I saw the toy on the shelf and figured, “Hey, my kid is a little over a year old. Why not buy her a shape sorter? It’s never too early.” So I bought the wooden shape sorting cube and we brought it home. At first my daughter just stared at it for a little while. She then proceeded to remove the top and dump the wooden blocks out. When she started handing them to me, I showed her how to put the shaped blocks in the right holes. SHe began imitating me immediately.
Shape sorters are great for a child’s cognitive development. For those who do not know much about psychology, cognitive development focuses on how information is learned and processed. Memory development, learning how to reason, and learning how to problem solve are all part of cognitive development. If you think about it, a shape sorter is a great way to help your child develop all of these skills.
There are several ways that you can go about using a shape sorter. At first, your child may just want to dump out the shapes and put them back in through the opening in the top. That is great — it helps your child develop fine motor skills. After playing with the sorter for a while, your child may start to realize that the shapes can go into the different holes in the sides of the sorter. You can help guide your child in the matching process. With continuous play, your child will learn how to figure out which shape goes in what hole in his/her own.
The shape sorter that I bought for my daughter is a wooden cube by Melissa & Doug. It comes with twelve shapes, each of which are in one of four colors — blue, red, yellow, or green. I found it at the Carter’s outlet store near me. There are plenty of other toy companies that sell shape sorters, and they sell them in all different types. The one I had when I was little was a plastic ball with plastic shapes. Fisher Price has a cube Peek-a-Blocks Shape Sorter. When your child places the shape in the cube, s/he is rewarded with music and cute sound effects. Plus, each Peek-a-Block has an object inside that your child can see. Wal-Mart sells a Disney Winnie the Pooh Sort ‘n Learn Cart which introduces your child to four basic shapes — triangle, square, circle, and star — with Pooh and Friends.
I recommend shape sorters to anyone with small children. Your child will have great fun learning his/her shapes, and the time you spend playing together will last a lifetime.