Baby’s First Blocks — 16-Piece Shape Sorter

Parent guides: Focus and Concentration Games for Kids by Age, and How to Help Your Child Concentrate · The Best Toys for 1- and 2-Year-Olds, and What Each One Teaches

1. Take the blocks out and spread them where your child can see them.
2. Pick one block and turn it to look at its shape.
3. Find the matching opening in the lid.
4. Push it through and listen for it to drop into the bucket.
5. Open the bucket, tip the blocks out and start again.

• Shape and colour recognition as each block is matched
• Fine motor control from gripping, turning and pushing the pieces
• Hand-eye coordination from lining a block up with its opening
• Problem solving through trial and error when a shape does not fit
• Focus and repetition as the same action is practised again and again

• Start with three or four shapes rather than all sixteen
• Sort the blocks by colour before posting them through the lid
• Name the shape or colour before your child finds its opening
• Hide one block nearby and ask your child to find it before matching it