It's A Very Talkative Shape Sorter (Fisher Price Laugh and Learn Cookie Shape Surprise)

Member Name: arleek

Product:	Fisher Price Laugh and Learn Cookie Shape Surprise
Date:	07/11/09 (50 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good Quality

Disadvantages: Numbers pointless

This was another present my daughter received for her 1st birthday. Considering we already have a few shape sorters of various descriptions I was tempted to use the gift receipt provided and exchange it for something else. But once we extracted it from the box, saw what it did, and saw that the girls liked it, we decided to keep it. After all, you can never have enough shape sorters...

So what is it?

It's a shape sorter that is also a cookie jar with a removable lid! It's made by Fisher Price (who else?) and costs around £14.99 in various shops including Asda & Tesco. I have also seen it in B&M Bargains for £9.99.

The actual sorter has many different functions. First and foremost its main function is to be shape sorter. There are 5 different plastic shapes to use with the toy and these are a triangle, square, star, heart and a circle, and the holes that these shapes fit into are placed around the middle of the cookie jar. Depending on what setting you have the toy on, the child gets rewarded with sounds if they get the shape in the correct slot. They also get rewarded with sounds if they try and jam the wrong shape in the wrong slot but still activate the button!

There are two settings you can have this toy on and one is the shape setting and the other is the number setting (more on this one later). These are selected by using a sliding button on the front.

So if you have it on the shape setting and your child gets a shape in the correct spot, he or she will hear:

'Square....hee hee hee'
'Circle....yummy'
'Star...tinkling sound'
'Heart....I love cookies'
'Triangle....mmm'

Also on this setting, if your child places his hand inside the jar a sensor will pick up on this and a tune will play similar to that of 'London Bridge is Falling Down' but with the words:

'Shapes are in my cookie jar,
Triangle, heart and star,
There's a circle over there,
Here's a squeeaaare.'

Another thing when on this setting is that if you press the big red button which is actually the cookie jar's nose you will hear random sounds selected from the ones I have already described above.

The shapes also have little numbers on them (1-5) and when you have the cookie jar on the number setting, the child is rewarded with hearing the correct number if he gets the shape in correctly. It's very much the same as when in the shape setting, the only difference is you hear the number instead of the shape.

But when your child places their hand inside the jar they get to hear a different song and the words are:

'Would you like some cookies?
Here they are,
5 different shapes in my cookie jar,
You can take them out,
And you can put them back,
5 little cookies make a yummy snack'

And correct me in anyone thinks I'm wrong but I think this is sung to the tune of Incy Wincy Spider.

I often wondered about the point of adding this number function because the toy is aimed at 6 months plus, and children that young do not have a clue about numbers. Now I know that this is aimed to help them learn, but the numbers on the shapes are quite small and I don't think a child would make that connection between the number on the shape and hearing the number when he or she inserts it into the sorter.

Even my nearly 3 year old has not cottoned on to the numbers, and she knows her numbers up to 15, she just sees the shapes. When it's on the number setting I actually think it's quite confusing for a child to hear the number rather than the shape when they insert it.

To me it just seems like an added extra to make you buy it! After all, it's a shape sorter, not a number sorter, and really don't think this adds any value to the toy. What would have been better (in my opinion) is to have had 10 shapes, with 5 of them being the numbers 1-5 - now that would have helped them learn because they would be able to actually see the shape of the number.

So that's more or less everything about the toy. It's quite simply a shape sorter with a few extra gadgets and sounds to make it more interesting for your child.

I have found that my eldest daughter likes to play with it to activate the tunes, but because she's been there and done that with shape sorters, she's not particularly fussed about it (but she is nearly 3 and has probably outgrown this type of toy).

My youngest daughter however will attempt to use it, but she prefers to put the shapes in and out of the top and remove and replace the lid. I've found that because of the positioning of the actual shape slots it's quite difficult for a 'learner' to get the shapes to slide in correctly.

The slots are down the side of the jar and are slightly slanted which I think helps a little bit with manoeuvring the shapes into position, but I have found myself sitting with her and holding the jar in a position so that the slots are horizontal and she can just push the shapes in from above. She does try really hard to get them in while the jar is sat upright but fails every time and resorts to piling them all in through the top (which she does enjoy).

As shape sorters go I do not think this is the best design out there, first of all there are only 5 shapes (less to get lost I suppose) and secondly I don't like the positioning of the slots. It's also very bottom heavy, a good thing I hear you say, but because it wants to stay sat upright, it makes it difficult for my youngest daughter to move it to get into a position where she can insert the shapes.

We actually have a square shape sorter which has more shapes and is easier for a younger child to use. My daughter prefers to play with this one, it's easier for her to move around and find the right spot, and because it's square it's so much easier to put the shapes in. And it doesn't even make any sounds, but is still the preferred choice.

I think this Cookie Shape Sorter is quite a good toy with the added entertainment of the sounds, but as a shape sorter on its pretty basic.

I have just noticed there is a volume control on the bottom; you can either have it loud or even louder! Louder is extremely loud.

Summary: Good all round toy