This holiday season, we wanted to provide a last minute gift guide for families to use when purchasing gifts for the kiddos in their lives. These ideas are beneficial for therapeutic needs, but are fun as well! Please note that the listed items can be purchased at a wide variety of places. Read below to learn more about our therapists’ top picks for gift giving this season!
Occupational Therapy
Whether it be fine motor and visual motor development, upper extremity strengthening, pre-writing skills, or another occupational therapy-related activity, we may have the perfect toy idea for you to give to your kiddo this holiday season! Created by our OT department, check out this OT holiday gift guide:
- Wowee Maganflex Magnets: These magnets will help develop those fine motor and visual motor skills. You can find them online here.
- I Spy Books: I Spy books are excellent for working on vision. You can find I Spy books online here.
- Operation Board game: The Operation board game will help your child develop their fine motor skills. You can find it online here.
- Lite Brite: This toy helps to inspire creativity and develop fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination. Additionally, it will help your child with regulation. Find it online here.
- Yoga Cards: Yoga cards will help your child work on regulation in a playful way. Find ideas of yoga cards online here.
- Crawling Tunnel: A crawling tunnel is an excellent way to work on upper extremity strengthening with your child. There are plenty of cute ones, but here is an example of one online here.
- Kid O Free Play Magna Tab: This toy allows children to work on their pre-writing skills and pencil grasp in an imaginative way. Find it online here.
- Jumbo Nuts and Bolts: These Jumbo Nuts and Bolts will help your child develop their bilateral hand skills. You can find them online here.
- Infantino Sensory Press and Stay Sensory Blocks: These Sensory and Stay Sensory Blocks are perfect for children who could use development in their fine motor, and bilateral hand skills. Find them online here.
- Oombee Cube Sorter: The Oombee Cube Sorter will help your little one develop their visual spatial skills and fine motor skills. Bonus-the shapes are attached to the cube! Find it online here.
Physical Therapy
Don’t let the holiday season stop your child from continuing to work on their physical therapy-related skills. Between coordination, strengthening, motor planning and more, there is a physical therapy-related toy or game for your kiddo this holiday season! Gathered by our PT department, check out their holiday gift guide:
- Crocodile hop game: This Crocodile Hop Game is perfect for coordination and strengthening. Find it online here.
- Radio Flyer, Ziggle, Caster Ride-on: This is a fun adaptation to the classic radio-flyer that will help children with their coordination and motor planning/strengthening. Find it online here.
- Antsy Pants Balance Beam: Kiddos can practice their balance and fun moves such as leaps, jumps and kicks! Find it online here.
- Skip-It/Counter Hopper: This toy is a fun way for a kiddo to work on jumping, bouncing, and balance! Find it online here.
- B. Toys Let’s Glow Bowling Set: A mini bowling set is the perfect way to help your child with standing balance and coordination. Find it online here.
- Jump2It Kids Portable Trampoline with Handlebar: A trampoline will help your kiddo with leg strengthening and jumping, not to mention how fun it is! Find it online here.
- Little Tykes First Slide: Besides adorable, a little slide is a great way for a young child to gain strength climbing up the slide as well as practice sitting balance as they slide down. Find it online here.
- Little Tykes Toy Sports T-Ball Set: This t-ball set is a perfect way for a child to work on coordination. Find it online here.
- Little Tykes Tot Sports Basketball Set: Similar to the t-ball set, this basketball set is another fun way for a kiddo to practice their coordination. Find it online here.
- Little Tykes Easy Score Soccer Set: This soccer set is excellent for any kiddo to practice single limb balance and coordination. Find it online here.
- Melissa & Dog Sunny Patch Camo Chameleon Bean Bag Toss Action Game: This classic game is a great way to work on coordination and motor planning. Find it online here.
- Fisher-Price Deluxe Kick & Play Piano Gym Playmat: The Kick & Play Piano Gym Playmat will help your child work on coordination and balance in a musical way! Find it online here.
- Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn Around the Town Learning Table: Ideal for babies and young toddlers, this toy will help your child work on sitting and standing. Find it online here.
Speech Therapy
There is such a wide variety of toys, books and games that can be used to help your kiddo work on their speech and language development (while still having fun!). Whether you are working on pre-verbal skills, following directions, expanding vocabulary, practicing sounds, etc., there is likely an activity out there for you and your child. Created by our ST department, read below the speech therapy holiday gift guide:
- Kid books: Books for children are one of the best speech-related resources you can provide to them! Reading promotes speech and language development in all children. Some fun examples are “If you Give a Mouse a Muffin” and “Pout Pout Fish”. However, there is an endless list of options out there that your child would likely love to engage with. We recommend authors such as Dr. Seuss, Eric Carle, Adam Rubin.
- Mirror: Mirrors are highly beneficial for babies during development. Babies enjoy looking at their reflection and you can provide commentary about what they see. Additionally, you can model joint attention, an important pre-verbal skill. Find a cute mirror online here.
- Mr. Potato Head: Mr. Potato head will help your child expand speech and language skills by body part identification and color identification, among other creative ways as well! You can find him online here.
- Cat in the Hat I can Do That Game: This game will help kids work on memory, follow directions, vocabulary social skills and turn taking. You can find it online here.
- Art Supplies: Art supplies provide wonderful opportunities for meaningful communication with your child. They also expand and stimulate language skills. You can find art supplies just about anywhere, however here is a fun idea that you can find online here.
- Pretend Play Kits/Costumes: When children can dress up and pretend to be different types of people, this allows for the opportunity to learn plenty of new vocabulary!
- Any of the gift ideas listed in the OT and PT gift idea section may also be perfect for a child in ST as well! Meaningful communication and early language development can occur in a wide variety of capacities.
Overall, remember that one of the best gifts you can give to your child is time spent with them. However, we just wanted to provide a few last minute ideas that will help your child continue to develop their skills that they may be learning in therapy as well.
Happy holidays!