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Toy farm sets for toddlers are a great gift idea for young children to enjoy. They are unisex and enjoyed by boys and girls equally and they can help to build an interest in animals too.

My daughter was coming up to 2 years of age when I was looking for a farm play set. Because of the age, I wanted something that would be suitably sized for her to sit and play with on the floor. I was also looking for something that wouldn't take up too much space since we had enough large items at this stage.

We also wanted a product that could withstand the usual investigative explorations of an inquisitive toddler. You'll see the farm we choose to buy for Christmas as well as others available that look like great buys.

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Fantastic Selection of Toy Farm Sets for Toddlers to Enjoy

I enjoyed my own toy farm set for many years when I was a young girl. Since my grandpa actually worked on a farm, I was very keen to buy a good quality starter farm toy for my own daughter to enjoy as well.

⭐ In a Hurry? Get a Toy Farm HERE from Amazon.com and at Amazon.co.uk

Besides which, a barn is a great way to introduce toddlers and young kids to a large variety of different animals. So I particularly liked the potential educational aspect as well as the fact it is something fun to play with.

Fisher-Price Farm Set for a 1 Year Old

Image Credit: photo belongs to the author.

Prior to her wooden one, my daughter had a Little People Fisher Price set that she really enjoyed.

This one is deemed safe to be used for younger kids at age 1+ and it features interactive play with animal sounds which could help toddlers to start learning about types of animals.

Get this Fisher Price Little People Farm from Amazon.com

UK Readers get a Little People Farm from Amazon.co.uk

This farm set that we choose features nice chunky play pieces which are designed to be good for toddlers to grip.

I think this is a great choice for young kids and toddlers and I would recommend it based on how much it was played with and enjoyed. We loved how easy the Little People sets were to keep clean which is pretty important when you have toddlers around spilling things.

Lego Duplo Farm Set for a 2 Year Old and Over

Get this Lego Duplo Big Farm Set from Amazon.com

UK Readers get a Lego Duplo Set from Amazon.co.uk

You may not be aware but Lego have their own range of big, chunky building blocks that are suitable for toddlers and young children to play with.

Duplo is from the Lego brand but with far larger pieces which are aimed specifically at preschool kids. I find that Lego items are very good quality and they last for a long time.

Lego have plenty of barn and farm sets with tractors, animals and more in their range and all at different price points too. You can grab some individual animals and play components through the year. I think this is a great choice for getting children started on building blocks.

Toy Farm Set for a 3 Year Old and Older

Get this Melissa & Doug Fold and Go Farm Set from Amazon.com

UK Readers get a Fold and Go Farm from Amazon.co.uk

We'd had many Melissa and Doug items before at this point which we'd always been very happy with. Toys we liked included their wooden pattern blocks, chunky puzzles and stacking shapes. So, when I saw their Fold and Go Mini Barn which is pictured, I was already half sold on the idea.

Although the recommended age states 3+, my daughter played with this in a supervised manner from just before the age of two. See the alternative options below for a set that's suitable for even younger kids to play with.

What Features We Liked about the Melissa and Doug Fold and Go Toddler Farm Set:

1. This farm was a wooden one. I don't have anything against plastic toys. In fact, they can be very practical with young children since they are very easy to wash and clean. However, this time, I wanted a wooden set since it was for a special Christmas gift.
2. I loved the bright red color which I knew would appeal to my child. She seemed to like red from a very young age so that really stood out to me when I was researching which barn to buy.
3. It looked nice and simple for kids to play with and enjoy. The big sliding barn doors at the front looked nice and easy for young hands to open and close. I also liked that there were no fiddly parts that might hamper the fun of playing.
4. This barn is portable with handles at the top for ease of carrying. Some farm sets are spread out with lots of different components and parts that take time to tidy away or pick up to take elsewhere. I loved the fact that this one was focused around one main barn that had carry handles so you could easily move it around the home or take away with you on vacation.
5. It came with a starter pack of animals and accessories. Granted, the included animals didn't look like the best quality. At least the set came with enough for our child to get busy with until we found some better farm animals to add to the set. The wooden ladder and folding fencing were a nice addition.

There are of course, alternative options for farm and barn sets suitable for toddlers and young children. Here are some other toys that you can choose from with a quick rundown from me on what I like about them.

Good Points on The Melissa Doug Barn We Choose

It's so easy to store this play set in our home. The set that we chose doesn't take up an awful lot of space, unlike so many toys which seem to be awkward sizes and shapes.

You can also fit lots of animal figures and bits inside it before shutting it. So everything is kept nice, neat and tidy all in one wooden box. It really doubles up as a toy with its own handy storage area.

We all love how portable this Melissa and Doug set is. I've lost count of the amount of times we've taken this toy both on various vacations and for short breaks and stays with family.

It's just so easy to grab by the handles and pop into the car. If you're worried about any of the figures falling out while you're on a journey, just tie some string, twisty garden wire or chenille stems through the windows on the unhinged side or tape it closed with low tack tape. That's always worked for us a treat.

The set has withstood the years and still looks good. I'm surprised at just how well this toy has stood all the play, the carrying, being used indoors and out and being pounced on by groups of young kids.

It has some minor wear and tear but the hinged side is still like new and the paint has also held up well. I've been able to wipe this with a damp cloth when there have been spills which have kept it clean.

Undoubtedly it has helped to encourage a love of animals. I'm glad that this toy has helped to instill a caring, kind and inquisitive nature towards animals as we have been learning about different ones as we collect them to go with the farm.

Even now she's much older, my daughter still loves to play with this farm toy. Other toys have come and gone but this is one that will still get played with. She now saves up her pocket money to buy some more realistic looking Schleich farm and animals which you can also buy separately.

Sometimes we end up with animals that don't actually go along with this setting in real life, like the family of Polar bears. That's fine because it's all helping and encouraging the imagination as well as a love of animals.

What we Didn't Love about the Fold and Go Farm

The plastic animals it comes with look cheap and not very realistic. I don't really like the set of farm animals that are included although my daughter never had a problem with them and she's still kept them despite having better pieces now. Over the years, we have added in some new ones from the highly realistic looking Schleich animal figures.

It could be improved with some kind of lock on the opening side. When traveling or carrying this around, it would definitely help to have some kind of child-friendly mechanism for keeping the set locked shut.

This is so that you don't risk dropping all the animals and accessories out. It's never been an issue when carrying round the home but it is a worry on car journeys. I normally thread garden wire through the windows on the unhinged side to ensure nothing can spill out.

The set could also do with some people. You get some common farm animals like a sheep, horse, dog, goat, pig, turkey and cow, but where are the farm workers? Luckily we had some wooden people figures that we could use because a farm doesn't run itself!

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Page Last Updated: September 13th, 2018