Shapes and Laces comes from the Montessori line of Clementoni Education. The box holds ten perforated shapes and the matching laces; the front pictures a square, a triangle, a pentagon and a circle, among others.
The child threads the lace through the holes along the edge and so follows the outline of the shape. Threading calls for precision: aiming at the hole, pulling the lace through and picking it up again on the other side. The box sums it up itself as following the outline and learning geometry.
Each shape has its own colour, green, blue, yellow, pink and red in the box illustration, so sorting and naming come along by themselves. And whoever finishes pulls the laces back out and starts over.
The box says 3-6 years, and the set is made in Italy. A quiet gift for the kitchen table or for a journey, one that works without batteries and without sound.
