We have received another lovely toy from Learning Resources to review, the Hide n Go Moo set.  It's a cute little barn with flaps at the top so that the child can reach inside and take out one of the animals.  There are 8 animals in total, a big and small version of a duck, horse, pig and cow.  The barn and animals are very well made and sturdy and the set sells for £23.94, which I think is quite good value for money for such a unique educational toy.  It is also a lot of fun, every time that I have taken it out Ethan has sat down to play with it straight away, even on his own just pulling animals out and putting them back in.

Size
The Hide n Go Moo set can be used in a variety of ways, including identifying size and counting as part of Problem Solving, Reasoning and Numeracy.  

Ethan has not yet learned to say the words 'big' and 'small' but I identified the sizes of the animals for him as he took them out of the barn and am looking forward to seeing his development as he does learn the words.  We then worked together to group and sort the animals by size and by type.  He is really enjoying counting though (he doesn't get all of the numbers right), and happily counts the animals back into the barn when he's putting them away.

Farm Animals
It can also be used for animal identification, names of animals, and sounds that animals make as a part of Knowledge and Understanding of the World.


Ethan either knows the name of the animal or the sound it makes, and then refers to the animal as the sound.  Of course I reinforce both, but for this set we had 'duck', 'moo', 'pig' and 'neigh'.  He was also quite insistent that there should be a 'baa' in there, maybe a tip for future editions of the set :)  We played with this in several different ways, taking the animals out and identifying them and then with all of the animals out and mixed up I could ask him to find me the 'duck' and he would find it and put it back in the barn.  (A more advanced step would be to ask for the 'big duck' but Ethan isn't quite ready for that.)

The Barn
There is also an element of Physical Development and fine motor control in taking the animals out of the barn and putting them back in.


I think this may be Ethan's favourite part.  He can just sit on his own taking the animals out and putting them back in with no rules or questions from me.  He always has loved playing with tissue boxes and other toys where he can 'post' items, so it's no real surprise.  I'm sure that it won't be long for him to discover that he can put other things inside, then it will be a very interesting farm indeed!

Discount offer!
If you order online from Learning Resources and use the code BLOGGER13 during checkout you will get free delivery on all orders.  Offer valid until December 31st 2013.  (Let me know what you order!)


* This has been a review post, Learning Resources sent me the Hide n Go Moo set so that we could play with them and write a review for them. To see more about my review process please click here. *