Holiday shopping can be stressful! SPOT wants to make this easy for you so you can enjoy your holiday season! Keep reading for a therapist-recommended gift guide for children of all ages!
- Spin Again Gears: One of our most used toys in the clinic! Most loved by infants and toddlers- they love watching the gears spin down and changing up the order to make different patterns!
- Squigz: Another MOST used activity in our clinic. The possibilities are truly endless- use them to suction to different flat surfaces (we love using them on tile, windows, white boards, etc.) or even suction them together to build different designs. They come in various sizes and even glow in the dark! Great for motor development of all levels!
- Piggy Bank Sorters: A classic toy that our OT’s love to use with little ones! Most play music and can double as an interactive toy for counting or learning colors!
- Ring Stackers: Another classic- similar to the Spin Again Gears activity without the rotation. Great for getting little ones started with motor skills in sitting or standing.
- Inny Bin: A spin on shape sorters with different shapes to problem solve in and out of a banded container.
- Touch & Feel Books: Who doesn’t love quality time with some books? Touch and feel books are great for adding in some sensory exploration with different textures!
- Pop Tubes and Pop its: These have quickly gotten popular with the rise in fidget popularity! They come in so many different sizes, colors, and designs and are great for keeping busy on the go too!
- Tummy Time Visuals: A propped up mirror and contrast cards are great options for tummy time entertainment! Not to mention helping work on so many developmental skills ?
- Crawl Tunnel: Tunnels create so many play opportunities! Most even come with a bag or velcro straps to stow away when not in use.
- Puzzles (large peg, small peg, and jigsaw): Puzzles are another favorite with our pediatric patients! Large pegs allow those little hands to grab pieces easier. Small pegs are great for little ones that aren’t quite to the jigsaw stage yet that might still need something to help them with grasping. Jigsaw puzzles come in so many size and theme options, they are so fun to incorporate into different interests!
- Sorting Activities: There are so many options for sorting activities out there. They are nice to align with your little ones interest- matching, color identification, counting, and so much more!
- Scissor Skills Book: Most Kindergarten classes want their students to at least be able to use scissors with proper safety and understanding, though the mastery of the skill often comes later on. A book like this scissor skills book with some safety scissors is a great way to introduce this activity!
- Velcro Carpet Visuals: Velcro shapes and lines that you can place on the carpeted floor or stairs is a great way to incorporate some movement into your days inside (especially during our harsh winters). Great for a jumping target, makeshift balance beam, or even for a game of ‘the floor is lava’.
- Turn Taking Games: Another critical skill for kids to have especially as they enter school age, is turn taking. There are so many fun options for turn taking games but our favorites here at the clinic are Diggin’ Doggies, Banana Blast, Pop-up Pirate, and Clack!.
- Legos: Who doesn’t love getting to use their creative side? Legos are a great activity to exercise that creative mind while working on motor skills at the same time! Legos come in so many different sized packs to fit any budget and there are countless options with the many different kits from cars, dinosaurs, your favorite TV series, movie, or characters.
- Water Wow Books: A favorite for keeping kids busy on the go with no mess. Water wow uses only a small amount of water as “paint” to create different pictures in a bound book. Perfect for keeping busy in the car or at a restaurant!
- Puzzle Activities: Great for so many ages! Highlight those problem solving and play skills that are so important for development in all areas!
- Cut & Color Craft Book: Color and cut activities are SO popular with our OTs and SLPs as well! Another great way to work on those scissor skills, while including coloring to help strengthen those little hands! Not to mention getting to have a fun craft for all their hard work adds so much motivation!
- Sidewalk Chalk: Shouldn’t every kid have sidewalk chalk? Great for creating your own motor and sensory movement activities at home with so many possibilities!
- Clack Categories: A favorite game in our clinic- a set of dice prompts a color and category, *clacking* together as many tiles as you can that fit the color and/or category.
- Spot It!: Another favorite game that has so many different themes for all different interests!
- Our favorite brands of games and toys: Thinkfun, Ravensburger, Blue Orange, Fat Brain, and Melissa and Doug
We hope this guide helped give you some great ideas for some memorable and enjoyable gifts for the little people in your life! Enjoy the holiday season!
Your friends at SPOT
