Gifts For the Little Ones!

I love finding gifts for the little kids in my life that they can grow with...things that will serve different purposes at different points in their lives.  In this portion of my 2017 Holiday Gift Guide, I share some of my favorite toys, games and products that are suitable for children 4 years and younger.  Many of the suggestions are ones that provide children with the opportunity to expand their imagination and creativity skills.  They provide them with opportunities for open-ended play.  Open-ended play materials are those that don't have a pre-determined way of playing with them.  This encourages creativity, problem solving, making choices and increases imagination in children.  Providing younger children with these open-ended play opportunities will make your children develop critical thinking and make them more independent as they get older.  Below, I share some of my favorite toys to gift and to recommend for the younger children in your life.

Ditto Mirrored Building Blocks-one of the best investments one can make for a baby/toddler is a great set of building blocks.  This is something that kids will play with at all ages and work on different developmental skills across ages.  The Ditto Blocks are not your typical building block; these blocks have mirrors built into them.  You can shine bright lights in your tower, create patterns with objects reflected inside or find their faces reflected in them.  The Ditto block are not only beautiful to look at, they are good for encouraging kids to be creative and use their imagination.  They are also great for working on bilateral coordination, improving visual motor and visual perceptual skills, improving spatial awareness and hand-eye coordination.

Squigz and Pipsquigz-one of my favorite manipulative toys for younger kids.  These colorful toys are basically suction cups that stick together.  Simply apply pressure and they either stick together or can stick on different surfaces like a mirror or a tabletop.  They are waterproof and can be used in the bathtub or shower; since they are no-porous, the won't get moldy and can be cleaned easier.  They are flexible manipulative toys that can be used to build and create a variety of structures.  One of my favorite things about Squigz is the super fun popping noise they make when you pull them apart!  Squigz are great for working on improving fine motor skills such as improving grasp strength and manipulation skills, encourages bilateral coordination skills and can improve hand-eye coordination.  If used on a mirror or window, you can work on increasing upper extremity strength.  This open-ended manipulative toys are perfect for encouraging creativity and imagination skills.

Tobbly Wobbly-this is another favorite of the kids I work with.  Using reusable stickers and different

kinds of Squigz pieces, children can create a fun friend.  Tobbly Wobbly is an egg shaped structure that is weighted on the bottom making it easier for little ones to place the pieces on without it moving around too much.  One of my favorite things about Tobbly Wobbly is that it has built-in storage so you don't have to worry about losing pieces.  Once your child has finished making their very own Tobbly Wobbly, they can take the pieces off and put it all inside.  This toy is great for working on developing fine motor and grasping skills, bilateral coordination, hand-eye coordination, visual motor and perceptual skills and spatial awareness.  I have used this to help children gain better body awareness by encouraging them to put pieces where they would be on their own body which can be quite challenging for many of the kids I work.  For the most part, I encourage kids to be creative and have fun when building their Tobbly Wobbly character.

Magic Painting World Coloring Sets-years ago, I had found these reusable coloring pages by Aquadoodle and I loved them, especially for my younger kids who weren't quite ready for coloring and holding/manipulating coloring instruments.  I was in one of my favorite little stores in Park Slope, Annie's Blue Ribbon General Store, when I discovered the Magic Painting coloring sets by Tiger Tribe.  Using a paintbrush that you fill with water, kids can "color in" some magical scenes.  Each set contains 4 coloring boards and a paintbrush for the kids to use to make the pictures come to life.  On the back of each picture there are things for the kids to find hidden in each picture. Great for working on improving fine motor and grasping skills, hand-eye coordination, visual motor and visual perceptual skills and can improve focus and attention.   This is an awesome thing for traveling or to keep in your bag for keeping kids occupied while in waiting rooms.

Peg Friends Stacking Farm/Peg Friends Around the Town-pegboards seem to be the staple of all toddler toy collections and are definitely a part of any therapeutic gym/preschool classroom.  They are great for developing fine motor and grasping skills, manipulation skills, hand-eye coordination, bilateral coordination and motor planning and organizational skills.  Kids can also work on color recognition and sorting and matching colors when using them.  When I saw these pegboard sets by Learning Resources, I became obsessed!  These easy-to-hold pegs are double-sided characters/animals that kids push together and pull apart.  Once they are put together, kids find the place on the pegboard where they belong (for example, the pig goes in the mud, the doctor goes in the hospital, etc.).  You can even encourage your kids to be as silly as they want to and have them mix and match the animals/people.  In addition to working on the aforementioned skills, kids can improve their language, creativity and expand their imagination.

Grippies Builders-another great open-ended building toy especially designed for little hands.  This 30-piece set comes with brightly colored magnetic pieces that kids can play with to build and create.  What I like about these is that each piece is covered with a soft plastic with different textures for kids to explore.  This building toy is great for working on improving bilateral coordination, hand-eye coordination, visual motor and perceptual skills, spatial awareness and grasping and manipulation skills.  Since there is no right way to play with these, they are great for encouraging a child to be creative and use their imagination at a very young age.

