Skill· 20mo–2.7y· 3 min

Shape Sorter Challenge

Child works through three progressively harder spatial tasks: tracking a hidden object under swapping cups (displaced object permanence), inserting shapes into a board including with the board rotated (spatial problem-solving), and identifying shapes and sizes by pointing. Covers eight cognitive/problem_solving milestones from 21–40mo.

Start voice activity

Opens a guided voice session in TogetherTime.

What you'll need

Put two opaque cups and a small toy on a table. Have the shape sorter nearby but out of sight for now. Grab a few objects of different sizes for the last phase.

How it works

  1. 1~30s

    Place the two cups in front of your child. Let them see you put the small toy under one cup. Then swap the cups once — slowly and clearly. Now ask: 'Where did it go?' Does your child lift the right cup? Does they track with their eyes during the swap? Tell me what happened.

    Watch for: Child tracks object under swapping cups and lifts correct cup

  2. 2~60s

    Now bring out the shape sorter. Put it in front of your child and tip the shapes out. Let them explore freely for a moment. Does your child try to insert pieces? Which shapes go in — just the circle? Two shapes? All three? Once they has had a go, rotate the board 90 degrees and see if they tries again. Tell me what they did.

    Watch for: Child successfully inserts 2 shapes into the board

  3. 3~45s

    Now for shape recognition and sizes. Hold up the triangle, then the square, then the circle one at a time and ask: 'Can you point to the triangle?' — don't name them for them, just ask them to point. Then lay out 3 objects of clearly different sizes and ask: 'Which one is the biggest?' and 'Which one is the smallest?' Tell me what your child did for each.

    Watch for: Child points to triangle, square, and circle when named

What this develops

Visual example

Coming soon