Farmyard small world play

It’s lovely to spark new interests in children and continue the learning at home. Yesterday the children spent the afternoon having fun with a special animal-themed small world play, which I thought I would share with you.

Materials needed to make farmyard small world play:
tuff spot
Playmobil farm animals and equipment
sand, small stones and oats or any other sensory material

How to set up farmyard small world play:

A tuff spot is perfect for some small world play. It’s just the right size for my children as there’s room for them to play together but it’s also large enough that they can have their own area. We’ve used it quite a lot lately and yesterday they set up their own farm following on from a recent visit.

To provide a full sensory experience we used a variety of different materials. We collected a bucket of sand, a bucket of stones and a bucket of oats and spread them over the base of the tuff spot, keeping them in three distinct areas.

Then the children collected as many farm related toys they could find in their Playmobil box. They found a great variety including animals, fences, wheelbarrows, bales of hay, a tractor and people.

I let the children decide how they wanted to set up their farm but it was great hearing them talk about it. We discussed previous visits to our local farm, the animals we saw, where they lived and what they ate.

Needless to say our small world play didn’t stay tidy for long. The tractor was quick to move materials around although the high edge of the tuff spot kept most of the sand inside it. The children had great fun and it was lovely to see them bringing some of the things we had learned at the farm into our home.

Don’t forget to go and read my article over on Flora’s site. I would love to hear about your favourite days out with your children. Do you enjoy a day at the farm as much as we do?