The 10 Best Shape Sorters

Editor's Notes

August 07, 2020:

The shape sorter is a classic toy that's been around for generations, and while or top two picks, the Melissa & Doug Cube and the Fisher-Price Baby's First Blocks could be mistaken for some very well cared for vintage toys, our selections include plenty of creative choices and a few with some fun bells and whistles.

For this update we added the Skip Hop Yeti because it offers three different activities of increasing difficulty, so it's a toy that will interest children for years.

Our other electronic addition, the VTech Sort and Discover Drum, is an interactive choice that names the shapes as they are put in the correct holes, so the child can be learning new words while developing reasoning and motor skills.

July 24, 2019:

You may think of a shape sorter as a toy for a baby or toddler, but there are more complicated versions out there to teach older pre-school aged kids more advanced shapes and to help promote more spatial awareness. So when recommending our choices we were careful to note which options are designed for a child over the age of three so that they aren't given to little ones still at risk for choking on smaller pieces. In addition these options wouldn't be as fun for toddler, as they may be too difficult to master.

The Fisher-Price Baby's First Blocks set takes the top spot because it is a budget-friendly way to introduce infants as young as 6 months to two types of sorting, whether placing shapes through holes, or determining the relative sizes of the rings on the rock-a-stack.