Every year, families ask us for gift ideas for their kids to help promote development at home. This year, we are partnering with The Toy Box in Hanover to provide you with a therapist-approved list of toy recommendations as well as a discount for all LTH families! Use code LTH10 for $10 off purchases $50+ or LTH20 for $20 off purchases $100+. If Hanover is too far for you, check out the Toy Box website at www.thetoyboxhanover.com or take advantage of their FaceTime shopping and phone orders. The Toy Box offers free delivery within 10 miles, and delivery for a minimal fee for greater distances. Click on the links below to bring you directly to the items of your choosing. Please note that most, but not all of our recommendations could be found at the Toy Box so we have included a few additional sources as well.
We've broken our lists down by toddlers, preschoolers and school aged kids but we believe that play is play and don't necessarily believe in limiting it to certain age range! If you have questions about the items and how they might work for your child's therapeutic goals, we highly recommend speaking to your therapist during your next session!
Toddlers
The Eezy Peezy Whirlee is a fun way for little ones to move around the house while developing balance, bilateral motor coordination, body awareness, coordination, and visual spatial skills. These skills will certainly help down the road when they are ready to graduate to a bike!
For the little puzzlers out there- this puzzle is great for developing fine motor skills and problem solving. The functional nature of the locks are perfecting for fostering independence. It also promotes early language skills, including animal names and sounds, and simple action words like "open", "pull", and "help".
While all shape sorters are wonderful for fostering visual perceptual and spatial skill awareness, this Wonder Tree Sorting Clock is positioned vertically, which encourages wrist extension while placing the pieces. Wrist extension is a crucial component to pre-writing and writing skills. This puzzle is also great for early concept vocabulary, including shapes, colors, and numbers!
Great for little ones, this Pound-A-Ball Tower promotes upper body strengthening and postural development while also increasing body awareness. Additionally, this toy encourages visual tracking skills.
Touch-n-roll-sensory-balls are a fun way for babies to develop their tactile systems. Little hands love to hold and throw balls. The colorfulness attracts little eyes and the feeling of each ball allows for improved tactile awareness.
Ask our therapists what's one toy they couldn't live without and you're sure to hear about this toy from at least three of them. Pretend play, fine motor and so much language (basic language concepts including: "open/shut", "help", labeling, matching, and so much more). This is one of our all-time-favorites!
Wind-Up Toys
We never make it out of The Toy Box without adding a wind-up toy to our purchase when we're standing at the register. There are SO many opportunities for language with these little toys! Most littles have difficulty winding up themselves, so they encourage natural opportunities for requesting assistance from an adult. We love them because they're inexpensive, fun, long-lasting, full of potential for language and fine motor development!
Great for little hands, these Finger Crayons promote fine motor and visual motor development. They allow for young children to gain proper writing grip patterns as well as the bilateral motor component of stacking the crayons. They make a great stocker stuffer!
We love Fat Brain toys Spin Again for early language development (it is so motivating!), and this mini version is perfect for traveling and entertainment on the go! Bonus: it would make a great stocking stuffer!
Find the original Spin Again here.
Great for motor planning, fine motor, upper body strengthening, bilateral motor coordination, and visual attention. Also, so very motivating and a lot of opportunities for language!
Preschoolers
A favorite first game to practice turn-taking, matching skills, and early vocabulary. This one is a hit for a wide age-range!
Need we say more? Magna-tiles provide hours of open ended fun! Fantastic for fine and visual motor skills, as well as following directions and “building” language skills (See what we did there?) Model language for early concepts like shapes, colors, size and position words as you create!
If you love Magna-tiles, don’t miss this mini set! Perfect for travel and would make an awesome stocking stuffer! Just like their bigger counterparts, Magna-tiles are awesome for working on fine and visual motor skills and promoting early language concepts, like color, size, shape, and position words!
A play highchair for baby dolls and stuffies is a great way to promote pretend play skills, early language development, and even exposure to new (pretend) foods for our picky eaters!
