LeapFrog Magnetic Fridge Farm Review

The LeapFrog Fridge Farm refrigerator magnet is one of those few really affordable children's toys that will serve you well for years and year to come.

The set comes with the barn magnet itself as well as 10 animal magnets: a head and tail end for a cow, sheep, pig, duck, and horse. When any animal piece is put into the barn, it makes the sound of that animal. When a head and tail are present together and the pieces are pushed, the barn sings a song. If the pieces match, the song is about matching, and it ends with the sound of the animal the child has built. If the pieces do not match, the song is about the "silly" animal the child has built. Particularly given that this toy has been popular in our house with children as young as 15 months, it is nice that children are rewarded for their attempts at making the toy work, not only when they make the "correct" animal. When a complete matching animal is built, the toy does alternate between singing and offering animal facts, such as: "Did you know... cows make milk?"

In addition to the animal-building function of the toy, there is also a purely musical function. The LeapFrog character on the barn is a button which, when pushed, plays a brief song. The songs are of the standard children's variety, "Polly Wolly Doodle" and the like, and the arrangements are simple. Given that the button is easily pushed and provides hours and hours or entertainment for little people, I have come to appreciate the simplicity of the music. If you have to hear "Polly Wolly Doodle" 10,000 times, at least it's not an annoying rendition of the song. In addition, there are two volume choices on the barn, so you can also try to ensure that it's not too loud.

If you have small children in the house, you will want to keep track of the animal magnets. They're too big to choke on, but there are enough of them that they can get lost. But in six years of playing with this toy, we've only managed to lose (recently) the tail end of the horse. And given the number of pieces in most children's toys these days, this is actually quite reasonable. If you have any magnetic surface (refrigerator, stove, dishwasher) and a child looking for years of entertainment at a very reasonable price, this is a truly excellent choice.