toys and entertainment

The best stacking cups

Our top picks of stacking cups

Top 5 clip-on stacking cups

Our favourite stacking cups around now

Why buy them?

A set of plastic stacking cups is a deceptively simple toy that has a surprisingly amount of uses. They are brilliant for helping developing hand-eye coordination as your child stacks and builds with them, and they’ll learn colours and sorting skills too. Your child can also use the cups for sand and water play.

What to spend

Not very much! You can buy very simple sets of cups for a few pounds from most toy shops. You might have to pay a little more if you want particular colours, patterns or lettering.

What to look for

Cups that can fit easily inside each other for easier and more compact storage are very useful. Stacking cups also double up as great bath toys, so check and see if they have holes in for drainage. If they are decorated with different patterns and numbers, it can also make sorting them more fun.

stacking cups 250Stacking and nesting Cups, £3.99, Amazon

Encourages physical and mental development and helps your baby learn through imaginative play.

Skip hop stack and pour buckets 250Stack and pour buckets, £12, Skip Hop

Perfect for bath time, these sturdy plastic buckets each are decorated with a friendly character, and have a handle for easier carrying and pouring. There are five in each set and each bucket has different-sized holes in the bottom so water sprinkles out in varying patterns.

Nuby stacking cups 250Splish Splash stacking cups, £5.75, Nuby

These versatile and colourful cups that can be used at bath time, in the garden or even at the beach to build sandcastles. Each of the five eye-catching five cups is a different size and design, with a different shape on its base, such as a square or rectangle to aid recognition and learning.

IKEA mula beakers 250Mula building beakers, £2.95, Ikea

A quirky and well-priced set of beakers that can be stacked to build a tower or use to scoop and pour water or sand. Each of the six cups is a different size and colour and will be so useful as your child develops their fine motor and logical thinking skills.

Munchkin caterpillar spillers 250Caterpillar Spillers, £4.49, Munchkin

These stacking cups are a simple yet effective bath time toy, each with a number to aid your child’s developing counting skills.. They can be linked together to form the ‘caterpillar’ or used separately to fill, mix and pour water bubbles and bathwater.


The best stacking cups