Everywhere we look farm animals are a huge part of our babies and toddlers’ growth.
Whilst playing, reading, watching TV and videos, farm animals are always involved and showing life down at the farm.
It is also very likely that our toddlers are making all kinds of farm animal noises before they are saying many words.
My daughter loves ‘oinking’ every time she sees a pig and she somehow manages to find pictures of pigs in the strangest and most unusual of places.
I wonder if that influence comes from a certain Peppa pig too?!
Both visiting the farm with our little adventurers’ and learning about the noises and characteristics of the farm animals during playtime at home are fantastic ways to open up our little ones’ minds to other animals.
Visiting The Farm
Nothing beats the excitement of visiting the farm for the very first time and seeing our little munchkins’ faces as they see ‘real’ farm animals.
There will be sensory fireworks;
- SOUND: the noises of the animals that they have probably only previously heard in their books or on TV.
- SMELL: the (very strong) smell of the farm animals in their homes.
- SIGHT: the sight of so many farm animals together at once.
- TOUCH: perhaps even being able to stroke and touch the animals.
For some this may actually be slightly overwhelming but the ‘down at the farm’ experience will benefit our little ones massively.
The Benefits Of Learning Farm Animal Sounds And Words
Who would think that learning farm animal noises and basic words has many benefits for our toddlers other than the understanding that these noises are the animals ‘language’ and connecting the noise to each language.
Scholastic says that:
- It teaches early life lessons
- It prepares them for social skills needed
- It creates building blocks for sentences
- It teaches how to pronounce other words
- It primes for categorising skills
Farm Animal Toys
Farm animal toys are a great addition to the toy collection and can be used from babies up to kiddies.
Babies and young toddlers will love to recognise each of the animals and hear the noises for each one.
They will sure let out some little giggles when they hear the sounds and will soon enough be copying us and making the noises themselves.
It Is highly likely that they will end up in their mouths very often too so please be careful to check for small pieces or parts when they are using the toys.
Our older toddlers and kiddies will love to play with the farm animal figurines to create unique scenes and will have hundreds of uses for the animals that us parents can’t even imagine.
Schleich Farm World Toys
These Schleich figurines are rather expensive however these are the toys that truly grow with the child. In fact, they’re on our list of the best Toys for 15 Month Old but I think we got them even earlier than that. Sometimes it is better to go for quality rather than quantity.
They are beautifully designed and have lots of lovely life-like detail of the animals.
These farm animals can be used for many years to come.
Boley Farm Animal Figurines
If you prefer to go for the quantity over quality option then this is the alternative to the Schleich toys .
I wouldn’t necessarily say that these are bad quality however there is a wider range of animals in this set to be used in various ways.
I really like this set of animals as it comes with both mother and baby versions- perfect for widening the vocabulary and learning the names of the baby animals too!
Fisher Price Little People Animals
These animals are more of a younger toddler option as they are more animated versions.
Initially these animals will seem more attractive to our little ones and they would probably lean towards playing with these first.
They could still be used in many ways; in the bath, at the beach, outdoors amongst the grass to pretend they are the real deal.
Battat Big Red Barn
Not only can our little ones learn about the animals down at the farm with this barn, but they can create a house for each of the animals and see where they live.
This barn can be used in other role play games with mini people figurines too.
It can be easily closed up securely and carried around which is great as a travel toy to bring with us to keep our toddlers entertained while we are out.
Chicco Talking Farm
The talking farm can be used simply to hear the noise of the farm animals whilst seeing the lights flash and the music play.
For the older toddlers there are many small activities that can be played on the farm such as listening to the animal noise and our toddlers having to press the correct animal button.
There are also number buttons from 1 to 10 to help our human sponges learn whilst they are having fun too!
Hide & Seek Farm Wooden Activity Board
A 3 in 1 activity board for our curious toddlers;
- A hide and seek game which will keep those tiny hands busy.
- Magnetic puzzle pieces to slot inside the doors.
- The farm animals to discover where they live.
Extend play with storytime!
Farm Animal Books
Usborne Farm Sounds
There are gentle sounds and a great sensory exploration within the book.
There are 3D pages allowing our little ones to run their fingers across to feel all the different levels and cut-outs which are created.
Each page has lots of different animals other than the farm animals to find such as ladybirds, worms etc.
A good interactive idea to play when our toddlers are slightly older is to ask them to find each animals or objects on the pages.
Noisy Farm By Tiger Tales
One of our favourite sound books which has easy touch buttons for our toddlers to be able to work themselves and get the satisfaction of creating the noise.
Check Also: 21 Best Sound Books For Babies & Toddlers
The high contrast colours and effects on each page draw our little ones attention right away.
The words on the pages encourage to touch each animal in the correct way in order for them to make a noise (by touching the button).
Night Night Farm By Roger Priddy
This bedtime story shows the animals getting all cosy in the barn ready for bed showing our little bookworms that the farm animals are just like us humans that go to sleep at night.
The glow in the dark stars are a nice sensory highlight in the book.
Check Also: Relaxing Bedtime Stories For Babies & Toddlers
Around The Farm By Eric Carle
Such a fantastic book which has so much to offer.
There are 30 sound buttons of all the animals that you may find down at the farm, from the smallest of dragonflies flying around to the largest of cows in the yard.
Each page shows a large image of the animals whilst giving an interesting fact about the animal.
It also helps our toddlers to be able to find the correct button/sound easily by displaying the colour and design of the button on the page.
Poke-A-Dot Old McDonald’s Farm By Melissa & Doug
How can we talk about being down at the farm without mentioning the song Old McDonald’s Farm which always gets our little ones up on their feet dancing. Take a look at our favourite 10 Action Songs For Toddlers to encourage them to get up moving and grooving.
I haven’t seen this kind of poke-a-dot book before but I think it is an interesting way to encourage our son’s/ daughter’s to count the animals.
The dots make unusual clicking and popping noises.
Melissa & Doug have yet again created something which will entertain whilst also educating- It’s a big thumbs up from me!
Happy Playing & Happy Learning!
