmas themed learning, you can check out some more activities here!
What Skills Can Your Children Learn And Practice?
When using this Christmas puzzle, your children will have the chance to practice and develop skills such as:
- Fine motor skills – they will have to use a good pincer grip to pick up the puzzle pieces and place them in the right place
- Hand-eye coordination – to ensure they can move and line up the pieces
- Cutting and sticking – they’ll need good cutting and sticking skills to carefully cut out the puzzle pieces and arrange them correctly on the grid
- Problem solving – they’ll have to work out how to put the puzzle together correctly using their problem solving skills. Will they work methodically, one piece at a time until they’re happy it looks right? Will they use trial and error to see what works?
- Patience – they may have to try lots of configurations before they get all the pieces in the correct places.
How To Prepare This Printable Elf Puzzle
This one’s pretty straight forward!
First you’re going to want to download the puzzle by clicking on the image at the bottom of the page.
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There’s color and black and white versions in the pack so your little ones can practice their pencil skills as well (and you can save a little on ink)!
Once you’ve downloaded it, you’ll need to print it off onto paper or card.
Boom – after that, your part’s pretty much done!
Grab some scissors and some glue and your little learners are ready to start practicing those fine motor and problem solving skills.
Enjoy!
