Firstly, it is always recommended to buy stuff like
and your child will have endless fun putting things into/together and taking them out/apart. I always got the impression that it comes naturally for kids to do things like that. 
Well, we got Ignatius the block sorter quite some time ago. We imagined he would have endless hours of fun putting the blocks into the bucket (ok...so not through the shape sorting cover...yet) and pouring them out again. NOT! He knew how to take them out yes. But he absolutely refused to put them back in! So for the last few months, this was generally how the sequence went.
1. Mommy hand Ignatius bucket with blocks inside.
2. Ignatius takes them out, usually one by one, and throws them all around. When bucket is empty, dump bucket aside. Move onto other toys.
3. Mommy painstakingly retrieves all blocks and put them back inside.
4. Ignatius realises what Mommy is doing, and competes with her. See who empty/fill the bucket faster. Sigh...guess who usually wins?
5. Mommy gives up.
What a myth! Kiddos DON'T naturally know how to fill and pour! So again Daddy comes to save the day...many months later. He gave Ignatius a small cup, and a small shape. He then convinces Ignatius to "hide" the shape in the cup, and overturns it, and "surprises" Ignatius when they find it when the cup is lifted. Needless to say, Ignatius is extremely tickled and immediately responds by putting the shape back into the cup. Thereafter, he's having no problems putting the blocks back into that darn bucket!
ARGH! Why didn't Daddy do this sooner?! (As you can tell, Daddy is Fun personified to this little boy)
Ok, secondly. We read in Gymboree BabyPlay book that it is encouraged to help babies learn how to "navigate".
"Walking on a flat surface is one challenge; crawling around or stepping over things while upright is another - an important tool for learning to maneuver through a sandbox, near household pets, or over the roots of a tree in the backyard. Help you baby learn to navigate around objects on the ground by setting up a series of small blocks, boxes, and plush toys. If she's walking, hold her hands and help her step over the objects. If she's crawling, encourage her to crawl around this makeshift obstacle course."
This caught my attention as Ignatius loves to simply barge through whatever is in his way. He doesn't "by-pass" them. He either tackles them by kicking them out of his way, or stepping on them, or simply pushing them aside as he squeezes past. Well, we never really got round to "training" Ignatius as described in the book.
Well one night, we were trying to get Ignatius to come to us, and head into the bedroom. We stood at the doorway, and beckoned to our little boy who was a distance away from us. I had some misgivings as there were many toys between us, and I was afraid he'd trip and fall over them. But since he was on the playmat, I thought I'd risk it. To my amazement, and delight, he navigated through all of them successfully! See his path in the diagram above. Good Boy!
So there you go... books are good to read, but each baby is different!
And the famous advice that made Aunty Jamie roll her eyes... [When parents of well behaved children are asked what method of discipline did they use, the most common answer was "none" and the conclusion was that children are well behaved because they are expected to.] Ya right. If only it were that easy!
