Who’s on the Farm? by Julia Donaldson

A storybook about animals – our top recommendations include ‘Dear Zoo’ and ‘Oh dear!’ by Rod Campbell. Katy is reading ‘Who’s on the Farm?’ by Julia Donaldson!  

Optional extra – some toy animals. These could be soft toys or small animal figures.

Language and vocabulary.

Engaging in stories about animals is a lovely way to develop your child’s language, as you imitate the animal noises together, something your child will really enjoy!

As you turn the pages and lift the flaps, talk about the animal your child sees, encouraging them to name them if they can. If your child knows some animal names, point to the picture and say ‘It’s a….’ pausing to offer them a chance to have a go. 

To keep the excitement going, you can turn a page slightly and peep, without your child seeing, before making the animal noise to see if your child can guess which animal may be awaiting them on the next page!

If you have some toy animals, try some small world play, making the noises of the animals as you play. You could also play some animal noises by looking them up on youtube, then have a go imitating them! Imitating noises and experimenting with different vocalisations is an essential part of language development.