although complicated shape sorting isn’t typically mastered until 23 months, at our previous developmental assessment we were given a tip by odin’s case worker to challenge him by making a simple shape sorter by cutting one shape out of the top of a can and letting odin practice gaining confidence in his shape sorting skills instead of getting frustrated with his more advanced sorter.

we started out by cutting a narrow slit in the top of the can and giving odin various circular, flat objects ( jar lids, etc ) to put into his simple shape sorter and he mastered that task in short order.

so recently, we decided to make the game slightly more difficult by seeing if he could figure out to fit his cube-shaped one inch blocks through a square hole.

odin took upon the new challenge with great gusto and mastered the task in mere minutes, which i guess means that i have to develop my skills in cutting more complicated shapes out of plastic coffee can lids.

perhaps not coincidentally since gaining confidence in his simple shape sorting skills, odin’s interest in the more general skill of putting one thing into another thing has exploded and he wiles away his time finding new things to put together.

in this case he decides to see if his old friend pooh can fit inside one of his stacking cups.

thankfully, pooh doesn’t seem overly perturbed at having to suffer such an indignity and proclaims that he’s quite happy that odin discovered a new hat for him that fits just about perfectly.