My kids love the toy library at our county's Smart Start office. One of their favorite kits is the farm theme because it has some really cool games. **Old Macdonald Had a Farm game** is one of their favorite games. Pieces: - Two cardboard pieces serve as the "floor" and one as the backdrop - Red ramp with sound effects - Five animals: cow, pig, horse, sheep, chicken - Ten baby animals (2 for each animal) - Ten baby animal stands - Ten haystacks - Old Macdonald and stand Set-Up: - Place Old Macdonald on his stand (first time only) - Place the cardboard floor together - Connect the ramp to the backdrop piece of cardboard  - Place each of the the baby animals on a stand (first time only) - Place a haystack over each baby animal - Place the animals on the right side and covered babies on the left How to play: - Place an animal on the left side of the ramp and press down. The animal will "call" for its baby (cow will moo, chicken will cluck, etc.) - Pick a baby covered with a haystack and place on the right side of the ramp and press down. The baby will "call" back. - If the sounds do not match, a cowbell will ring, and you replace the covered baby and animal back to the waiting areas and wait for your turn again. - If the sounds do match, Old Macdonald will begin to sing the portion of the song related to that animal (You can get him to stop singing by pressing one of the animals again.) Remove the haystack and place the animal and baby together in the field and wait for your turn again. Actually, at our house the animals usually graze all over the kitchen table. - Keep taking turns until all the babies are reunited with the animals. - For good measure, you can place Old Macdonald on the back of the ramp and he will sing the entire Old Macdonald song. **Helpful Hints:** This game gives children the opportunity to match sounds with animals and tests their memory. With a 7-year-old and 4-year-old playing I like not keeping score. Of course, each person can keep their babies separate and you can have a winner at the end, but the 4-year-old will usually pick a baby and if it doesn't match, the 7-year-old is smart enough to pick the matching animal for her turn. The song is a bit much over and over again, even for my kids, so we usually just press again to get the music to stop. **My Viewpoint:** Old Macdonald Had a Farm can help kids learn to recognize and match animal sounds with the animals. The game moves pretty quickly and my kids usually beg to play at least two or three times in a row.  

Katrena

Piedmont, NC