Imagination Generation USA States Chunky Puzzle Board - Learn All 50 States with Professor Poplar's Wooden Pegged Puzzles - Children's Educational Toys - USA States

We bought the States puzzle a couple of years ago, and it's has been through some rough handling by a preschooler and many attempts at losing the pieces, but I'm happy to say that it is still intact and damage free. We have to help with where the states go, but it has been great for increasing familiarity and discussion about the different states and what's unique about them. The quality is great, pieces are sturdy with nice coloring. The wood base is much better than the cardboard used by a lot of puzzles. Would buy again!

I was worried about getting this puzzle when people mentioned that they wished the states had been outlined on the base of the puzzle so that the pieces could be easily put into place but I actually love that this puzzle has a blank base because it requires my kids and I to memorize the location of the states to find their placement. We just opened this puzzle today and have had several rounds of timing ourselves to see if we can get the states in the right place as quickly as possible. Each time we play it we learn a new way of remembering where states are. My kids are the ones who keep eagerly dumping out all the pieces and trying to place them in the right place and they have learned way more about the states in this one day of playing this game than any other way that I have tried to teach the states. The bright colors seem to draw my kids into wanting to play with it again and again. And it seems durable enough to last us a long time.The shapes of the states are very generalized. For example, we live in Michigan and the shape of Michigan is far from its actual shape, it looks like it’s one large piece of land rather than two pieces separated by water and it looks nothing like a glove. However I got this for my kids to learn location memorization and general shape memorization and this puzzle works perfectly for that.I never expected my kids to learn so much from this puzzle in one day, I love it!

I bought this for a 10 year old to help memorize the location of states, after 5 minutes of being told it is for babies she used it and likes it. Except for the East coast each puzzle piece is the state shape. They are very sturdy. The East coast is 1 large piece with the names of states on side. The larger states have a symbol of what the state is known for. Please note, you will need to add Washington DC as it is not labeled. We currently put a timer on to see how quickly the map can be assembled or remove states we have traveled to, or just use the state capitols. This had been very useful in memorizing the state shapes and what they border. We have had it a week and it has been used. Yes it is in the style of a preschool puzzle but will help older children memorize states.

Pros:Great graphics, vibrant colorsOne symbol per stateBack of each state has the capital and nicknameBoard: is thick and sturdyCons:Print is TINY (see photo)States are not in individual grooved holders. They depend on pressure from each piece to hold them in place.No pegs to help remove states, you must either always start with California, (which has a cut-out) or pry the state out with your fingernail, which damages the image.No outlines on the background board to help reconstruct. If all the states are removed, it's a blank board. This might be good for older children, but I purchased this for our 4YO granddaughter and it was too difficult for her, as the pieces are tiny.Take-away:This set would be better suited for a 6 or 7-year-old.

My daughter loves it

As a teacher mom, I absolutely LOVE this puzzle. It’s the cutest USA puzzle I’ve seen, and we have four of them. This one is unique because, instead of just the state capital, it shows that and also includes the nicknames for each state like, “The Lonestar State”, “The Equality State”, “The Sunshine State”, etc. This makes it a perfect companion to the Stack the States app. Our three elementary kids have used this map with the app since distance learning began with COVID school closures, and they’ve continued to do it for 15 minutes a day throughout the summer, too. They’ve learned so much about our country!When they dump the puzzle out, it takes a lottt of work and patience to put it back together. They usually have to look at another map of the ISA to put it together for most of it since there’s no boundaries that show you where the states go.

My daughter was struggling with learning the states for school. I got this in hopes that it would help her remember what each state was. She went from failing to passing within a week and she loves using it.

We bought this for our 2.5 year old who is always asking where we and relatives live her in the US. The wooden pieces are difficult to fit and keep in place unless we assist him because they are shaped like the state itself, which is a good thing to be in the shape of the state, but in the way it's done with this puzzle, pieces easily shift and move unless they are already bordered by other pieces to keep them from moving; as an adult I find it difficult to get them to stay in place myself. The second disappointment is that the poster that comes with it shows puzzle pieces out of place in the image (in order to show that the state's nickname is on the back) so for a child who is trying to use it as a reference for where the pieces go, several images of the states are missing - every puzzle should have a clear image of the finished product and this puzzle does not. I do not recommend this puzzle for a child younger than elementary school age (and I would say it's likely elementary school children would find it difficult to keep the pieces in place too). I gave it 3 stars because the wood is sturdy and the colors are nice.