My son was bought this for his first Christmas, and straight away, the entire family loved it.

the rocket is brightly coloured, with five shapes and relevant holes. As soon as it came out of the packaging, my son was quite happy to play with the bricks individually or press the buttons which trigger responses from the rocket. Once all five blocks have been inserted (or in my sons case, all five buttons have been pressed) the rocket "blasts off" with a rumbling sound, so the shapes can fall out of the bottom. The design is different to most shape sorters on the market, and I'm sure it will be appreciated for years to come.

The shape sorter teaches aspects such as shapes, number and colour, and gets a delighted reaction from both my partner and son every time it's brought out. If you're stuck for a birthday or christmas present, then this is worth a shot.