Just about every child that I've ever seen for developmental therapy has some kind of shape sorter. I use them all the time but not always in the way in which they were intended. Here are some things I've done with a shape sorter in recent weeks:
- container play- believe it or not, learning to take objects out and put objects in is an important cognitive and fine motor milestone. I use the bottom part of the shape sorter as the bucket and place large, enticing toys in it to help encourage babies to reach in and take the object out. You can use the shapes that came with the sorter, too, but I find that putting a baby's favorite toy or snack cracker is better motivation (taking out 9-11 months, putting in 12-13 months)
- shopping basket- Once toddlers are closer to 3 years they start to act out familair scenarios during pretend play. I love to use the square shape sorter container that has a handle as a grocery basket.
- hat- One of my favorite games to play with children that need to work on being interested in playing with an adult (something we call joint attention) is to put a hat or other object on my head and then very dramatically "sneeze" it off. I know it sounds ridiculous, but toddlers think it's hilarious and many of my kids will make more eye contact playing this game than just about anything else. It's also a great way to get kids to begin imitating actions and gestures.
- matching and sorting shapes- toddlers should be able to match and sort identical shapes sometime between 30-36 months. You can add some fine motor practice if you stack the shapes into towers.
- baby bath/pool- the shape container is the perfect size to bathe a small doll or have action figures jump into a pool. Bonus points if you use blocks to build a diving board!
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