My First Farm Friends Review

            Hey folks! I’m a little sad to announce that this will be the last review and giveaway for our mini celebration of reaching 3k Facebook fans and Myka’s 1^st birthday. : ( However, I think it’s pretty awesome and think you guys will too!

            I came across For Small Hands/Montessori Services (the former is for parents, the latter for teachers) while researching companies who provide learning toys for young children. Let me tell you, even if you don’t participate in any kind of Montessori education, you will still want to check their website out! They have all kinds of amazing educational products available, including books, board games, and (hubby’s and my favorite) child sized tools, such as shovels, flatware, looms, and MUCH more. As with traditional Montessori, their main age group focus is 3-6 year olds, but they do carry a nice selection of toys for younger (Myka’s age) and older children as well. You can even find things for the whole family to enjoy!

            For Small Hands generously allowed us to review My First Farm Friends (L204), which can be found in their “For the Youngest Child” section (0-3 year olds). (You can search items by age group or categories, such as Yard & Garden, Care of Self, etc.) My First Farm Friends is a wonderful collection of board books, play barn/carrying case, and cardboard cutout animals. The 4 board books included cover everyday life for farm animals, which includes chickens, goats, cows, and pigs! The books come in a barn that children can use to play with when the books aren’t inside, of course. Also included are stand up cutouts of each animal featured in the books. These make the barn even more fun to play with!

            I really enjoyed the board books (by Betsy Wallin) for several reasons. First of all, Myka prefers to look at books by herself as opposed to being read to, so the board books are a lot easier for her to hold and turn the pages. I also liked that they are very simply written, but informative. They’re a good tool to help teach children about farm animals without overloading them with too much information. My favorite aspect of the books is the consistency between them. For example, on the first 2 pages of each book there are images of the same farm. However, each one has the animals in different places to highlight them. So, in “A Day With Cows”, the cows are all congregated close to the barn since that is where they dwell. If that didn’t make any sense, check out the image below.

            Myka, no surprise, enjoyed playing with the barn and animal friends the best. They’re the perfect size for young children to pick up easily. My husband and I had fun making their respective animal noises, identifying what each animal is called, and matching them to their books. Myka seemed to enjoy it too. : )

            Be sure to visit For Small Hands website HERE. I have a feeling this is going to be our “go to” website over the next several years when purchasing new toys for Myka. We like finding fun items that she will actually learn something from or help her develop important life skills, which is what For Small Hands’ products are all about! I almost forgot to mention that yes, their prices are actually affordable too!

            Before you run off, don’t forget to enter the giveaway HERE for your chance to win a $50 gift certificate to use on For Small Hands website! Good luck!

Disclaimer: I was not compensated monetarily for this review. I received product in return for my honest opinion and review of the item. All opinions expressed herein are my own and may differ from your own.