Props In A Bag/Props In A Box-pretend play is a critical part of a
toddler's development.  Through pretend play children gain a better understanding of social emotional roles in life.  Pretend play also helps develop cooperative play skills with siblings/peers, improves imagination and creativity, improves problem solving and can work on improving fine motor skills.  The Props in a Bag and Props in a Box sets are a great gift for your little ones and come with all that you need to help your children's imaginations soar.  The Props in a Box sets (The Dino & The Pirate, The Princess & the Chef, The Fisherman & the Astronaut and The Doctor & the Farmer)comes with a variety of props and costumes for 2 characters, a large backdrop and allows you to download the Props in a Box Movie Maker App that allows your child to add special effects to movies that you can create with them.  The Props in a Bag sets (The Builder, The Camper, The Magician and The Superhero) comes with props and costumes for one, a backdrop and access to the Props in a Box Movie Maker App.

Car Pretend Play Stickers/Kitchen Pretend Play Stickers-one of the things we all get lots of during the holiday season are cardboard boxes.  As a toddler...and still to some point today...my daughter loved building things with the cardboard boxes.  She and my husband would spend hours building and playing in these structures.  When I saw these Pretend Play Stickers by Eeboo I knew they had to make my gift guide this year.  Each set of the stickers comes with four giant sheets of reusable stickers to make a kitchen or car out of a cardboard box.  Kids will work on improving their creative and imagination skills while having fun!  At the same time, kids can work on improving fine motor and grasping skills, bilateral coordination (as they take the stickers off the sheets) and visual motor and visual perceptual skills.

Ooly Mumbo Jumbo Markers-I am not one of those people who believes that you should wait to let kids experiment with writing instruments.  One of my daughter's greatest gifts for her first Christmas was an easel.  We had it for years and years and it got more use than just about any toy.  At that time, it was more difficult to find markers for her small hands.  When I discovered the Mumbo Jumbo markers, I was super excited and wished they had been around when Quinn was little.  I've been using them with all of my little friends at the gym and recommending them to anyone who will listen to me.  This set of 16 markers are short and have a thicker barrel making it easier for little hands to hold.  Because of that thicker barrel, it helps to encourage an appropriate grasp when using them.

Monkey Around-finding board games that are good for your little ones can be challenging.  Peaceable Kingdom has a bunch of great family games and I love this one for toddlers because it gets them up and moving.  Monkey Around has 40 different cards that have all players do movements together.  Some of the movements kids are asked to do are giving high fives, balancing on one foot and marching.  This is a great game to work on improving gross motor skills, motor planning, coordination and organizational skills.  It also builds confidence and self-esteem as your little ones master the various challenges on the cards.

Sneaky Snacky Squirrel Game-this game by Educational Insights was one of my daughter's first board games and she never tired of it.  It is also a favorite of many of the kids I work with and the kids who attend The Meeting House.  The point of the game is to feed your hungry forest friends acorns; the first player to fill their log with all the colored acorns is the winner.  One of my favorite parts of the game is that kids pick up the acorns using chopsticks so they can work on improving fine motor skills while learning about colors.  Kids can also work on improving hand-eye coordination, visual motor and visual perceptual skills, focus and attention and strategic thinking.  Sneaky Snacky Squirrel is a perfect family game that helps teach your young kids about turn-taking and other social skills related to game playing.

Doodle-Pro Slim Magnetic Drawing Board-this is a great toy to introduce kids to drawing and pre-writing.  This drawing board is great because it is slim and lightweight making it easy to take on the go.  It comes with a stylus attached so you don't have to worry about your child losing it.  There are also 4 different shape stamps that can add details to your child's drawing.  I love that kids can draw over and over again without wasting any paper.  In addition to working on graphomotor skills, it is also great for working on improving grasping skills, hand-eye coordination, visual motor and perceptual skills and encourages bilateral coordination and crossing  midline. 

Poke-A-Dot Books-I love these interactive books but more importantly, the kids love them more!  This is a fun way to teach kids how to count.  Each page has little raised buttons that go along with the story (for example, the 10 little monkeys have a button to pop on their belly).  These books are really durable and can handle the wear and tear of a rough toddler.  There are a bunch to choose from and can introduce your children to colors, shapes, animals and the letters of the alphabet. 
Great for working on fine motor skills and increasing strength in those tiny muscles in the hand, improves hand-eye coordination, visual motor and visual perceptual skills and focus and attention. They are also great for improving language skills and focus and attention. 

Touch and Feel Forest Friends Puzzles -finding interlocking puzzles for younger kids can be challenging but this set by Mudpuppy is a great one. It comes with 4 3-piece interlocking puzzles and each one has a different textured piece that encourages sensory exploration.  The puzzles are made from durable materials that are perfect for those rough toddlers!  These are great for improving hand-eye coordination, bilateral coordination, visual motor and perceptual skills and improves problem solving, focus, attention and organizational skills.

Snap 'N Learn Learning Cows-Learning Resources is my go-to place for any math manipulative toys.  We have a bunch of different ones at my gym and the kids love them all, especially the Snap 'N Learn Number Turtles.  I am a particular fan of this cow set for the little ones.  It comes with 10 cows (20 pieces all together) with a number on one side and dots on the other side.  Kids have to match not only the numbers, but the colors.  This is a great activity to work on improving grasp and upper extremity strength, bilateral coordination, visual spatial, visual motor and visual perceptual skills and hand-eye coordination. 

