So, this happened today. No set up or prompts, just an available, fantastic book of animals and some fabulous and very realistic animal figures.
An awesome TWO HOURS (aligned with a very tired baby's nap!) spent first matching figurines to book pictures, followed by imaginative play with animals, snack bits on the table, and some random wrapping ribbon (my birthday! 🌷). Needless to say, everyone was very happy and mama even got to drink TWO cups of uninterrupted tea! 🙌🏻
Loving this book! It was purchased when baby #1 (now 3 years old) was still a baby and is just starting to get real use. I remember picking it up and thinking it was made to be a classic library edition and couldn't pass it up. We keep it on the toy shelf close to the animal figures (sometimes with all figures, sometimes with specific groups such as Arctic, desert, forest, or jungle).
Both our 3 year old and 16 month old have pulled out the book and sat examining the pictures for various stretches. Today was really fun to see the book and the figurines (which are very close matches) in action!
Definite recommend, along with educational animal figures. We fell in love with the Schleish brand for the quality and realism, but there are many brands that look great.
To date, the animals are a definite top favourite for both kids (even in the bath). We keep them out as a permanent part of the open-ended toy collection and they get daily use. It is super fun to see that the figures and reading are starting to connect!
Some of our favourites: