Mummy Must Have Review | Needle + Felt

When bub was little we used to sing nursery rhymes a lot. Well I used to sing them because it was long before she could talk. We used to go to aqua rhyme time at the pool and rhyme time at the library each week. I became an expert at nursery rhymes I'd long forgotten and a couple of new ones I'd never heard of. Bub loved the singing and all the actions, and I loved being able to do something fun and interactive with her.

Once she got mobile though we stopped going as she decided she didn't want to be confined in the corner of the library to sing songs. She'd much rather run from one end to the other or scream the place down. So I quickly gave up on rhyme time. We've still been singing nursery rhymes though but they've been limited to the ones that randomly come on Play School when we happen to be watching it.

That is until I recently discovered Needle + Felt on Facebook. Needle + Felt stock a range of felt story and song kits and finger puppet sets based on popular kids stories and books. Each felt piece is hand made and is a great educational resource for learning at home. Each set comes with all the felt characters needed to tell the story or song {+ song lyrics where applicable} and a zip lock storage bag to keep all the items safe and clean whilst not in use. The only thing they don't come with is a felt backing board, but you can use them on carpet, a table top or purchase some sheets of felt to use with them {I got some for a couple of dollars from Kmart}. We've got a few different sets from Needle + Felt and we've used at least one of them {sometimes all of them} every single day for the past few weeks.

FIVE LITTLE SPECKLED FROGS

One of bub's favourite songs from aqua rhyme time was five little speckled frogs {mainly because I used to lift her up and into the water when the frogs jumped into the pool - she thought it was hilarious}. It very rarely comes on Play School so I thought she would've forgotten all about it, but it turns out she still loves it and still giggles her head off when the frogs jump into the pool.

If you're not familiar with the song, it goes like this. Five little speckled frogs sat on a speckled log eating the most delicious bugs, yum yum. One jumped into the pool where it was nice and cool, now there's only four green speckled frogs. And so on and so forth until there are no green speckled frogs left on the log. The set comes with five felt frogs, a log and a pond complete with reeds plus the song lyrics on laminated paper. I use our set with a green backing piece of felt as well.

When we first started using the five little speckled frogs felt set she would get a bit confused between the speckled frog song and five little monkeys jumping on the bed so she'd start singing five spettled frogs jumpin on bed. But, over time she's realised and now says five spettled frogs sittin on log, mummy's turn {because she can't sing the rest of the song yet}. Then I take over until the frog has jumped into the pool and she'll sing four spettled frogs sittin on log, mummy's turn etc etc until there's no more frogs.

She loves to make the frogs jump off the log and into the pool and waits patiently until we get to that part of the song to make them jump. I'm actually super impressed with her patience as waiting is not something she likes to do, but she sits there all excited waiting for me to say the words. She also points out their eye colours - a pink frog, a green frog, a blue frog.

OLD MACDONALD HAD A FARM

Old MacDonald is one of those classic nursery rhymes that's been around for years and years and will continue to be around for years. So of course when I saw that set I had to have it. Plus she's been really into animals for a while now. The Old MacDonald felt set comes with a barn, old MacDonald, a horse, a cow, a sheep, a pig, a dog, a cat, a rooster and two ducks {one may be a goose, but according to bub they're mummy duck and baby duck}. I added the blue and brown backing pieces.

Bub doesn't really have the patience to sit through the entire Old MacDonald song for all the animals so we use this one more as a storyboard and make up different stories with the animals. We also practice the animal sounds. Sheep goes baaaaa, cow goes mooooo. She loves telling me stories and moving all the animals around although my ocd does get touchy when she starts putting the animals in the sky.

The play usually moves off the board and continues around the house. She likes taking the animals for walks and drives them around in her toy cars. She also likes to try and stick them onto daddy, but doesn't understand why they won't stick to him. 

DADDY FINGER

Another song bub is obsessed with is daddy finger. Daddy finger, daddy finger where are you.. here I am, here I am how do you do {and so on for mummy finger, brother finger, sister finger and baby finger}. She spends ages watching different versions of daddy finger on youtube {and there are some seriously weird versions out there}. She also starts singing it at random moments throughout the day and when she's meant to be going to bed at night. It's her favouritest favourite song ever.

I got a custom finger puppet set so we could sing the song together. She LOVES them. She loves them so much she makes me sing it about 15 times in a row each time I get the finger puppets out. She also sings along daddy inger daddy inger ware ahh you, ere I am, ere I am how you do. I secretly love the way she can't pronounce the words properly yet, its soooo cute.

I'm really loving using the felt sets with bub because its an interactive activity that we both enjoy and can do over and over. Plus she doesn't get bored or frustrated with it {the same can't be said about Playdoh}. I actually don't mind sitting and singing the same song over and over because she has so much fun and its great to do something with her that's also teaching her skills. Her speech therapist recommended that we do interactive turn taking games/activities and the felt sets are the perfect way to make singing a song {or telling a story} into an interactive experience. Playing with the felt sets allows her to work on her vocabulary skills, learn sequential movements and practice her fine motor skills all whilst having heaps of fun.

I love the detail in the sets as well. Especially the speckled frogs with all the different coloured spots. I also love all the googly eyes, they're so cute and make the pieces look realistic. I also love, love, love the storage bags because they let me keep all the bits and pieces together so they don't get lost. It may sound a bit odd, but if you saw how many times she loses pieces to games and puzzles etc you'd understand my excitement over a simple plastic storage bag. It also means I can easily take them with us when we go out.

The felt sets would make great stocking stuffers for Christmas for young kids. There are lots more song sets and book inspired felt sets available and you can request custom sets. You can purchase felt sets from Needle + Felt via facebook. Or, if you're in NSW you can see them at the following markets:

Kirribilli Markets
Saturday November 28th
9:00am - 3:00pm
Burton Street, Sydney
More info here

Kirribilli Markets
Saturday December 19th
9:00am - 3:00pm
Burton Street, Sydney
More info here

Educators Symposium & Resource Emporium
Saturday February 27th
32 Cricketers Arms Road, Blacktown
More info here


Do/did your kids love nursery rhymes too?

Toni x

Disclosure - I was gifted the Needle + Felt products mentioned for the purpose of review. All opinions expressed are my own as per my disclosure policy. I did not receive payment for this review

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