Wimzle-this is a great cause and effect toy for your babies.  It is BPA free so you don't have to worry about them using it as a teether!  This sensory/tactile toy introduces young children to a variety of textures and sensations.  Babies can pull, twist and squeeze the different spheres which is great for encouraging the development of grasping and manipulation skills.  Each sphere of the Wimzle has a different texture for them to explore.  In addition to being great for the aforementioned skills, it also works on developing hand-eye coordination, motor planning and bilateral coordination. 


These are just a few of the things I love for younger children.  Each of them help children develop crucial skills they will need as they get older and the academic and social expectations increase.  I've tried to make recommendations that parents will enjoy playing with as much as their children do.  And the things that are a little pricier than you want to spend are things that will last forever and be part of your child's collection for years to come.  Does your child have a favorite toy, game or building blocks set that you would recommend to me or my readers?  I love hearing from you all and am only a click away.

For The Budding Artist

One of my favorite things to recommend to families for gifts are arts and crafts kits or activity books. Not only are they great for working on a variety of occupational therapy skills, they are great for encouraging creativity and building self-esteem and confidence.   I have put together a variety of craft kids and activity books that I really love.  More importantly, the kids love them and don't realize that they are actually working because they are having so much fun.

Sticky Mosaics-these are still one of the products that I recommend the most to families!  Kids love working on their creations and don't realize that they are working on improving their fine motor, grasping, visual motor and visual perceptual and organizational skills at the same time.  With so many different sets to choose from (unicorns, dinosaurs, fairies, sports, etc.) you are sure to find one that will be perfect for a kid in your life!  The best part for me to see is how proud and excited the kids are when they put that final sticker on and get to take it home.

Pom Pom Pictures-I was in a new toy store out on Long Island a couple of months ago and got to spend some time with the owner of Fun Stuff Toys, who told me to try these out if I was a fan of the Sticky Mosaics.  I am happy to report that Orb Factory has done it again with these Pom Pom Pictures kits!  They are a huge hit with the kids at work.  Each template is broken down into 4 sections; you peel the sticker off and match the small pom poms to the correct colors.  Great for working on improving fine motor and grasping skills, eye-hand coordination, visual motor and visual perceptual skills and executive functioning skills such as focus, attention and organizational skills.

Pirasta Coloring Posters-these posters are a really fun family gift.  My nieces have one hanging on their playroom wall and have been coloring with their friends and each other over the course of time and have the best time.  There are so many different ones to choose from....foods, different cities, animals, etc..  Great for working on improving graphomotor skills, eye-hand coordination and visual motor and perceptual skills.  Hanging it on the wall allows for kids to work on building upper extremity strength and shoulder stability.

The Kindness Kit-Craft-tastic has a ton of great craft kits, especially for older school-aged children.  The Kindness Kit is by far one of my favorites though because it encourages children to share the crafts that they make with others.  The set includes all the materials for 8 projects.  Great for working on improving fine motor and grasping skills, visual motor and perceptual skills, bilateral coordination and executive functioning skills such as following directions, organizational skills, focus and attention.

Fashion Plates-another one of those toys that brings me back to my childhood!  My little girl has aspirations to be a fashion designer when she grows up so when I gave these to her, she was super excited.  Fashion plates encourage creativity while working on improving fine motor, visual motor and perceptual skills, graphomotor skills, bilateral coordination and executive functioning skills such as focus, attention and organizational skills.  If you have a kid who isn't into design, be sure to check out the Action Plates which lets kids design their own superhero!  

The Tinkering Kit-for the kid in your life who is more into building things than doing crafts, this would be the perfect gift.  This is not your typical craft kit and is ideal for kids who are 6 and older.  The kit comes complete with all the supplies needed to make 8 really cool projects.  How much fun would your little engineer have making a zipline or a their own marble maze??  Great for working on improving fine motor, visual motor and visual perceptual skills.  Especially good for working on improving executive functioning skills such as focus and attention, following multi-step directions and organizational skills. 

Crazy Aaron's Mixed By Me Thinking Putty Kit-I've long been a fan of all the products by Crazy Aaron (read their beautiful story here guys....this Phildelphia-based company employs over 800 people with intellectual and developmental delays).  You can't go wrong with any of their putty products because they are great for working on improving fine motor skills, strength and manipulation skills (hide coins or small objects in the putty).  If you have a kid who is into science and doing experiments, you should definitely check out this kit where you can mix up your own magical putty.  The set comes complete with 5 tins of clear putty, three concentrated color putties, three special effect putties and an instructional mat that gives you a bunch of ideas.  There are also labels for kids to write on after they create their own putty which is great for working on improving graphomotor and creativity skills.  

I Like Activity Book-this activity book is great for kids of  all ages.  There are 48 pages of activities that encourage kids to answer questions about themselves.  Lots of opportunities for them to draw, color and be silly.  Older kids who are independent for writing can fill the book in by themselves and then share what they did with their grownups.  Younger kids who may need more help can complete this with their grownups.  Great for working on improving graphomotor and creativity skills.   Also great for working on improving focus, attention and organizational skills.  This can also be great for kids to get to work on language and conversational skills.  

