Thursday, August 4, 2016

Teaching Together: Animals & a Giveaway!!

Olive's favorite toys lately have been these fun sets of animals from Wal-Mart.  My MIL bought them when we were in Florida a few months ago and Olive still plays with them almost daily.  The brand is Spark Create Imagine and we have the Safari and Farm Animals.  There are 12 in each set and they are so affordable.  You can find them in the toy section with several things in this same brand.
 My 3 year old plays independently with them by 
sorting - by color, wings vs no wings, color, etc.
organizing
pretending she's a zookeeper
animal conversations & noises
and lining them up all over the house

She shares them with her 4 month old brother.  He loves to chew on them and try to hold them.  It's sweet to see her naming the animals and showing them to him.  She's a cute little teacher making animal noises and asking what each animal eats.  This is one of the first toys they've played with together.







 The animals still look brand new after months of playing with them, they're squishy and we are having so much fun with them.  The learning opportunities are endless.  I'm planning to have Olive tell stories about them, to organize them by categories I determine and categories of her own, talking about where they live, counting them, lining them up, etc.  SO many fun options!!

 GIVEAWAY TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It's been a while since I did a giveaway on the blog so I'm excited to share a DARLING Thanksgiving board book with you today.  I realize Thanksgiving is months away, but I got a copy of the book to review and a copy to give away.  This way you'll be way ahead of the game when November rolls around.  Plus all the craft stores already have out Fall/Halloween/Christmas so I'd say it's time to start planning.

To enter: 
Leave a comment saying who you'd like to win this book for and I'll announce a winner Tuesday, August 9th.  Be sure to leave your email address in your comment if you are a no reply blogger so I can get in touch with you.  If there's no email, I'll have to draw another winner.  Good luck!!
for US residents only

 http://www.booklookbloggers.com/art/_240_360_Book.1975.cover.jpg
The book is called One Big Turkey by Anne Kennedy.  The illustrations are so cute and the Thanksgiving story is really sweet.  The lines rhyme, it's a counting book, there's new vocabulary to introduce your child to and there are so many things to talk about on every page.  My toddler loved naming the animals, counting along with me and though the story was funny.  We have already read it aloud several times and I know it's going to be a holiday favorite this year.  It's challenging to find cute Thanksgiving books for little kids and this one is perfect.  The book is very durable, colorful and I'd recommend this to anyone with little kids. 


 Linking up Beth for Teaching Together today.

17 comments:

  1. Would love the thanksgiving book for my new baby!!
    Also, the farm animals are a great idea for a big brother / big sister gift as many of my friends are having their second babies now! :)

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  2. Those animals are ADORABLE!! I could see my youngest daughter loving them as well as James!! You know how much I love Walmart...totally going to check them out the next time I am there! I would love the Thanksgiving book for my James. We love reading books together and board books are perfect because he can't rip out the pages- HA!

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  3. I would love to win this book for my daughter who is expecting her first baby in a few weeks!

    michelelynn683@hotmail.com

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  4. I love that Miss O is "teaching" Fletcher. He is one lucky little guy to have such smart ladies around him so much :)

    And that book!? YES PLEASE! My love of Fall runs deep and I'd love to share this book with Connor and find a craft or two, even a snack, to go with this Thanksgiving themed book.

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  5. Those little animals are just the cutest! I love how many ways there are to organize and play with them.

    We'd love to add the book to our collection too. I bet Marissa would enjoy reading it to Emily and Emily could even read it on her own soon!

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  6. I would love to win this book for my daughter!!

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  7. Omg! I have got to get my son some of those toys! He would LOVE them. I would also like to add that book to Callon's collection
    hrfrog89@gmail.com

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  8. I always appreciate your toy/book recommendations - you've given me lots of good ideas for niece and nephew gifts! I might have to brave Walmart to look for those little animals. That board book would be a sweet gift for my niece and nephew as well. Love all of Olive's darling facial expressions in the pics! <3

    Whitney @ Come Home For Comfort
    comehomeforcomfort@gmail.com

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  9. I'd love to give this book to Eli although I'm sure big sister Julia would also enjoy reading it to him!

    -Lindsey
    MrsMeyerMusic@yahoo.com

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  10. I've seen this brand and have been intrigued by them! We love playing & learning with animals. We might need to pick up a set for ourselves! Thanks for sharing!

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  11. Hi Whitney. I love reading your blog. I would love this book for nephew, Tyler, He is 5 and just starting kindergarten tomorrow.
    Love
    Julie Jackson
    jjac146018@bellsouth.net

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  12. Hi Whitney. I love reading your blog. I would love this book for nephew, Tyler, He is 5 and just starting kindergarten tomorrow.
    Love
    Julie Jackson
    jjac146018@bellsouth.net

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  13. I spied a money set from Spark Create Imagine that I'm going to have to track down! Thanks for linking up with us! And I would love to win that book for my two year old :)

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  14. Love those animal sets!! I will have to check that out the next time we go to walmart.

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  15. I would love to win for my daughter! I love reading to her!

    xxdaggyxx@aim.com

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  16. We are lacking Thanksgiving books, so this one would be fun!

    Those animals are perfect to share with little brother!

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  17. What a fun book! I think I would put this one right into our Thanksgiving rotation at school. I love those animals. I know Jack would love them too. He has been obsessed with naming animals and their sounds.

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I LOVE hearing from you!! Thanks for taking the time to leave sweet comments; I enjoy reading every one of them.