Which play animals to buy and where can I buy them (for almost 4 year old)

[happymom]

DD has tons of toys but I realized recently that she doesn't have any toy animals. The other day she built a zoo with her magnatiles and had no animals to put inside. Not much of a zoo, lol. Any recommendations? I don't want to spend a lot of money, but don't want dollar store quality either. I would love a tube of animals or something like that.

Thanks!

[hillview]

target sells nice ones they aren't cheap but very good quality

[swrc00]

Michaels has Shleich knock offs that come in various sizes. They also sell tubes of them. DS puts the ones in the tube in his Thomas trains.

[Seitvonzu]

schleich animals are really nice quality wise (they sometimes have them at target, our ToysRUs has them and lots of independent toy stores sell them), but they are on the pricier side. sometimes you can find them on sale- i got a bunch that way at target, but then realized...oh, they don't sell them at target anymore! :(

the tubes they sell at craft stores (think michaels or joanns fabric, a.c. moore) are nice, and you can use a 40% off coupon on a tube making them pretty reasonable. they come in sets so things like zoo, ocean life, pets, safari, birds, etc. this might be an affordable way to quickly have a "set" of something. they are smaller and more "rustic" than the scheilch stuff, but still nice :) kids don't really know the difference. michaels sells LOTS of plastic animals and typically has several on clearance.... again, you can use a 40% coupon on regular priced merch pretty much all the time, just google "michaels printable coupon" (or "michaels/joanns/acmoore coupon/printable/mobile coupon)

[Momit]

We have quite a few
-Schleich
-Giant tub of ocean creatures
-Anamalz (these are adorable wood animals with cloth accents. I love them. DS enjoys them too, but for some reason he always plays with them with his wooden trains and unit blocks rather than with his other animals - maybe because they're wood?)

We also love using Hexbugs with Magnatiles.

[katydid1971]

DD's Schleich came one at a time from Target. She would want a certain one and would carry it around the rest of the store, more than once we would have to go back in to pay for one that I realized we had "stolen" once I got her to her carseat :bag

[ett]

the tubes they sell at craft stores (think michaels or joanns fabric, a.c. moore) are nice, and you can use a 40% off coupon on a tube making them pretty reasonable. they come in sets so things like zoo, ocean life, pets, safari, birds, etc. this might be an affordable way to quickly have a "set" of something. they are smaller and more "rustic" than the scheilch stuff, but still nice :) kids don't really know the difference. michaels sells LOTS of plastic animals and typically has several on clearance.... again, you can use a 40% coupon on regular priced merch pretty much all the time, just google "michaels printable coupon" (or "michaels/joanns/acmoore coupon/printable/mobile coupon)

They are Safari brand and they're $6.99 for each tube at my AC Moore, so pretty cheap with the coupons.

[ang79]

They are Safari brand and they're $6.99 for each tube at my AC Moore, so pretty cheap with the coupons.

I was just looking at these on Sat. with the girls and wondering about the quality! We visited a miniature horse farm this summer and the girls fell in love with the horses and now want to play horses all the time, but the only horses we have are the FP Little People ones, which aren't all that realistic. I was talking to DH about getting them some nice little horses to play with but I don't want something that is hollow plastic where the legs will break off. So the ones at AC Moore (I was looking at the larger ones, not the small ones in tubes), hold up well?

[ett]

I was just looking at these on Sat. with the girls and wondering about the quality! We visited a miniature horse farm this summer and the girls fell in love with the horses and now want to play horses all the time, but the only horses we have are the FP Little People ones, which aren't all that realistic. I was talking to DH about getting them some nice little horses to play with but I don't want something that is hollow plastic where the legs will break off. So the ones at AC Moore (I was looking at the larger ones, not the small ones in tubes), hold up well?

We have mostly the small ones and some of the big ones, but they've all held up well. They are not hollow inside.

[citymama]

Another vote for Schleich. My DD also loves the zoo and barn lego duplo animals. We have wooden Holtziger animals too but they're pricey. My kids loooove animals and have all shapes, sizes and varieties of toy animals.

[MontrealMum]

We have both Schleich and Safari. Some of the bigger ones are a little weapon-like so watch out! If you're looking to populate a zoo quickly, though, I think that the Safari Toobs that are mentioned above would be a good choice. We have dinos, penguins, and African safari (I think). I bought ours on Amazon because I could not find them at B&M stores.

[happymom]

Thanks so much everyone! The Safari ones sound perfect for now since I want a whole bunch at once but don't want to spend too much. I looked on Amazon and they're about $8-9 a tube, so I think I'm going to try to get to Michael's with a coupon since it will be significantly cheaper.

Thanks again for all the great suggestions!

[roseyloxs]

Another vote for ANAMALZ. Love them. DD and DS love them too. The body, feet and head are made of wood but the legs are fabric and completely flexible. I bought ours off the deal sites. I think some are from mamabargains and the others are either from babyhalfoff or ecobabybuys. They are on amazon (http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=anamalz&sprefix=anama&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Aanamalz) too but the prices aren't as nice.

[AlbrightRC]

For those that like the schleich animals..our target stopped carrying them but they have them at our walmart now. My son loves dogs and everytime we go he wants to buy them all.

[Melaine]

We love the Schleich ones....we have had one horse break, but they do get a ton of play. In general I think they are very well-made. I love them because giving a couple of new ones refreshes the set and they are inexpensive, gender-neutral, SMALL. My girls use them with blocks, lincoln logs, legos, sometimes they take them on trips. A favorite here.

[Pennylane]

How about the tubes from Michaels ? I always purchased mine there with a 40% coupon.

Ann

[iaam]

Schleigh animals are great but I am not sure they are worth the price. TRU sells animals under the 'Animal Planet' brand - we have a few of those and they have worked well for us.

http://www.toysrus.com/family/index.jsp?categoryId=3518438

[kristac]

my kids love the LR Jumbo animals-
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_sabc?url=search-alias%3Daps&pageMinusResults=1&suo=1347379949218#/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=jumboanimals&sprefix=jumbo%20a&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Ajumbo%20animals

[happymom]

Kristac, I ended up getting a set of smaller Learning Resource animals. Thanks for the recommendation!
These are the ones I got-
http://www.amazon.com/Learning-Resources-Jungle-Animal-Counters/dp/B000BZ6TZE/ref=pd_sim_t_8

DD has been playing with them nonstop! Best toy purchase in a long time (aside from her beloved magnatiles).

I probably would have gotten the tube of animals from Michaels, but I knew I wouldn't get there for a while and it was a lot easier to just order online...

Off to start another thread about which toy trucks to get DD....

Thanks again everyone!