Happy Snacks Color-In'Book-my daughter is really into Shopkins right now so when I saw this adorable coloring book, I had to get it.  The pictures are so cute and engaging.  I love how while we are coloring, we are talking about what we see and whether we like that food or not.  My little girl is a bit of a "by the books" kinda kid, so I've used this book as a way to encourage her to think outside of the box and be more creative.  There is no reason the mushrooms on the pizza can't be purple or the marshmallows in the hot chocolate can't be green.  At the same time, we are working on improving visual motor/perceptual skills, eye-hand coordination, focus and attention and improving her grasping skills.  Once your picture is complete, they are easy to tear out and display for others to see!

Chalk Markers-I was lucky enough for this product to have found me before I published this year's gift guide.  I've been searching for something like these for a while and they happened to drop in my lap.  For many of the kids I work with, I suggest that parents find a wall in their house that they can put up some chalkboard or white erase paper on a free wall to work on graphomotor skills.  However, finding the write writing instruments to use on these surfaces has been tricky.  Dry erase markers are great but for so many of the kids I work with, they drag their hand along their work and erase their work before finishing.  These chalk markers are great because they go on as smoothly as they come off.  When I took them out at my gym recently and had the kids write on our mirror, they were so excited.  I had one little boy (who has always been resistant to handwriting activities) ask to write his name four different time in as many colors.  The nice thing about these chalk markers is that once they are started, they are easy to use so if you have a kid with decreased grasp strength, they can still be successful.  I happened to work on a large wall mirror with my friends which is great for building up upper extremity strength and shoulder stability.  When working in this upright position, kids are also more likely to prop their wrists up correctly which puts them in a more appropriate grasping pattern.  Besides practicing shapes, letters and numbers, you can play games like Tic-Tac-Toe, Hangman or the dot game.

Just The Two of Us!

One of my favorite things to do is color.  Now this shouldn't come as a surprise since I blog about coloring books all the time.  But most of those posts focus on books that are appropriate for children.  While I love to color by myself to help calm down after a long day or when I am feeling particularly overwhelmed by some kind of life event, I have found that it is also an activity that my daughter and I can enjoy together.  The good news is that my 6 year old daughter has inherited my love for coloring and it's one of the things that we love to do together.  For a while, we would color side by side sharing our special pens, markers and pencils.  She would color in her princess or unicorn books while I tackled the more complex ones like Secret Garden by Johanna Basford.  As Quinn has become older, she wants to do exactly what I am doing but they are often too difficult for her, causing her to become easily frustrated and wanting to give up.  So what was once a fun and bonding experience for us began to turn into a more stressful activity than I was willing to make it.  

So, imagine my excitement when I discovered a whole set of coloring and activity books that encourage kids and their adults to color, draw and create side-by-side!  Not only that, there are a handful of books out there that allow kids to do the same thing!  Below, you will find the ones that I have tested out and fallen in love with.  

Draw With Me, Dad!  Draw, Color and Connect With Your Child-I happen to be married to a guy who loves to draw and create with our daughter.  I will do the coloring but have failed when it comes to being more creative with her.  What I love about this book is that there are these great pictures and illustrations that you need to complete together.  Since my husband is super creative, he often has an easier time coming up with big ideas than our daughter.  What I have noticed is that that tends to stress Quinn out (although this is improving and she is becoming much more creative.  Over a span of two pages, there is a scene that a dad and kid can complete together.   They give you suggestions on what you could add to your pictures if needed but you can be as creative and imaginative as you want.  

Color With Mom-there is finally a coloring book out there that is perfect for moms and their kids to work on together.  You can sit next to each other or across from each other and each color in your own page.  The pictures have a similar theme but one page is a little more complex while the other one is a bit simpler so your child can have success.  After you both complete the picture, you can display them side by side (some may even choose to frame them) for everyone to see

Color With Me: A Coloring Book to Share-from the same people who created Color With Mom.  Color With Me is intended for friends to do together.  Each spread has two different pictures with a similar theme that can be done side-by-side.  Kids are encouraged to not only color the pictures in but to also add details to the images.  

A Coloring Book for Two-Best Friends Forever-Color Together-I'm sure I am not the only one who has watched their kids on a playdate trying to negotiate what picture each of the kids will color.  What sets this book apart from others is that kids don't have to choose one because there are two identical pictures side-by-side.  Each can do the same picture just the way they want to.  

There are so many occupational therapy benefits to coloring including: 

*improving bilateral coordination skills

*improves fine motor coordination and graphomotor skills

*improves self-regulation, modulation, focus/attention and other executive functioning skills

*improves self-esteem and confidence.  When a child completes a picture and is able to show it off or display it for others to see, they end up feeling much more confident in themselves and will be much more willing to try more challenging graphomotor activities in the future

Additionally, these side-by-side activity books are a great way to encourage social and language skills in children.  The social benefits of coloring with a friend are learning things such as sharing materials, waiting your turn if the materials you want are in use and improving social conversation.  Encourage children to talk about what they are coloring or have them work together to add details to their pictures.  While you are coloring with your children, you should be talking to them about what they are doing or what is happening in the pictures.  For older kids, you can encourage them to write a sentence or two about the picture in order to work on improving handwriting skills at the same time.

