Learning With Safari Ltd.

We've written before about how Safair Ltd. figurines can be used for learning and education (but still fun) play. But lately it seems like we've come across blog post after blog post from parents and teachers discussing the different ways (and lessons) they used the figurines for. If you're looking for some new ideas, check out one of these links!

Community Helpers: Who Does Why by Crayon Freckles

Learning With Safari Ltd. Backyard Birds by Inspiration Laboratories

Arctic Ice Sensory Tub by No Time For Flash Cards

Making Play-Doh Animal Tracks by The Pleasantest Thing

Landmark Mix & Match (Geographical Exploration) by Thirty Mommy

Teaching Pre-Schoolers About Habitats by Carrots Are Orange

DIY Penguin Board Game by Childhood Beckons

Don't forget that The Jungle Store has a great collection of Safari Ltd. figurines and figures! And visit the Safari Ltd. Pinterest board for even more resources on how to teach your children through play.

How To Use Safari Limited Toys In Educational Learning

We came across this post from the Blessed Elements site and just had to share! The author, a grandma, wrote about how she uses different Safari Limited figurines and Toobs each summer to have fun with her grandchildren while also teaching them lessons about different subject!

"One year it was pirates and we ended the week with a day long water fight extravaganza.Three years ago it was butterflies joined with planting butterfly flowers,crafts, and a field trip to a live butterfly exhibit," she writes.

Rainforest Toob Set

This year her lessons plans focus on the rainforest. Here are some of the ways she uses her Safari Limited toys:

• For animal recognition. She uses the figurines to show the kids the different animals and teach them about which part of the rainforest they live in.

Hyacinth Macaw and Amazon Parrot figurines

• To add a hands-on element to the lesson. The kids not only see the animals, but can pick them up and study the details of them.

Red-Eyed Tree Frog figurines

• Encouraging imaginative play. The kids love to play with the figurines, creating their own stories for the animals.

Want to try something similar with your children or grandchildren? With the range of Safari Limited products, you can teach them about everything from the Civil War to dinosaurs to farm animals. Visit our website to see our selection of Safari Limited figurines and toys!

Folkmanis Puppets Win Parents Choice Awards

A couple weeks ago we posted about a few of our brands that had been recognized by Dogster.com for having cute and realistic stuffed dogs. Now we're proud to brag about another one of our favorite brands, Folkmanis, whose puppets (also very cute and extremely realistic) have been honored by the Parents Choice Foundation in their annual Parents Choice Awards!

American Alligator Puppet: Gold Award

Parents Choice says: "Eerily realistic except for size, this beautifully-constructed 32-inch puppet can be used not only for fun and entertainment but also for curriculum development in science... A printed attachment provides interesting facts about alligators and related folklore. This highly appealing toy may be correlated with numerous storybooks, such as Mercer Mayer's There's an Alligator under My Bed or Maurice Sendak's Alligators All Around. Stylish young practical jokers could even attach a gold chain and carry this puppet as an alligator "purse."

Nibbling Mouse Puppet: Silver Award

Parents Choice says: This six-inch-tall furry mouse has a feature rarely found in puppets: a 360-degree rotating head. The body cavity typically used for hand/finger insertion contains a plastic stick that may be grasped and rotated. Such maneuvering can mimic the shaking head gesture (for "no") or other quick, darting movements... The story "Church and Cheese" is attached, and numerous children's books could be correlated with this lovable critter, such as Laura Joffe Numeroff's If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.

Little Puppets: Silver Award

Parents Choice says:  The Folkmanis set of "Little Puppets" includes six half-body hand puppets ranging from six to ten inches in height. These tiny but fierce creatures (an alligator, hare, brown bear, polar bear, chipmunk, and lion) all have four "finger openings" that allow puppeteers... to "bite" their own two front legs/paws-or to "talk" and gesture at the same time. All are sturdily constructed with both realistic and cuddly features.

 

And those are just a fraction of the wonderful, realistic puppets we carry from Folkmanis. Visit their brand page on our site to see all of the animals - from dogs and cats to bugs and even dragons - they bring to life!

Educational Toys: Safari Limited Toobs

It's a sad truth that educational toys aren't always fun. Although they might have seemed entertaining to the toy developers, they fall flat when presented to actual kids who, if they have to learn, want it to be fun.

The Toobs from Safari Limited do NOT fall into this category. Their realistic mini figurine sets are the type of toys that encourage imagination and play while still presenting educational opportunities. The Toobs cover a variety of themes, from animals to vehicles, dinosaurs to historic humans. Take a look at a few of our most popular Toobs.

Space Shuttle Toob

 On The Farm Toob

Coral Reef Toob

Knights And Dragon Toob

Dinosaurs Toob

Cats Toob

Toobs are the perfect toys to take with you anywhere, since the figurines come in a resuable plastic tube for easy and portable storage! They're also great for dioramas or educational projects and presentations. AND, each Toob retails for only $9.98! To see our entire selection of Toobs from Safari Limited, click here.