Grasping the chunky quills and lining them up with the holes creates practice in controlled hand movements and hand-eye coordination. The colors also invite matching and sorting when your child is ready.
Offer two or three quills and let your child pull them out before trying to put them back. Comment on what happens: you pushed it in! Add matching colors later.
Let the play grow with them
Begin with putting in and taking out. Later, sort a few quills by color or count them together while tidying up; the printed numbers do not need to become a lesson.
A no-shopping version
Practice putting large, intact toddler toys into a wide basket and taking them out again.