One of the other great benefits of coloring with your children, especially if you have a child who is a perfectionist like mine, is for them to see that you have to patient and focus on your work.  I have found that my daughter has become more creative and less concerned about things being perfect since she has started coloring and drawing with us more.  Things used to have to be by the book and being silly made her feel anxious.  She is now the one who is initiating the additions of silly things to some of the pictures these days and she is having more fun in general.

Now that summer is officially here, parents may be looking for something to do with their kids at the end of a long day.  These coloring and drawing books are a perfect way to wind down with your kids.  If you have any questions or want some more suggestions, please don't hesitate asking.  I'm just a click away and love hearing from you all!

Springing into Spring!

Living in New York City and working with kids, I happen to have a real mix of kids who celebrate different holidays.  Since I grew up in a home that celebrates Easter, I happen to have more ideas on how to incorporate Easter themed activities into my sessions with the kids who also celebrate.  As I have lived here longer, I have had to come up with ways to make all my activities work for all kids.  If you read my blog regularly, you know that I love the holidays and how they allow for some creativity and change in my routine during my sessions.  Not only is it good for me to have new things to do, it's really good for the kids I work with.  They are so motivated by a totally new activity and makes them work harder during our sessions. Additionally, they love being able to do things that they can take home and share with their parents, siblings, friends, etc..

Here are a few of the things I will be pulling out this week.  For some kids, the activities will be Easter related and for others, it will be to celebrate the arrival of Spring.

Eggercise Hunt-one of the kids I work with has a thing for plastic eggs.  When he does a great job with something that is especially challenging for him, his mother rewards him with a surprise egg.  When looking in the stores this week, I saw the plastic eggs and was trying to think of a way to use them in my sessions.  After a little while, I decided that I would have a bit of an egg hunt with them at the gym.  I have 12 eggs and in each egg I have an activity hidden inside: 12 fine motor activities and 12 gross motor activities.  I have a feeling that the kids will have so much fun looking for the hidden eggs that they won't even realize that they are working.

Pompom Art-one of the things my kids love the most is when they get to take something home to share with their parents.  I try and do things that can be done quickly in the beginning of a session and hopefully be dried in time for them to take it home with them.  If not dried, I always take a picture of the child with their project and send it to their parents and then they can take it home with them the next time.  This week, I will be letting kids choose between an Easter egg or a spring flower picture that they get to paint with pompoms.  I like to have the kids paint with the pompom attached to a clothespin so they can have more control of what they are doing.  It is also a great way to work on encouraging an appropriate grasp on a writing instrument.  This activity is also great for working on improving eye-hand coordination, visual motor and visual perceptual skills.  I like to use washable paint or ink pads for this activity as the colors tend to pop more and obviously, they clean off of little fingers, clothes and tables easily!

Cupcake Liner Flowers-this is something I have seen done a bunch of times but haven't really tried until now.  Using large muffin or cupcake liners, you can have kids practice cutting and coloring.  I like to give the kids I work with broken crayons to color with as it encourages a more appropriate writing grasp.  You can also find little stickers to decorate the flower with which is a great way to work on improving grasping skills.  If you want to add a challenge, get coffee filters and have your kids color them and then cut out the petals. It means coloring a larger surface and having to practice cutting a little more. Once colored and cut, you can add a stem using a pipe cleaner.

Fingerprint Art-nothing says spring to me more than flowers, chicks and bunnies.  Many of the kids I work with don't have the skills to draw these things so I have to find ways to simplify it for them.  I've always been a fan of Ed Emberley....as a matter of fact, I wrote about one of his newer books Gumdrops, a few weeks ago. Using fingerprints and drawing a few simple lines, kids can have more success with drawing.  If you celebrate Easter, you can make bunnies and chicks all over a piece of paper and make a card saying "Hoppy Easter".  If you don't celebrate, you can have the kids make a spring themed card using all the same animals.  One of the nice things about this particular craft is that it can be finished quickly so it can be taken home that same day.  For my older kids, I have them fill out the card so they can practice writing at the same time.

With  many of the kids I work with on vacation this week, parents are looking for things to do with their kids to keep them busy.  All of the activities I have suggested are easy to complete at home with a bunch of friends or with siblings.  If you happen to be near a Target this week, you should check out their bargain bins....you would be surprised by you can find for a steal.  I picked up a few really cute spring stamps that will be a big hit with the kids this week.

Do you have any fun crafts or activities that you do with your kids?  Ones that don't require a lot of supplies or take too much time to complete?  I would love to hear from you if you have anything I should add to my sessions this week.  I am always a click away and love hearing from each of you!

Happy Spring!

Let's Get Social!

The holiday season has always been my favorite but since moving to New York City and having a child of my own, it's become even more special.  When you work with kids, the holidays take on a whole different meaning.  If you read my blog, you will know that I take gifts for the holiday seriously.  VERY seriously.

All of the gifts that I included on my Holiday and Tween Gift Guides this year have been kid tested and therapist approved.  All of them are fun....I mean what is the point of giving a gift that a child won't have fun with.  Since I am an occupational therapist, I made sure there was an educational or developmental skill that could be worked on with them.  Finding gifts that children will be happy about is important. But finding ones that will be fun and work on developing age appropriate skills is equally important to me.

