Squares And Rectangles

Squares and Rectangles is an early inset task in which a toddler looks for the right opening for every shape. The two families look alike until the hand tries them out: a square fits whichever way it is turned, a rectangle only two ways, and that difference says more about shape than any naming does. Repetition builds wrist rotation, aim and patience, and the piece that refuses to go in gives the feedback, so no adult has to correct anything. For toddlers in the first three years.