6+ months

• Show your infant how to stack the cups - biggest first . 
• Have fun building together but also knocking them over! 
• Be expressive with your language. 
• Show your infant how the cups also fit inside each other (nesting) and encourage them to try it without help.  
• Float the toy cups in the water at bathtime. Show him or her how to scoop up the water and pour it out.  
• Show your infant how to pour water from one cup to another - have lots of fun together!



12+ months

• Give your baby the different cups to explore and rattle  
• Does your baby discover how to put the shapes in the spaces of the teapot? If not, give verbal hints, without directly demonstrating - and see if your little one can figure it out.  
• Most babies this age will need some assistance initially. Show your baby how to put the cups in the correct spaces. Show your infant what happens when you try to put the wrong shape in a hole. Explain that it doesn't fit using encouraging language.  
• Talk about the colours and challenge your baby to show you the cup that matches the colour.  
• Show your baby how to open the lid to empty the sorter - take out one cup at a time and challenge your baby to fit the cup in - using lots of praise.  
• Increase the challenge by removing two cups at a time - building up to completing the task in one go.
• As your baby develops he or she will be able to sort the puzzle out independently using both shape and colour knowledge.  
• Always use encouraging and supportive language and praise successful sorting.  
• Show your baby how to roll the shape sorter along a flat surface - encourage your infant to move to retrieve it.
• Talk about the concepts of colour and size. When your child is able to recognise colours and sizes talk about the cups in these terms - i.e. 'fill up the green one' 'where is the biggest one?'
• You may want to introduce the ideas of empty and full when your child has grasped simpler concepts, such as size and colour.  
• The cups can also be used effectively when playing with sand - use dry sand to pour from one to another and wet sand to show your toddler how to build exciting sandcastles.  
• Hide a small object under one of the cups - allowing your child to clearly see which one. Then mix up the cups and ask your child to pick up the cup with the object. Encourage him or her to use their words to tell you where it is!
• Always help your child but give plenty of opportunity to do it/figure it out without your help - give hints and lots of encouragement!  
• Let your toddler explore the pony independently at first. Can he or she discover that pony moves?  
• Clear some floor space. If your child is crawling, encourage your infant to push the pony along the ground and crawl after it.
• If your infant has mastered walking, albeit unsteadily, the pull along pony will encourage your infant to move. Challenge your toddler to reach the other side of the room with the pony.  
• Point out Pony's nodding head and clip clop sound when he moves.  
• Use lots of praise to encourage your child.

Write a review