Schleich Plastic Animals/Action Figures

Well, I can easily say that this particular package was one of the most anticipated, and most joyously greeted review products by my children.... after all, who doesn't love getting toys in the mail? We received from the wildlife selection:

a lioness .....................a lion cub................ and a Meerkat

and from the more domestic selection :

a holstein cow....................a sheep......... and a lipizzaner mare

The selection I received range in price from $2.49 for the lion cub to $6.49 for the Lipizzaner Mare. (Click on the pictures to be brought to individual product pages and descriptions)

I don't know how familiar you are with Schleich plastic animals, or action figures, so let me share a little bit with you.

I want to preface my review with a couple of comments. We started out 11 year-old's "plastic animal" collection when she was a wee child of one, when we purchased a zoo membership. Her animals came with us everywhere, and were a great source of imaginative play, and even engineering, as we learned to stack them, like the Bremen Town Musicians. ;) Now, 10+ years later, her collection is housed in a largish plastic container, and while it no longer goes "Everywhere" with us, it does make appearances at friends' homes, and often come out for play when we have visitors. I will also mention that "plastic animals" frequently show up on both the 8 year old and 11 year old Birthday and Christmas "Wish lists".

OK, that's all well and good, but now you may like to know just exactly WHY plastic animals and Schleich animals in particular, found their way into a homeschooling review, right?

Well, here's my take on it.

CREATIVITY: My children love animals, stories about animals, facts about animals, videos that feature animals, and so on. So, it is no surprise that they enjoy using their imaginations, creating their own stories and plays with their creatures.
NARRATION: They can be found re-telling the stories that we have read together, or that they are reading.
SCIENCE~ Classification: If the collection is large enough, they can be set up in in sets of Family, Genus and Species... much more fun than classifying pictures on paper.... ;)
~ Contrasting and Comparing features within a family
ART: what great models to draw from! I can tell you that one of Schleich products' main features is their realistic modeling of the animals , and the detailed hand-painting of the figures.

In addition, the animals are manufactured to strict safety standards (Which is important with a sometimes "mouthy" toddler in the house), and are very sturdy. They have a great feel and "heft" in the hand.

What a fun way to learn more about the natural world that God created, by bringing some of these realistic figures into your home!

Schleich also carries action figures from the worlds of Knights(great for medieval studies), the American Frontier, Dinosaurs, Sea life, and for those who enjoy Tolkein and CS Lewis, figures from the worlds of Fantasy and Elves.

I hope you check them out... they get a big thumbs up from *my* family! You can read what othr TOS Crew members had to say as well...

Blessings~
Lis