Shapes & Sorters

Let’s get sorting!

In some form or another we all had a shape sorting toy, when we were little, but why is that? It’s generally known that learning shapes and colours is one of the first concepts that a child can learn. Shape and colour recognition forms the basis for many important developments moving forward, such as maths and geometric concepts, being able to sort and categorise items, forming language skills and using descriptive vocabulary.

We start by ask the questions ‘What shape is that?’ or ‘Can you show me the blue square?’ By doing this we start the process of recognition, differentiation and observation. You can start the process with a shape sorter, they usually have the most common shapes like circle, square, triangle and rectangle.

The idea of taking a shape and putting into through a matching hole of the same shape shows an understanding of learning. It also develops hand-eye coordination, a cognitive and logical process.

But we also have shape sorters in the shapes of animals too, because shape sorting can be presented in many different ways and you know that there can be so much fun making the noises of the animal as you place it in its aligned space!