04-12-2015 ~Karin's Newest Additions!~ [Trade with Tove and Abu drawing!]

I think what children stand to learn from having access to animal figurines to play with is a bit bigger than zoology: the skill of identifying with other creatures and recognizing their validity as entities. It exercises the childrens' empathy and teaches them the concept of the personhood (or "beingness" if you prefer) of creatures other than the child himself, and indeed other than human.

Basically that's much of the idea of pretend play in general: it exercises the child's skill in putting themselves in another's position, and teaches the comprehension of multiple perspectives and their validity. Pretend play overall is recognized as fairly important to the cognitive and social development of children. What I think animal figurines specifically bring into it - unanthropomorphised animal figurines in particular - is the application of those skills getting extended to include non-human animals, too, and not just other people. I'd see that as fairly important to a kid's future ability to usefully function as part of civilised society and, by extension, to the future of civilised society in general, if you'll excuse the grandiose term.
(With this in mind it may be interesting (or chilling, whichever way you like it) to consider the educational effect by that logic of the increasingly prevalent, nigh-unrecognizably anthropomorphised accessory "animal toys" of today - think modern In My Pocket pets, Bratz animals etc. What do those say about the nature or personhood of animals as beings?)

To put the above in mildly more practical terms: Ever more children grow up with little of close contact with non-human animals and there easily build their concept of and attitude towards them by picking up on other people's - parents', teachers', the medias' - oft dismissive, uninformed or downright callous notions of animals as beings, whether these notions be expressed or implied. In such a situation time spent playing with animal toys "as them", imagining to be those animals - that is, actively identifying as a non-human creature, regardless of how zoologically accurate the kid's projections of their chosen animals' feelings and behaviours be - can be significant to how and if the kid learns to view animals as beings.

Alright, off me soapbox. Just thought I'd point that stuff out, since you wondered. It isn't all the same how kids are taught to view animals. Animal toys are one tool in teaching that.