In the latter half of my career, I have had the great opportunity to be part of an amazing organization called The Meeting House.  In short, TMH is a recreational based (afterschool and weekend) program for school age children who have social difficulties.  It might be that they become overstimulated in larger crowds or that they may get anxious talking in front of their peers.  Or maybe it is that they have language difficulties that cause them to have difficulty being successful with their peers in social situations.  Whatever it is that brings them to TMH, we welcome them with open arms and give them a safe, supportive and accepting place to learn new social skills and become more confident in social situations.

Being part of TMH has been the inspiration for me to look at toys and think about not only the fine motor, visual motor/perceptual or sensory aspect of toys but the social benefits that toys can give. Parents are always looking for activities that they can have on hand at home to encourage their children to play together as well.  So many of the kids I work with are more comfortable playing on their own and resist playing with someone else, even if it is their brother or sister.  As children get older and rely more on technology, they are losing social skills.  Something as simple as looking a person in the eye when talking to them is something that can be challenging for many kids these days.  Having a back and forth conversation and answering questions can also be really difficult for many of the kids I work with.  Having the right toys, games, etc. at home is important to encourage and practice these critical social skills.

Below, you will find my 10 top gifts that will promote social skills. They are all included in my regular gift guides but I talk a bit more about the social aspect of each toy instead of the occupational therapy aspect.

1.  Polaroid Camera-as many of us know, kids are most likely spending more time with their phones than they are with anything else these days.  One of the things they like to do with their phones is take pictures.  Probably  more so than any generation of kids, tweens don't know a time where they couldn't see a picture immediately after taking it.  Polaroid Cameras are (kind of) immediate but also require a little bit of patience, focus and attention.  They require your kids to connect with their environment and make conscious decisions about what they will take pictures of since they won't be able to erase it.  I've been using a Polaroid camera with my kids at work and they love it and doing even mind having to wait to see the picture.  Both Polaroid and Fujifilm make instant cameras that come in a variety of fun, bright, bold colors. I love the idea of kids working together to think about what they will take pictures of.  Not only is it fun to see all the different pictures that are taken, but it is a great way for kids to engage in conversation.    

2. Games-kids may outgrow certain kinds of toys, but good games will last through the ages.   I was actually in Target last week and noticed that they have a whole display of the classic board games in their original packaging.  They call it the Retro Series and they feature some of the best games ever...Sorry!, Clue, Twister, CandyLand and Scrabble.  I'm tempted to get a couple just because I like the old school packaging!

Having a good collection of board games is important for all houses.  While so many kids are more inclined to spend their free time on an iPad or hooked up to some kind of game system (there is nothing wrong with that and there are a ton of benefits to children playing video games), I think it is important for playdates and hangouts be less about technology and more about real face-to-face interactions.  Depending on what games you choose, your child can work on improving their fine motor, visual motor/perceptual and executive functioning skills (focus, attention, organization, sequencing, etc.).  Some of the other social skills that can be worked on playing board games are learning how to take turns, how to be a good winner and loser and practicing conversation skills.  Here are just a few of the great games out there to consider this holiday season:

*Jenga

*Pictionary

*Connect 4 (I'm a big fan of Connect 4 Launchers)

*Trouble

*Uno (I also really like Uno Dare because there is an added gross motor component built in)

*Apples to Apples

*Spot It

*Thumbs Up
*HedBanz
*What's In Ned's Head
*Tenzi

3.  Large Coloring Pictures by Pirasta-I am in love with these giant coloring pages that are actually created right in my beloved Brooklyn.  This is a great group activity (we are actually in the process of completing the New York City Big Apple one with our kids at The Meeting House).  Be sure to check out the Pirasta website to see their entire collection!  While I love the posters, I am also a big fan of the coloring sheets that they have.  If you look at the picture to the left, you will see my own daughter and niece completely engaged and focused on completing one of these coloring pages together.  They had to compromise on who was going to color what, share their materials and be able to be okay with the other person using colors that they may not have chosen.  In the end, they were just happy that they got to do this together.  With the holidays and all those family and friends gatherings coming up, these are the perfect thing to stock up on!  If you are in the Park Slope, be sure to check out Lion in the Sun for their extensive collection of Pirasta products.  

4. Zoom Ball-this is a great gross motor activity that works on bilateral coordination, motor planning and upper body strengthening.  A perfect activity to work on social skills, particularly team-work and cooperative play.  One of the things I like to work on while using a zoom ball is conversation skills.  Sometimes what  I ask kids to do is to have them ask a question before sending the ball back to their friend; before their friend can send it back, they have to answer the question.  Depending on the kids you are working with, you can come up with social goals using the Zoom Ball.  Whether it be conversational skills, or just being good at working as a team, the Zoom Ball is a wonderfully affordable and motivating tool!

