Playskool Busy Basics Form Fitter (Colors May Vary)
Playskool has been making the same shape-sorting toy for so many years, parents may worry about their own regression rather than their child's. For young children, however, the Form Fitter is still reliably educational. The big, bold, yellow cube has cutout shapes on each side; three per side make each of the six sides look like a different, silly face. The cookie-cutter pieces in blue, green, and red get matched up and dropped in. Be aware that some of the shapes look very similar, so it takes practicing shape discrimination to get it just right. There's an extra clue built into the Form Fitter, too: each side has a different texture, and the shapes that fit in that side have the same texture. When all the shapes are done, one side flips up to release them from their cubed cage, letting preschool learning run free one more time.--Lynne Sampson