12+ months

• Introduce your baby to the First Friends character(s).
• Let your child explore the toy and find out which features move and make a sound - if necessary assist and show them all the moving, clicking parts.
• If the character does a job, explain what that job is, and what the character does e.g. ‘She's a diver, she goes underwater to look at the fish or to find sunken treasure!’, ‘He's a pilot - he flies aeroplanes so that people can go to other places’
• Encourage your child to handle and move the character into different positions
• Ask your child simple questions such as 'can you make the head move?'
• Encourage your child to talk about his or her new friend
• Praise your child for any attempt made to join in with making sounds and moving the parts
• Let your child explore the toy and find out which features move and make a sound - if necessary assist and show them all the moving, clicking parts.
• Ask your child simple questions such as 'can you make the head move?'
• Encourage your child to imitate any sounds the animals might make.
• Encourage imaginative play in combination with other items from the First Friends collection.
• Talk about the animal in terms of size, colour, sounds they make and features they have such as mane, tail, hooves, claws, ears, etc.
• Show them pictures/photos of animals in books and encourage them to recognise the similar features of image and toy.




18+ months

• Talk about your child's First Friend character(s) - mentioning its different characteristics such as colour, clothes, etc.
• Talk with your child about the character's job - e.g what does a diver do? What sort of things might a diver see underwater?
• Introduce vocabulary such as ‘sitting’ ‘running’ ‘driving’ etc according to the different actions the character can demonstrate as you play
• Ask your child questions about the character and encourage your child to ask questions back!
• If the opportunity arises, show your child the real-life version of his/her First Friend's character and talk about the similarities between the two.
• Encourage lots of pretend play with the characters, helping to devise scenarios if necessary but also letting your child take the lead with their ideas as much as possible.
• Introduce vocabulary such as ‘sitting’ ‘running’ ‘barking’ ‘mooing’ etc according to the different actions and sounds the animals can demonstrate as you play together.
• Talk about where you might see the animals - eg in the wild, on a farm, in a zoo etc
• Compare the toy animals with their real life counter-parts in books, on the television or in real life. Show your child the similarities - eg, 'the elephant has big ears, just like your First Friends elephant'
• Ask your child if he or she has a favourite animal and find out what he or she likes about that animal. Encourage your child to talk about the animal's different features and abilities.
• Encourage lots of pretend play with the animals, letting your child take the lead, but assisting with ideas if necessary.
• Compare the animal's features and abilities to your own or that of your child e.g. ‘Can Mummy run as fast as the cheetah?’, ‘do you have as many teeth as the crocodile?’, ‘who has bigger ears, you or an elephant?’
• Talk about what the animals might eat - eg 'the giraffe likes to munch on leaves from a tall tree.

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