Containment is essentially the understanding that objects can be contained by containers. For example, if you put a ball in a tube, it’s not contained because it will fall out the other side. If you put a ball in a box, it’s well contained by the walls of the box.
Why learn about this?
Containment is a very basic concept, but it’s just about everywhere in our lives. When we put our laptop in our bag, we understand that it’s contained. When we put water in a bottle, we understand that it’s contained.
A head start on learning about containment
A study found that babies who practiced this concept through play had an earlier understanding of containment compared to those who didn’t practice. There are many toys to teach your baby about containment, such as the ones in our kits.
Toys that teach containment
Any toy that your child can put things in and take things out of teaches containment. Here are our favorites:
- • Shape sorters: A classic toy that teaches containment, shapes, matching and more.
- • Baskets: Babies love putting things into and dumping things out of baskets
- • Posting and dropping: Use boxes like these to practice dropping things in and retrieving them
- • Hide and seek toys: At around 12 months, your baby will love hiding things, especially in pockets
