One of the coolest parts of summer is that parents find more time to get their kids outside. Bringing children to farmer’s markets, petting zoos and local farms can be incredibly educational opportunities. Extend your child’s learning with a toy from John Deere called Kernel Shucks. To improve kids’ motor skills and spatial reasoning, Kernel Shucks comes apart in different pieces. Kids can reassemble him in different ways to create a character with a lot of personality.

John Deere Kernel Shucks Review

For several weeks, I tried the toy out with my children. The product came with a John Deere hat, a caterpillar, sunglasses, a wrench, and interchangeable mouth and arm parts. Initially, my older daughter Samantha needed some help getting the arms to stay on. When you put the accessories on, it can make the arms a little heavier. I showed Samantha how she could put the accessories on first, before connecting the arms to the body.

In the picture below, you can see how she assembled the toy when she worked on it independently. The arm with the thumb is facing the wrong way, and the arm isn’t connected tightly to the body, but giving her a chance to work independently was valuable to her. The more kids learn how to improve their own work, the more they can learn to face any challenges that come their way. Working to create different combinations was educational. As a certified teacher, I liked that the toy helped my daughter grow.John Deere Kernel Shucks

Another reasons the toy had educational value was that it provided a chance to talk to my daughter about farming. So many kids eat food every day and can’t imagine where it comes from. Since corn fields are hard to find in the suburbs, I used the opportunity to pull up photos on the internet of corn fields. Looking at the photos wasn’t the exploration activity I was hoping for, so I searched for local corn fields. I ended up finding a 10 acre, local corn field to visit this summer.

While the toy offered excellent educational value, it also taught my daughter some valuable skills. Both of my kids enjoyed playing with the toys. I had fun being part of playtime and helping my children come up with different combinations for the pieces. The product had great character, so it was fun to play make believe with it. In the future, I will look forward to keeping the pieces in an organized place so my kids can easily play with it without losing any of the parts. The item is available at Walmart.com and JohnDeereGifts.com.

Giveaway

Each household is only eligible to win 3 TOMY product prize packages, via blog reviews and giveaways, each calendar year. Only one entrant per household per giveaway. If you have won the same product prize package on another blog, you will not be eligible to win it again. Winner is subject to eligibility verification.
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Disclosure

I received a free item to help inform my writing.

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10 Responses

  1. Alanna

    This looks like a fun little toy! I entered the contest! Thank you for hosting it. If I win, I will give it to my niece!! I love educational toys! This would be a great gift to give to a child, too!! <3

    Reply
  2. Kita

    Very neat. I love unique toys. I have an old hess truck that I take out around Christmas for my kids to play with then I put it back up. The story behind the toys are a great way to get kids involved in eating too.

    Reply
  3. Brook Devis

    oh what a nice toy.unfortunatly i dnt have kids at home but i a trying my luck.If i win i will gift this to someone.Lets see how much am lucky

    Reply
  4. Hezzi-D

    Oh my gosh this toy is just too cute! I live in a rural area where a lot of people make their living with farms so this would be the perfect tool to use to teach children about farming!

    Reply
  5. Jeanine

    This toy is adorable. My boys would love it I’m sure! My oldest actually collected John Deere items when he was younger so I’m sure this would be awesome to add to that collection! He has a huge rubber tub full of stuff. Doesn’t really collect anymore but he’s saying for “future sons” so this would be great. We’ve never seen this toy before! Thanks for the chance!

    Reply
  6. Fi Ní Neachtáin

    This looks like such a fun toy, is it very small though? It’s great that your daughter could learn to assemble it herself and learn from her mistakes about where the parts went, etc. I know a little girl who loves all thing John Deere, because her daddy has the tractor so I bet she’d love this 🙂

    Reply
  7. Anita utami

    I love how you let your daughter assemble the toy without your help first. I try to do that with my toddler, too. Sometimes my fingers itch to help her when I see her trying to assemble her toys, but I hold back the urge to help her. It gives her the opportunity to learn, and it boosts her confidence. John Deere Kernel Shucks seems like a toy that my toddler will enjoy playing with.

    Reply
  8. Jenny

    Oh my gosh these are adorable toys! I have not ever heard of these John Deer toys before!! I love that these corn are wearing overalls, I think my kids would have loved these!

    Reply
  9. Joanne T Ferguson

    What a great giveaway and thanks for sharing today! I have never heard of these toys by John Deere! Thank you for allowing me to learn something new today! Sharing with friends as what child wouldn’t love these toys!

    Reply
  10. Sage

    This is so cute! I don’t have kids, but I wouldn’t mind having this on my desk 🙂

    Such a great giveaway! I tried to enter, but the page wouldn’t load for me 🙁 Maybe it’s because I’m outside of the US?

    Reply

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