Here at Therapy at Play, Inc., we love functional, play-based therapy! Toys are wonderful developmental tools you can use to address various fundamental skills. This makes choosing toys very important, especially if you already have some laying around your house! Below are some great options for you to choose from.
12 Holiday Toy Ideas
Here are some holiday toy ideas to help you choose the best Christmas presents for your children:
Many of the Melissa and Doug Toys are great for pretend play, whether the child is playing alone or engaging in cooperative play with peers. There is sometimes no sound or music coming from these toys, which means the child will occupy their playtime with their own imaginary sounds, words, and imagination!
Windup toys that move when you wind up their keys are great to build your child’s finger and hand muscles. It also helps them work on their pencil grasp that play a big role for improved handwriting accuracy.
This is a fun game you can play as a family or in a group setting. In this game, you put a yeti on top of bowl of pretend noodles. Each player gets a turn to take out a noodle without letting the yeti fall. This game allows kids to develop their fine motor skills when they carefully take out the noodle. It’s also good for social and emotional development as kids learn to take turns and play together.
Not only is this a wonderful way to address fine motor skills, but this game also addresses recognizing big feelings and body awareness!
Squigz are like suction cups. They stick to each other and most surfaces. Kids love them! You can create fun structures with squigz or throw them on different surfaces to try and make them stick. They build intrinsic hand muscles and also require the use of both hands, also known as bilateral coordination or bilateral hand use.
This is a perfect tool for a fun speech session at home and makes for a fun family game you can play along with your kids. You can ask yes and no questions to guess what object is on the card. This helps build your child’s vocabulary and encourages them to ask and answer questions.
Kids love imitating their parents, and this is why your child might be showing interest in kitchen tools and utensils, which is a great thing. Get some pretend kitchen play toys for your child, especially ones that have tongs and tweezers; or opt for a Velcro set with various plastic cutting utensils to practice back/forth (sawing) motions.
- Equipment: Indoor Scooter board or Peanut Ball
An indoor scooter board and peanut ball (therapy ball) is good for building upper body strength, balance, and coordination skills in your child. It is also a great way to provide proprioceptive input!
These pop tubes make silly noises when pulled apart! They’re silly, fun, and great for sensory-seeking kiddos who need sound input and proprioceptive input (provided by pulling both ends apart. This item also works on bilateral coordination, grip strength, and motor planning skills to properly pull the tubes apart and make the silly sounds. This is great for all ages!
This is a very versatile item that can be used for sensory regulation, balance and core strength, or upper body strengthening. There are a variety of physical therapy and occupational therapy exercises that can be completed using an exercise ball. This is also great for sitting on while at the table, for kids that wiggle in their seat or constantly get up for movement.
This is a fun fine motor game that works on tripod grasp skills for pencil grasping. It also addresses precision skills with picking up small plastic worms using tweezers. This game also works on color matching, sorting, and early math skills. Visual perception skills can also be addressed when trying to sort the worms by size.
Spike it a wonderful toy that works on grasping skills, color matching, bimanual coordination (using our helper hand), and precision skills. It can be used to work on cylindrical grasping with children as young as 18 months, and precision skills beyond 18+ months. It can also teach counting skills and sorting.
We hope this holiday gift guide will help you choose exciting and productive toys for your child this season!
