Cuppy-Cakes: Cupcakes + Shapes + Colors = Learning Made Fun (& Delicious!)

Froot Loop found a set of play cupcakes at my parents’ house that I had as a kid. It’s a set of 4 cupcakes with 4 different colored frosting tops. There’s also a cute tray that the cupcakes sit in. Basically, all you do is put the different cupcake tops on the cupcakes and put them in and take them out of the cupcake tray, but it was one of my favorite things to play with and now it’s his too! 

I looked for this cupcake set on Ebay, but it’s at least 20 years old, so they don’t make it anymore. What I did find was this set of cupcakes that helps teach shapes and colors, so I thought it was perfect for him! 

There are 8 cupcakes that are two pieces each- the frosting and the cupcake itself. Each cavity in the cupcake tin has a shape and the whole goal is to find the matching cupcake and put it in. The cupcake “clicks” into place when you have the right one. The other part is the matching frosting. There’s a shape shaped hole in the middle of the cupcake and then a matching frosting that fits inside of it. The shapes included are a circle, triangle, square, heart, star, diamond, rectangle, and hexagon. The cupcakes are red, orange, yellow, green, light blue, dark blue, purple, and pink, so it’s also a great way to teach colors. 

This is a fantastic way to develop fine motor skills as the cupcakes have to be pulled apart and pushed together. This is great for prewriting and motor development. 

Froot Loop loves to play with these. He starts by taking them all apart and spreading them out. Then, he matches the tops and bottoms and then puts the completed cupcakes into the tray. He usually then bakes them in his play oven and serves them to whoever happens to be in the room. I taught color recognition by asking for specific colored cupcakes. I did the same thing with the shapes too. It didn’t take long for him to learn his colors and shapes. 

Now that he knows colors and shapes, I am working with him on spatial relationships and concepts like “put the orange cupcake BEHIND the green one.” “The blue cupcake is to the LEFT of the red cupcake.” and also some geometry using the shapes. The “fun” of the cupcakes makes it seem like he’s not even learning, which makes him sit with me for longer. 

What’s your favorite dessert? 

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