Wooden Shape Sorters are a favourite educational toy for babies and toddlers

Shape sorters are very popular wooden toys as they are one of the first educational toys you can give to a baby or toddler. At the kidEstore.co.uk educational toy store we have a number of shape sorter toys or toys with shape sorting features.

Shape sorters are very strong educational toys as they are aimed at developing a some very specific skills. As the name implies Shape Sorters are aimed at teaching shape recognition. The shapes are carefully chosen so that no shape will fit in any other hole and children are then challenged to either pick a shape that matches the hole or try all shapes against a hole to learn the match.

Manual dexterity is also a very important skill to develop at this age and handling all of those shapes and moving them into the correct orientation to fit really reinforce this skill.

There are also other educational features to wooden shape sorter toys with differently coloured shapes teaching colours, numbers, and the addition of letters or pictures helping to add little pieces of additional learning to the toy often taking the interest of these toys on for a number of years.

We have a classic Shape Sorter Cube from Melissa and Doug. 12 nice solid colourful shapes that make a good solid clunk as they drop through the right hole. Melissa and Doug wooden toys are always stylish and great value and this one is no exception - lovely bright colours and clean shapes make this a very attractive toy.
Also from Melissa and Doug we have a Shape Sorting Clock which makes an interesting alternative shape sorter toy. Not only are the shapes pretty and colourful but each of them has a number on and the holes make up the face of a clock. The Wooden Shape Sorter Clock then adds early number learning and continues into learning how to tell the time.

Options for teaching children to recognise shapes include the Melissa and Doug Wooden Shape Stacking Train, the Melissa and Doug Wooden Geometric Stacker and Automoblox Wooden Cars.

All of these educational toys can be bought from the kidEstore.co.uk educational toy store.

New Sticky Mosaics from Orb Factory at kidEstore.co.uk

Sticky Mosaics from Orb Factory are great fun and allow kids to produce some lovely artwork without getting full-on messy. They are always popular and we are really happy to add two new sets to our range.

Orb Factory Sticky Mosaics Fairies are perfect for girls who love Faeries, and lets face it most of them do. This set includes 4 templates and over 3000 sticky foam and jewel pieces.

Orb Factory Sticky Mosaics Ballerinas covers another favourite subject matter for girls. This set includes 5 templates for even more fantastic artistry.

Horse obsessed girls are going to love Orb Factory Sticky Mosaics Riding School which comes with 4 horse themed art works for you to complete.

These Orb Factory Sticky Mosaics sets are suitable from age 6 and are priced £13.95 at the kidEstore.co.uk educational toy store.

PairsInPears and AppLetters word games join the range at kidEstore.co.uk

Bananagrams has been a great success both with our children and our customers. The fun word game based on letter tiles in a soft banana shaped bag is easy to transport and has rules for many different game variants.

With PairsInPears the idea is to form pairs of word from the tiles you have available. Not only is the game great fun it teaches children about vowels, consonants, alphabetic order, word construction and pattern recognition.

AppLetters is a dominoes style game where tiles are connected by letters rather than dots. As with many Bananagrams games there are a number of sets of rules including some for adult players so there is plenty to keep the whole family involved.

All of the Bananagrams games can be bought at the kidEstore.co.uk educational toy store where you will find them in the Literacy Games section.

New Mini Automoblox Wooden Cars Multipack

Educational toy store kidEstore.co.uk have added a new Automoblox multi-pack to their extensive range of the popular Mini Automoblox wooden car range. The new Automoblox Mini C9R S9R C9S three pack contains the Red C9R, Blue S9R and Orange C9S.

The Automoblox Mini line is a scaled down version of the tradional Automoblox car (dimensions 12cm long and 5cm wide) and features future-retro styling!

Mini cars have a new universal connector system that enables the rapid interchange of parts, further accentuating the fun factor of creating different car styles.

The Automoblox Mini's certainly have all the style and feel of their big brother in a package that fits in the palm of your hand. A highly designed, great quality car that no play garage or car park should be without.

At £24.95 the three pack is great value and like all of the Automoblox Range can be purchased from www.kidEstore.co.uk (01727 841400)

New Groovy Girl Dolls at kidEstore.co.uk

Groovy Girls are the adorable soft fashion rag-dolls that provide a nicer alternative to Bratz. We have three new dolls in stock - Groovy Girls Maddie Mermaid, Groovy Girls Princess Isabella and Groovy Girls Princess Seraphina.

Groovy Girls Maddie Mermaid , satiny blue and lavender fabrics with exceptional detailing make this mermaid shine. Exquisite design includes a shell inspired handbag, polka dotted tail and long, lavender hair. An easily removable tail reveals a playful skirt and legs to take Maddie from sea to shore in no time! Maddie has won the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Platinum Seal Award for clever design that has captured the hearts of young girls everywhere.

Meet Groovy Girls Princess Isabella , one of our beautiful princesses. Princess Isabella is pretty in pink, red and orange and toped off with a shiny silver necklace and tiara. She has long, gorgeous hair that is perfect to play with.

Groovy Girls Princess Seraphina is Pretty as a Princess! Seraphina is ready for the ball and comes complete with a beautiful double-layered gown and bejeweled crown.

You can buy all of the Groovy Girls fashion rag-dolls from the kidEstore.co.uk educational toy shop.