Books, Toys and Games to Help Pre-school Girls Learn

Holiday Doodle Cards

If you want something small to take on holiday with you to entertain girls who like drawing then Holiday Doodle Cards could be the answer. The pack is about 2 times the size of a standard pack of cards. It comes with a black felt pen and 50 wipeable cards.  Standard felts don’t work very well on them so either keep track of the pen or buy a whiteboard maker as a replacement. Each card has a coloured picture in a travel theme with missing things you can draw on them in black – e.g. facial features on a pilot, clothes on girl, fish in the sea, completing a maze. Some involve creating your own ideas and others encourage copying a similar image. The cards vary in difficult so would appeal to ages 3-8 year I would think.

Not all the cards appealed to Zoe when she was given these but with 50 cards to choose from that really didn’t matter – she spent hours working on them and they are still in good enough to use again next time. There are also enough cards to be able to share with friends or siblings – but make sure you have extra pens on hand. The pictures aren’t specifically for girls so these cards would appeal equally well to boys who love to draw too.

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Farmyard Dominoes

Farmyard Dominoes

Dominoes is a great game to play with kids of mixed ages and/or adults. Farmyard Dominoes uses 6 farm animals and a tractor, all with different coloured backgrounds, instead of dots so is ideal for young kids who don’t know their numbers yet. Maya will play this game many times over in one sitting because each game is quick enough to hold her attention and different each time. All players have an equal chance of winning as well so that adds to the excitement.

Farmyard Dominoes is made by Orchard Toys so the pieces quality is good – solid pieces in just the right size and a sturdy box to hold the game.

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Guess Who

Guess WhoMy kids have loved playing Guess Who since there were able to string a sentence together. We play one person at a time asking all the questions but you can take turns asking questions to make it competitive too. There’s some strategy involved if they are up to that stage or the game can be played just by asking as many questions as they need to identify the correct person.

The basic rules of Guess Who are that one player takes a card with a face on it and the other has a board with a selection of upturned faces. The player with the board asks questions which can be answered with either ‘yes’ or ‘no’ and the player with the board eliminates people (faces) depending on the answer. The end comes where there is only one person (face) left on the board – you then compare that with the card that was selected by the other player. I always have the face cards turned upside down before the each player makes a selection – otherwise my kids choose their favourite person every time – not much fun for the other player in that case (who is usually me).

I think this game is meant to be for 4 years and over but Maya’s been playing it since she was 2 so it really depends on the child’s stage of speech development and interest in games.

We have the original version but there are also travel and electronic options available these days too.

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Fairy Dress-up Reuasable Sticker Book

The Fairy Style Fashion Sticker Book: Bk. 4: Activity Book (Rainbow Magic)Fairy Style Fashion Sticker Book is possibly the best value for money gift I have ever given my girls. It’s so popular we now have 2 identical fairy sticker books so that the girls can both dress fairies at the same time. The stickers are completely reusable (the non-sticky variety) and with 100’s of different clothing and accessory stickers to choose from, plus 4 different fairies to dress there are hours and hours and hours of entertainment in one book.

This is great for helping with finger dexterity and concentration in younger girl whilst being equally entertaining for girls 4 years and over. You can play along with your kids or leave them to create their own fashions.

When we go on holidays I’ve been known to bring these books along as the only toy – they are light and compact, can be played with alone or with others and offer entertainment for hours. The perfect travel toy!!

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