Here are the learning shelves we had up for the last couple of weeks. Archer was 11.5 months.
First, we had a little basket with shape beanbags. The beanbags say the name of the shape in English on one side and in Spanish on the other. Both boys had fun throwing these around. Archer thought it was funny if I tossed them to him one at a time while I said the color and shape.
One shelf had this
wooden mailbox. This was one of those amazing garage sale finds, because it held Archer's attention for so long. He liked putting all the stamps in and watching them fall down into the door. He also likes opening and closing the door, and taking everything out of the mailbox. As he gets older, it'll be easier for him to sort the letters.
Another shelf had our
Treasure Basket. It has lots of random objects with different shapes and textures. Mostly he chews on them and throws them around the room. Some things he tried to put in the mail box.
Another basket had these little
shape sorting turtles. Archer can't put them together yet, but he likes taking them apart.
I hadn't gotten out our little
hedgehog in a while, so that was on another shelf. I am never quite sure about this one, but Archer always really enjoys it. He likes to take all the little spikes out. He also likes to chew on them or just carry one around with him.
I also had out our disk sorter (
this one is similar but much nicer). He liked taking all the disks off, but not actually putting them on. I also found disks in random bins or shelves throughout the room.
When you're too tired to sit up but still want to play. He just stayed on the floor pushing the disks behind himself.
The bottom shelf (I've learned not to put puzzles up high), had his
house knobby puzzle. It hadn't been all that long since we had it out, but this was the first time he was actually able to put some of the pieces in.
He also just held on to pieces while cruising around the room.
Finally, we had this Animal Talk book and some Toob Animals to match. This book has been a favorite for both boys.