Montessori Sorting Game with Pliers | Motor Skills Toy

A toddler settles at the table, wooden pliers in hand, carefully lifting a star-shaped piece and lowering it — with great concentration — into the matching coloured bowl. There's a wobble, a correction, and then a quiet satisfaction that says everything.

The Montessori Sorting Game with Pliers from Small Foot is a beautifully considered activity set for little ones from 12 months up. Five coloured bowls, 15 wooden pieces in circles, triangles and stars, and two pairs of child-sized pliers come together to create a play experience that's as open-ended as it is purposeful. Your child can sort by colour, sort by shape, count the pieces, stack them, or simply move them from bowl to bowl — there's no single right way to play. Made from FSC-certified wood, the pieces are smooth, tactile, and satisfying to handle.

What makes this set genuinely special is the pliers. Gripping and transferring pieces builds fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination in a way that feels like play rather than practice — and the added challenge of the tool keeps older toddlers engaged long after the initial novelty fades. It also introduces early shape recognition and colour sorting in a concrete, hands-on way that sits squarely in the Montessori tradition.

At BeoVERDE, we love this one as a first or second birthday gift — the pliers add just enough challenge to grow with a child, and the open wooden bowls mean it doubles as a lovely display piece between play sessions.