5. Dueling Stomp Rocket-Stomp Rockets are one of the most underrated gross motor toys but bring

hours and hours of fun. Not only is it great for encouraging gross motor skills, stomp rockets can be used to encourage motor planning, focus/attention and social skills. The Dueling Stomp Rocket is as awesome as the original but has a lot of great social features since there are two pads to jump on.  Just like the original stomp rocket, you stomp on the launch pad and send the rockets flying.  With this double one, you can have a competition to see whose goes further and who can run faster to catch/or pick theirs up. If you have larger groups, you can do relay races.  There are lots of fun social activities that can be done and it is great for children of all ages when using the stomp rocket!  

6. OgoSport Discs-I love this sports game.  They call it a hand trampoline for all different kinds of balls.  Great for working on improving focus/attention, motor planning, organizational skills and upper body strengthening.  Additionally, a great activity to encourage teamwork and cooperative play amongst kids.

7. And Then I Wrote A Story/And Then...Story Starters Set 1-these cards can be a great social activity if you  have kids who love to tell stories or act things out. The Story Starters set comes with 20 beautifully illustrated cards and the beginning of a story.  It's up to your child to decide how the story will end.  They can write their stories in the And Then I Wrote A Story notebook.  But if you happen to work in groups, you can give each of the kids an opportunity to add to the story.  You can use the story starter card and then go around and let each child add a sentence or two to the story.  Be sure to have someone write it down or record it for them so they can hear it aftewards!

8.  MagnaTiles-Building toys are always great to have for playdates and I especially love MagnaTiles because they are easy to use and don't require a lot of work/strength in order to use them.  In addition to working on visual motor and perceptual skills, eye-hand coordination and bilateral coordination, MagnaTiles are a great social tool.  Kids have to work together to come up with a plan to decide what to make.  They need to be able to share materials, take turns and help each other out as they are building.  They also require children to be flexible and maybe build something that they don't want to in order to make their friends happy.

9.  Orb Factory Sticky Mosaics-I'm a huge fan of the Sticky Mosaic brand and have been gifting these and using them in therapy sessions for years and years.  They are a motivating and simple craft activity that works on so many fine motor, visual and executive functioning skills. Sticky Mosaics are picture templates with numbers all over the picture.  Each number has a colored sticker or gem that it coordinates with.  Kids have to take the stickers and put them on the squares in order to make a really colorful picture.  While they can be done individually, they are also a great activity to do with a friend or in a small group.  It's a great way to teach kids how when you work together, things can get finished quicker.  It's also a great way to teach kids about coming up with a plan together.  For example, they should figure out if they want to work on the same color/number or each take their own.

10.  Puzzles-Jigsaw puzzles are a great social activity.  It's one of my go-to activities when I am working with a pair or group of kids.  You can choose your puzzle based on group interests and skill level.  For example, if you have a group of children who love vehicles, get a transportation based puzzle.  Choose the number of pieces based on the children's ages, skill level and what they will be able to complete in the time that you have set aside for the activity.  What I like most about it is that there is a very simple end goal: you need to take all those pieces and put them together.  It requires focus and attention, staying in the group and helping your friends out.  It requires teamwork and being patient with your peers.  At the end, once the puzzle is completed, the kids can feel really good about completing the puzzle as a group.  Plus, working together makes something like this easier to finish in less time.  Some of my favorite puzzles are made by Eeboo.  They tend to be made out of thicker paper and can handle the wear and tear of being used over and over again.

So here are my picks for toys, games, crafts, etc. that work on social skills.  While there are literally dozens and dozens of other ones I could have included, I chose these because I have seen the success in person with the kids I work with and the groups I run.  The OT in me also chose them because I knew that there were also fine motor, gross motor, visual motor or executive functioning skills that could also be worked on while using them.

Parents, therapists, teachers....do you have a particular game or activity that you love to use to promote social skills?  I am always on the lookout for new and motivating products and am sure that my readers would also love to hear your ideas.   I am always a click away and love hearing from you!

Ready, Set, Let's Do Art!

As a pediatric occupational therapist, much of my "free" time is spent looking for new things for work.  Whether it be games, apps, activity books, etc., this is something that takes up a lot of my time.  When I find myself getting bored with the activities I am presenting to the kids I work with, I have to wonder what is going through their heads as I offer them the same sorting game or puzzle every other session.

I've written about coloring and activity books several times on my blog.  One of the reasons for that is that almost all of the kids I work with have handwriting and graphomotor goals that need to be worked on during every session.  Since this is typically something that isn't easy for them, they can find a million excuses to get out of doing them.  That right there is one of the main reasons I am constantly on the search for motivating activity books...if you find a good one, you can easily work on so many of those handwriting, coloring or drawing goals.

A couple of weeks ago, I was researching new and fun apps.  I have actually used much of this summer to take a break from using the iPad.  Maybe the reason for that was that I couldn't watch or hear the same things one more time since the kids often pick the same apps every time.  When I discovered the Lazoo Art Box app by PBS Kids, I wasted no time downloading it.  The Lazoo activity books may be my favorite ones out there.  They are totally unique and incredibly motivating for the little ones I work with.  The pictures often have a simple direction for them to follow which not only works on improving their coloring/drawing skills, but also works on expanding their creative skills.  It also works on executive functioning skills such as organization, planning and following directions.

