Spin-a-Shape Elephant by International Playthings

If you're interested in a shape sorter that will take your child through many stages of development, this is the shape sorter for you. It comes with six different sorting blocks. For younger children (about 12 months) this sorter

is fun because they can drop the blocks in/dump them out of the elephant's trunk. Older toddlers can actually learn to sort shapes that are more complex than the basic circle, square, and triangle that are staples of most sorters for young children. A cute feature of this toy is the tail of the elephant. It's actually a crank that allows you to move the shape openings to different positions on the box (e.g., if your child is trying to find where the circle goes, you can position the opening for the circle at the top of the elephant's back. A company by the name of Circo also has an elephant shape sorter like this one and is available at Target Stores. Strengths: The toy is able to offer more challenging activities for children as they get older, so it has good play value for the cost of the toy. Weaknesses: Children may become very frustrated with the more complex shapes, so it's definitely a toy you want to use during parent-child playtime.