Learning Resources Alphabet Acorn Set - Review and Giveaway

It is nearly Christmas and so we are all starting to think about what toys we could get our children. One thing I always like to think about as well as having fun is learning. So when Learning Resources offered a Alphabet Acorn set to review, I thought this would be a great opportunity to tell all you about a learning toy that would be a perfect buy for Christmas. 

The Alphabet Acorn Set comes with 24 acorns. One for each letter of the Alphabet. Each acorn has a colour and a uppercase letter on the front. But thats not all! The acorns have an element of surprise with a object hidden inside each one. As you lift the lid you will find the object that corresponds to the letter. So for example A for apple. As well as that, if you turn the lid and look at the inside of it, it has a lowercase example of the letter. 

The acorns are laid out into the box so then they can easily be stored that way. I am always glad of toys where you can use the box for the storage of the toy. Especially ones like this where there are many pieces to it. All the little objects that go inside the acorns come in separate little bags so you have to match them all up and put them inside before giving them to your little one. There was so much suspense and excitement while Lily waited to see what was going to happen with these acorns as I wouldn't let her look. 

When I introduced them to her she was super excited to see them and really curious too. I shook one and she heard that there was something inside and so she opened one up. As she took out the object she told me what it was and I repeated "yes, a for apple". We went through each of the acorns and repeated the letters and words and Lily would say it after me. This is a really great way to an early understanding of letters and how to pronounce them. 

Repetition is a really good way of helping children learn letters and sounds and so by doing this it will really help Lily start to learn how to say each letter. Eventually she should be able to recognise which letters go to which object. Though this isn't something that happens quickly often. 

There are other ways that you can use this toy. 

You could let them play with it alone and let them explore. This way they will start to familiarise themselves with the pieces and the letters. You could also use the acorns to learn the ABC by placing them in order. You could even sing the song as you point to each letter. 
You can try and get the child to match the object to the correct letter. The colour system also helps them with this. You could also get them to find the letter you ask for, which is testing their new learnt knowledge of the alphabet. You can also make words out of some of the letters by placing the acorns next to each other or stacking them up. This toy has so many ways to help your child learn but always in a fun way. 

This toy helps build a lot of early key skills such as - 

Alphabet Awareness
Upper and Lowercase Letter Recognition 
Early Vocabulary 
Phonics
Colour Recognition
Sorting
Matching

Also the lifting of the lids can help with fine motor skills and hand and eye co-ordination. This toy really does have a lot to offer when it comes to learning.

The thing that Lily loved the most about this toy was the element of surprise. She got so excited when she started to recognise what was inside some of the acorns and would tell me what it was. I thought that the toy was really easy to use and the lids came off and went on really easily so Lily could do it herself. 

One thing I did notice about the toy though was that she got confused at what some of the objects were, and before I read the little activity guide, so did I.

For example, Lily thought that the van was a bus and the koala a bear. I also thought the grasshopper was going to be for the letter B, for Bug. I think some of the items were a little confusing to which letter they went along side with and some clearer items like a Vase, Violin, Gate, Kettle which you couldn't confuse may have been better. 

I did think the toy was of a really good quality and the little objects are all made of a really strong material and you can tell that these will last a long time. They were all really colourful and the letters were printed on nicely. I did find that the purple colour didn't stand out too well against the brown and was a little hard to see compared to the other colours. 

Overall I am really happy and impressed with this toy and it is a must buy if you are currently trying to encourage your little one to learn the alphabet. 

You can buy this toy from the Learning Resource website for £29.15. Head here to buy yours now. 

If you love the sound of this toy. You can enter to WIN one by filling out the Gleam app below. Good luck! 

*Ends 06/12*

Win a Learning Resources Alphabet Acorns Set