Tupperware Shape-O Toy Puzzle Ball

The Tupperware Shape-O is one of the most recognizable toys in the history of developmental products. This odd looking red and blue plastic sphere has long been a fixture of children’s playrooms. We’ve all seen those little yellow shapes scattered across the floor and many of us have had the pleasure of repeatedly opening and closing this contraption for excited toddlers.

For those of you who do not already own a Tupperware Shape-O, here are some of the product highlights and developmental benefits.

The coloring of the Shape-O is a bold palette of primary colors. The sphere is half red and half blue with assorted yellow pieces. These colors contrast well, which makes the toy attractive to small children and simple to use.

There are ten of the yellow pieces. Each piece represents a different shape (e.g., circle, triangle, square, etc.) On the surface of the sphere are ten corresponding holes. The object of the puzzle is to get each piece into its proper hole. This appears to simply be a game, but it is much more. The Shape-O is a tool for teaching the important developmental behavior of matching. As the child matches each piece to its corresponding hole, the child learns to study and compare each shape. By recognizing the differences and similarities between each shape, the child begins to build an understanding of space and proportion. This is a crucial step in developing the ability to interpret and differentiate more complex shapes.

Each yellow shape piece is numbered with digits and a corresponding quantity of dots. The numbers and dots make the Shape-O a helpful tool in teaching the child the concepts of numbers and counting.

The one negative feature of this product is the opening and closing mechanism. To open the sphere, you must pull handles at the poles of the sphere and twist the hemispheres in opposing directions for many rotations. The Shape-O’s red and blue hemispheres will eventually separate just enough for you to turn the Shape-O horizontal and vigorously shake the toy until all of the pieces fall to the floor. To close the empty Shape-O, you must spin the hemispheres in the opposite direction until the toy tightens down and the two hemispheres fit together snuggly. This procedure may sound simple, but you will quickly grow tired of all the work. Once your child masters this puzzle, you will start experiencing conflicting feelings. On one hand, you’ll be happy that your child is getting smarter, but you will grow to dread opening and closing the toy.

The good news is that the Shape-O is worth the effort. It is a wonderful developmental toy that will provide your child with hours of fun and some valuable lessons in shape, differentiation, counting, sorting, and memory.

Oh, and by the way, it’s Tupperware, so when your child’s Shape-O gets dirty (and it will), you can always toss the whole toy (pieces inside) into the dishwasher.

Sesame Street Is the Fast Lane of Education

Sesame Street is the single most important show on television. Seasame Street first aired on November 10, 1969. Over the decades, the producers of the show have fine-tuned the process of education through entertainment and have made Sesame Street the standard in children’s educational entertainment.

The key to Sesame Street’s effectiveness is the show’s energetic format. Sesame Street takes the essence of early learning (colors, shapes, numbers, letters, etc.) and integrates them into fun, interesting, and quick segments. For example, Big Bird and Ernie may discuss the letter D, and then Ernie will flashback to a song he sang to Bert about the letter D. Elmo may tell Cookie Monster that his favorite number is 5, and then a quick music video about the number 5 will play. Many of these segments last just a few minutes (often less than a minute); however, the producers have managed to weave the segments together to create one seamless episode after another.

Parents who watch Sesame Street with their children on a regular basis will recognize many of the songs and skits that appear throughout almost every episode. Sesame Street has amassed such a tremendous library of material that the producers can pull from dozens of classic segments for almost any subject. Even though some of these segments go back decades, they still manage to be relevant. The reason why they are relevant is because the basics of learning have not changed, and young children today are a lot like young children were decades ago.

In the world of media, there are hundreds of examples of important programming; however, not one of them does as much to introduce small children to learning as Sesame Street. There is no more valuable hour of programming on television.