Fat Brain InnyBin
(Fat Brain $24.99)
A new kind of filling and spilling game, a favorite of young toddlers. It’s not exactly a toy with pieces to spill, given the webbed box. Let’s call this a game of put and take or shove and grab…whatever fits for you. For beginners, this is fun to shake and rattle for a pleasing clackety sound. Next step, babies will discover the challenges of the colorful stretchy bands on the bin; they’re just the right size to fit the brightly colored shapes between as they put the shapes in and out of the bin. Each of the shapes is textured with a distinct pattern, giving a lot of sensory imput designed for little fingers to explore. The shapes are not school-ish geometrics. None have true sharp corners; we’d call them square-ish, triangle-ish, diamond-ish, plush a flower-ish and half-moon-ish. But this is not about learning shape names. We hope they will be learning a lot of other words first! This is a perfect activity bin that comes before shape sorting. Classic shape sorting blocks are often pushed long before babies are ready or have the dexterity to turn a shape to fit it into place. The shapes for the Inny Bin look like squishable vinyl blocks, but they are hard plastic, making them easier to fit in and out. Add some other objects eventually for added interest. Marked 10 months and up. We think some babies may not have the finger strength to play with the put and take fun at 10 months; they will have it a few months later. This would make a good first birthday present.
Ages: Toddlers
Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Seal Award 2021