Lazoo Art Box is one of those apps that you get a lot for what you pay.  The app has four different modes that you can choose from in the beginning:  Let's Squiggle, Let's Color, Let's Draw and Draw from Scratch.  In each of the modes, kids can complete a series of unfinished drawings by following the directions/suggestions provided.  For example, you can add squiggly wool to a family of sheep, color in balloons or draw teeth on an alligator or make hair on people.  Once you have finished your pictures using a variety of colors and stamps, you can bring your picture to life.  The kids just love watching their work come to life!  If kids would like to create a picture from scratch (or from a picture stored on your iPad), they can do that as well.  Just like the other modes, once they are done with their picture, they can bring it to life.

What I love the most about the Lazoo Art Box app is that it combines three of my favorite activity books (sadly, they are not easily available these days) into one great app. Because I am one of those crazy people who likes to collect things she likes, I happen to be lucky enough to have a couple of each of these activity books in my possession.  I only wish I had thought to photocopy the pages before it became impossible to find.  One of the things I have been doing is looking through the books and finding pictures that match with some of the pictures offered on the iPad app.  This allows the kids to practice and learn what is expected from them before using something more permanent.  It depends on each child, their age and their skill set, but sometimes I will "erase" what they have done on the iPad if I find that they aren't doing their best work.  Let me be clear about one thing:  best work doesn't mean a child has to do things perfectly.  It means that they are focusing, paying attention and following the directions that were given to them.  I am all for fostering creativity, but for some of my kids if not encouraged to remain on task, they will not complete it properly.

I am going to do something a little different with the end of my post this time.  Instead of talking about all the therapeutic benefits, I am going to introduce you to one of my little friends.  Meet Mack.  He is a super star.  We have been working together for about 13 months now.  When I first started working with him, he had such significant sensory processing difficulties that I couldn't even begin to work on figuring out his fine motor delays.  We could easily spend a full 45-minute session in the cuddle swing and it still wouldn't be enough.  I'm still recovering from our first session when I put him on a therapy ball and he screamed so loudly and jumped off the ball so quickly that I wasn't quite sure where he had gone.  He initially refused to participate in all table top activities, especially any that involved coloring, drawing or handwriting.  Within two sessions, Mack was calmer and more relaxed.  He is a sensory seeker, craving a tremendous amount of proprioceptive and vestibular input in order to organize his body for most tasks.  A year later, the amount of  input he requires varies but is definitely not what he needed last year.  He is more independent in all tasks presented to him and will actually ask for us to do graphomotor activities that he used avoid at all costs.

Last week, I decided to pull out the Lazoo Art Box app and one of my old Let's Color activity books.  I searched through the book to find an image that was also available on the iPad so we could start with coloring on the iPad and bring it to life first and then have Mack color in the same picture using crayons.  Since Mack is such a smart guy, I decided to make it a little more tricky for him and make him color the balloons in the same color on both the iPad and his coloring page.  It's a great way to generalize the skills that we are working on in a fun and motivating way.  Mack LOVED it and for the first time, actually asked if he could take his work home and show it off to everyone.  His mother later reported that he showed it to EVERYONE he met....his doorman, his dad, his sister and his baby sitter to name a few!  This is a really big deal and proved to me that Mack is beginning to not only enjoy these kinds of activities but has the confidence in himself to know that he can be successful with them.


A couple of things I did with Mack that you can do with your kids to work towards his/her occupational therapy goals are:
Start with a Strengthening Activity-before beginning most graphomotor activities, I like to warm up those small muscles of the hand by doing some kind of strengthening activity.  Some of my favorites are Discovery Putty, poptubes or Lego activities.  Always have a couple of options and let the kids choose which one they want to do.  
Use a Stylus-when appropriate, I always have my kids use a stylus when using the iPad.  This allows us to work on improving grasping skills when using writing instruments.  I typically use one of these three stylus':  Paper Mate's 2 in 1 Stylus pen, the crayon stylus by iCreate or the Retro Mini Stylus Pen by Kikkerland.  Choose whichever one your child feels most comfortable with.
Work on an Incline-for many of the kids I work with, working on an inclined surface helps with success with graphomotor tasks.  It puts their wrist in an optimal position and also can work on increasing upper body strength.
Use Broken Crayons or Short Markers- especially for the younger kids on my caseload, I recommend using small crayons or short markers.  The smaller writing instruments encourage a more appropriate grasp.  Crayola makes a box of triangular crayons that I find to be particularly good.  They also make PipSqueak markers (both think and thick) which my kids really love too.  For kids who have significantly decreased grasp strength, starting with markers because they don't require as much pressure and they can have more success without getting as frustrated.  As their grasp strength improves, start introducing crayons or colored pencils.

As we approach a new school year, I know many of the families I work with are asking what they can do to get their children prepared for the upcoming school year.  If you want to start off slowly and in a fun way, I highly recommend the Lazoo Art Box app by PBS Kids.  This is a great app to have on your iPad as you head off to your final summer vacations.  It can keep your kids occupied on long car rides or when you are going out to dinner.

What are some of your favorite activities to give to families or use with your kids to get them thinking about school and doing work?  I would love to hear from you all and I am sure all us parents would be grateful for some new ideas to try with our own kids.  I am always a click away and love hearing from you all!