Shape sorter, free to play here

How it works

Each station has a pattern of pegs — one in the middle, two in a row, six around a hexagon — and every piece has holes to match. A piece carried to its own station drops onto the pegs and settles; anywhere else it slides back.

Three pieces fit on each station, one above the other, so nine in all. Colour is deliberately not a clue: the same shape comes in red, yellow and green, and all three belong on the same pegs. When every peg is full, a new set of shapes appears.

What it is for

A shape sorter is the toy almost every toddler meets first, and this is the same idea without the plastic. The child has to look at a piece, look at a station, and decide whether the pattern of holes matches the pattern of pegs — comparing two things that are not next to each other, which is harder than it sounds.

Because colour is shared across shapes, it cannot be used as a shortcut. The only thing that works is the shape itself, and that is the point.

Playing it with a toddler

Name the shape as they pick it up — "the round one", "the one with six corners". Children of this age often try every station in turn before looking properly, and that is a reasonable strategy at two; the looking comes later and arrives on its own.