The Eezy Peezy Whirlee is a fun way for little ones to move around the house while developing balance, bilateral motor coordination, body awareness, coordination, and visual spatial skills. These skills will certainly help down the road when they are ready to graduate to a bike!
Ask our therapists what's one toy they couldn't live without and you're sure to hear about this toy from at least three of them. Pretend play, fine motor and so much language (basic language concepts including: "open/shut", "help", labeling, matching, and so much more). This is one of our all-time-favorites!
Wind-Up Toys
We never make it out of The Toy Box without adding a wind-up toy to our purchase when we're standing at the register. There are SO many opportunities for language with these little toys! Most littles have difficulty winding up themselves, so they encourage natural opportunities for requesting assistance from an adult. We love them because they're inexpensive, fun, long-lasting, full of potential for language and fine motor development!
This unique twist on building blocks includes a platform that allows you to knock over your creation in the most exciting way! This toy is so very motivating and can be used to build so many early motor and language skills. Colors, shapes, size, and position words… turn-taking… early word combinations (“ready, set, go!”, “knock it over!”, “fall down!”)... following directions… the opportunities and fun are endless!
This adorable playset starts out with some great fine motor and direction following practice to build the castle and props, and then provides endless opportunities for pretend play and language use!
This scooter is greater for the new scooterer in your life (ages 2+). It has 3 wheels and a wide foot base to help with balance. Scootering allows for vestibular stimulation, balancing, bilateral coordination and promotes the integration of the vision and movement!
For the younger kids who seek intense physical activity, this pogo jumper is a great way to provide intensity. It promotes balance, vestibular input, proprioception, bilateral coordination, and visual attention!
These sensory bins are a fun way to foster fine motor development, tactile input, language use, and imagination!
NeeDoh toys are great for those sensory seekers who love to squeeze and fidget. These toys provide great proprioceptive and tactile input into little hands!
Freeze Dance with Chilly is an interactive freeze dance game that will allow your child to explore creative dance moves while also using their muscles and body awareness to freeze in place. This game will also support your child’s attention and anticipatory responses.
Boom Boom The Balancing Panda is a fun game to promote fine motor skills and visual motor development. This game also requires motor control and problem solving. Kids can practice and play on their own, or with up to 6 players!
Polar Bear Plunge is a great game to work on problem solving, visual processing, and force gradation. For those kids who have not yet learned their own strength, this game will support just that!
This game is great for kids who are working on visual scanning and hand-eye coordination!
FidlBitz are a great addition to your sensory toolbox. They are fun, colorful, sticky without leaving residue on your hands, and make a satisfying popping sound when you smoosh them together. Use them to sort, stack, build, count, and squish together with both hands at midline for hand strengthening. They are a great size for little fingers to pinch to work on dexterity and grasp as well. Play can be very open ended, so have fun with them!
We love opportunities for creative, imaginative play! If your family loves Magnatiles as much as we do, you'll surely want to introduce these to the fun as well!
Great for motor planning, fine motor, upper body strengthening, bilateral motor coordination, and visual attention. Also, so very motivating and a lot of opportunities for language!
From gross motor work to engineering to following directions to pretend play, this is a BIG toy that can be used in countless BIG ways!
Works on fine motor grasp and bilateral coordination while targeting matching colors, shapes, and numbers. We love to turn it into a pirate treasure hunt by hiding the items around the room and working on a motor planning component (e.g., crab walk to return the treasure). So many opportunities to address pretend play skills and incorporate movement into a primarily fine-motor based game!
This super fun car track is great for promoting STEM, logic, fine motor, and language skills!
Great for promoting fine motor, visual motor and early language concepts!
School Age Kids
This swingline is great for homes that don’t have space for a full swingset! The swings promote vestibular input, visual processing, motor development, body awareness, and social interactions.
For those Ninja Warriors out there! This toy allows your child to explore a variety of obstacles all while increasing strength, coordination, bilateral coordination, and sensory processing. Fun for grownups too!
