Thanks to SmartFelt™ Toys for providing me with product for this post. All thoughts are my own.
What's the best way for parents to prepare their little ones for preschool? Over the past few weeks, this question has probably been searched online by tens of thousands of parents, eager to help their preschoolers feel comfortable and confident as they head back to school, or perhaps head to school for the very first time.
Thankfully, my youngest (three years old) just began her third year of day school earlier this week, and isn't a 'newbie' to the preschool scene. She is, however, new to going to school five days a week, as opposed to just two days a week. While separation anxiety plays into starting a new school year, I have found that she tends to be less anxious about being at school if we've spent a lof of time learning through play and activities at home during the summer. I did a lot of 'homeschool' lessons with my son before he went to preschool, and it made a huge difference in his ability to be 'ahead of the game' so to speak once he got into an actual classroom. I have the same hopes and wishes for my daughter, which is why we focus on reading, sorting, working on recognition, and more. The only thing that seemed daunting about any of this to me was that I was sure I would have to clean up big messes... and anyone who knows me well knows that I do not like messes!
We were recently introduced to SmartFelt™ Toys, which is an amazing, award-winning company which makes interactive, multi-sensory, unique 3D felt toys that build early language and vocabulary. Owned by a speech therapist, SmartFelt™ Toys offers a unique collection of products which allows little ones to play and learn, and best of all- the products are mess-free!
My Little Farm has had us enjoying learning all about farm life!
There are various felt toy sets available from SmartFelt™ Toys. My Little Farm is the second set in their felt toy series. It's a double-sided felt board, which folds up for easy storage. You can play with it laying flat on the ground, or you can connect the sides to make it stand upright. When it's standing, it creates a barn on one side, and several barn and farm scenes on the other. You can choose which side to use during play/learning time!
Use the felt objects and characters to create your own farm scenes
Bean has loved playing with the felt pieces, creating her very own play scenes and acting out life on the farm.
The My Little Farm set comes with dozens of felt characters and pieces, which easily cling right to the felt play board. There are animals, objects, people, and more! Beanie has enjoyed placing animals in the barn and making sure they have food and water. We've also placed flowers, sunshine, and farm people in the fields. Bean loves animals, and my mom grew up on my grandparents' farm in Missouri, so farming is a huge part of my mom's life, and a slice of mine, as well. It's really important for me to help my kids learn about their heritage, and this is the perfect way to help me introduce Bean to farm life.
Sabine wished she could ride the little felt horses!
Bean and I have had a lot of fun discovering farm life together. We've talked about jobs that people have to do on farms to keep all of the animals healthy and safe, and have talked about tending to the land, harvesting crops, and more. I'm sure that Bean will be learning all about animals at school this year, and she'll even be taking a field trip to a local farm with her sweet little class. This is a wonderful way for us to keep her talking and learning at home, piggybacking on what she's learning in school.
Features of My Little Farm
Like My Little House, MLF is a multi-sensory, multi-purpose, interactive, reversible 3D playhouse.
32 colorful and matching felt pieces stick to this wonderful, kid-friendly barn and farm environment.
There are adorable farm animals, a multi-ethnic family of 4, loads of farm objects and weather concepts like sunny and rainy days.
In addition to matching activities, MLF features an area for open-ended creative free play where kiddos can put the pieces wherever they want and create their own stories.
Want it? Get it!
This adaptable, award-winning toy is just one of the awesome felt sets available from SmartFelt™ Toys. These sets are perfect for playtime at home, to take on the road (lay flat on a lap to play with in the car!), or for the classroom. I loved felt toys as a young child, and feel sort of nostalgic as I play with my daughter using the SmartFelt™ set. These are perfect for learning at home as you talk your littles through farm life, chores, and more. It's definitely an amazing tool which will help you get your little ones talking.
Be sure to look for this product in our Back to School Guide.
Special thanks to SmartFelt Toys for allowing us to share about their wonderful educational felt sets!
Did you play with felt toys as a child?
Could you see your little one playing with this set?
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This looks like a great felt toy set. I could really see my grandson enjoying this!
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