Set up the cutest little farm with the barn silo and the barnyard animals–pigs, cows, mice, chicks, sheep and donkeys. Place one die in the silo shaker and see what animal to match as the player makes the animal’s sound alerting players to begin. Each player shakes his cup of animal dice and rolls out for a match. If he gets a match he sets that die aside and rolls again to get 3 of the animal shown in the silo. Lots of chat ensued as kids rolled their cup of animal dice, “Nope, I didn’t get one.” “I got one more left.” “I got the same two.” Kids practice math vocabulary as they talk about one more, the same, only two and practice counting.  Friends had fun coaching each other on animals sounds and loved collecting the animal tokens when they won a round. The game set-up is a fun backdrop for pretend play, which often occurs when preschoolers are playing. Language skills are strengthened as kids associate animals with their sounds, and talk about the results of their roll, comparing numbers of animals and counting. What a fun way to learn on the farm!

Available at Mindware. Click here