ICOSA The atomic Fidget ball allows the fidgeters in your life to quietly fidget while also enjoying the fun visual appearance of the metallic colors. Also makes a great stocking stuffer!
A fun, constructional game great for working on fine and visual motor skills or even daily living skills such as snaps or buttons! Also great for following directions. This one is especially popular with science lovers and builders!
Great for working on balance, bilateral coordination, ocular motor control, motor planning, and endurance! Adjusts to grow with your child, making it appropriate for ages 5-12.
A favorite first game to practice turn-taking, matching skills, and early vocabulary. This one is a hit for a wide age-range!
Need we say more? Magna-tiles provide hours of open ended fun! Fantastic for fine and visual motor skills, as well as following directions and “building” language skills (See what we did there?) Model language for early concepts like shapes, colors, size and position words as you create!
If you love Magna-tiles, don’t miss this mini set! Perfect for travel and would make an awesome stocking stuffer! Just like their bigger counterparts, Magna-tiles are awesome for working on fine and visual motor skills and promoting early language concepts, like color, size, shape, and position words!
From gross motor work to engineering to following directions to pretend play, this is a BIG toy that can be used in countless BIG ways!
Freeze Dance with Chilly is an interactive freeze dance game that will allow your child to explore creative dance moves while also using their muscles and body awareness to freeze in place. This game will also support your child’s attention and anticipatory responses.
Boom Boom The Balancing Panda is a fun game to promote fine motor skills and visual motor development. This game also requires motor control and problem solving. Kids can practice and play on their own, or with up to 6 players!
Polar Bear Plunge is a great game to work on problem solving, visual processing, and force gradation. For those kids who have not yet learned their own strength, this game will support just that!
This game is great for kids who are working on visual scanning and hand-eye coordination!
FidlBitz are a great addition to your sensory toolbox. They are fun, colorful, sticky without leaving residue on your hands, and make a satisfying popping sound when you smoosh them together. Use them to sort, stack, build, count, and squish together with both hands at midline for hand strengthening. They are a great size for little fingers to pinch to work on dexterity and grasp as well. Play can be very open ended, so have fun with them!
We love opportunities for creative, imaginative play! If your family loves Magnatiles as much as we do, you'll surely want to introduce these to the fun as well!
Origami is a fun way to encourage organization, planning, and sequencing, while also improving fine motor skills and visual perceptual skills.
Hotelogic Sologic is great for the whole family! It requires patience, visual perceptual skills, and problem solving skills. It’s a fun game to increase frustration tolerance and promote the feeling of pride once successful!
The Instant Snow Station is a fun activity for our tactile seekers and sensory explorers! It is also great for following directions and descriptive vocabulary, such as "soft", "fluffy", "cold", etc.
This game is a fun way to support finger isolation for fine motor development, force gradation skills, and visual motor development. All of these foundations are necessary for more refined fine motor skills such as writing!
For the older kids who seek intense physical activity, the pogo stick is a great way to provide intensity! It promotes balance, vestibular input, proprioception, bilateral coordination, and visual attention.
What kid doesn’t love to stomp their feet, especially when they’re feeling frustrated?! This is a fun way to stomp those feet! Kids will improve their proprioception, eye-foot coordination. You can also play with a partner, who can have the fun of catching the rocket after it is launched.
Super Squish Fidget Bag
These fidget bags are a fun way to provide both tactile input and visual perceptual development at the same time, while also promoting language use! Check out the unicorn version here.
Mad Libs are a fun way to target speech and language skills for kids. Some language targets include grammar, vocabulary, and reading comprehension. You can also use them articulation practice by coming up with words that contain target sounds--reading them in silly sentences just makes home practice more fun! There are so many books to choose from and it’s so portable! Easy to take on trips or leave in the car when stuck somewhere and need something entertaining for the kids.
Excellent game for elementary school aged children to promote executive functioning skills (such as focus, attention, organization, and planning). Fun game of "find the hidden object before the other player does!" And, the board is a puzzle that can be put together in many different ways, so the items being searched for change location!
Comments