2018 Holiday Gift Guide-Open Ended Toy Edition

I can't believe the time to work on my gift guide is already here! With Hanukkah less than a month away and Christmas just about 6 weeks away, it's time to start thinking gifts. My first installment of this year's gift guide will focus on open-ended toys. This is something that I have been trying to incorporate into both my private occupational therapy practice and during the hang-out time for my kids in The Meeting House Juniors program.

I wish I had known more about the importance of open-ended play when my daughter was younger because there are so many benefits. Here are five benefits of open-ended play opportunities for children:
1. Provides opportunities for kids of all ages to explore ideas and concept such as mathematics and science. Additionally, it helps with improving problem solving skills and increased language development.
2. It provides kids with a stress-free play environment where kids don't have to worry about doing things perfectly all the time
3. Open-ended play helps kids develop both social and emotional intelligence.
4. It provides kids with the chance to teach themselves things since they aren't being told how to play with these kinds of toys.
5. It helps in developing confidence and increased self-esteem in children.

The toys recommended below would actually be considered investment pieces. They are things that will cost more money but will last forever. I actually have a handful of these from when my daughter was younger (she is now 8 1/2 years old) and they are still in rotation when she plays. When I have to buy a gift for a special family member or friend, these are some of my go-to's.

Squigz-since I discovered these a few years ago, this line of toys from Fat Brain Toys has evolved and they keep getting better. Be sure to check out the full line of Squigz that I have linked to see what is best for your child. I've been using the original Squigz with my  kids for years and one of the things I love about them is that they still look brand new. They are really well made and can take a beating from being used by dozens and dozens of kids. These open-ended suction cup toys stick to each other and onto a variety of surfaces (I've used them on mirrors, in the bathtub and windows). Squigz are great for developing fine motor and grasping skills, encourages bilateral coordination, hand-eye coordination all while letting kids use their imagination to create structures.

Magna-Tiles-a long time favorite of mine and one of my favorite gifts to give. These are definitely worth every penny spent and will last a lifetime. And let me say one thing...I have ordered generic magnetic tiles before and they just don't hold up the same way the original Magna-Tiles do. I have had the same set for years and years and they have been used by hundreds of kids, been dunked in water and been used to build some pretty awesome structures on the sidewalks of Brooklyn and have held up beautifully. Magna-Tiles are great for encouraging creativity and imagination skills and also for working on developing visual motor and visual perceptual skills, improving hand-eye coordination, bilateral coordination, focus, attention and organizational skills. These are also great to encourage social skills by having kids build things together. Also, Magna-Tiles are a great gift for children who have disabilities that inhibit their motor skills. Because of the magnets, the blocks stick together with less effort and allow kids to be more successful which also encourages learning.

Wooden Building Blocks-I can still remember the hours and hours of fun I had with my sisters building with our blocks years ago. It's so nice that all these years later, I can go into any classroom and see a bookshelf filled with classic blocks and see kids swarming around them. With that in mind, I go back to my comment about investment pieces. A good set of wooden blocks will last you forever so it's worth spending more for a good quality set. This set by Guidecraft has 84 different pieces of varying sizes and shapes and are amazing in quality. Building with blocks has so many benefits (read this article that lists them all) including encouraging creativity, imagination and increasing confidence and self-esteem. It is also great for for working on problem solving and organizational skills, increasing upper extremity strength and bilateral coordination skills. Additionally, building blocks are a perfect toy to work on improving social skills, such as taking turns, being flexible about ideas and working with a team to build something.

Plus-Plus Blocks-I first fell in love with Plus-Plus blocks because of their fun colors and the how they were a perfect portable fine-motor tool. The more I played with them with my daughter, the more I realized how wonderful they were for developing fine motor and grasping skills. We have had countless hours of fun making all kinds of creations with our Plus-Plus blocks. We even used them to practice making letters, numbers and shapes when she was younger. In addition to working on fine motor skills, Plus-Plus blocks help to develop bilateral coordination, hand-eye coordination, visual motor and perceptual skills while encouraging creativity and imagination. One of the things I love most about Plus-Plus blocks is that they are a great on-the-go activity and can easily be kept in a backpack or purse to keep your kids entertained while waiting at appointments, while out to dinner or in the car/airplane without the use of technology.

Winter Themed Loose Parts Set-you can't go wrong with anything from the Hope Learning Toys shop on Etsy. All of the products are amazing and encourage learning with sensory play experiences in mind. The Winter Loose Parts Box is one of my favorites and would make a perfect gift for your little one. Each set comes with a 6-piece stackable tree and dowel, a jar of homemade play dough, 4-piece snowman family, glass beads, mini pine cones and so much more. This set will not only encourage creativity and imagination skills, it will work on developing fine motor, visual motor and perceptual skills while providing opportunities to work on increasing focus, attention and organizational skills.

Joinks-this is another great open-ended toy that helps in developing fine motor and grasping skills. The set comes with a variety of wooden dowels, silicone connectors with up to 5 prongs and suction cup connectors that help make your creation stick to different surfaces. Joints are great for individual or group play and encourages creativity, imagination skills, problem solving and organizational skills. Additionally, they work on improving visual motor and perceptual skills, hand-eye coordination, bilateral coordination and increases grasp strength and manipulation skills.

Tegu Magnetic Blocks-I fell in love with Tegu blocks the minute I saw them years ago and have a pretty sweet collection of them that daughter still uses to this day. Like Magna-Tiles, these magnetic blocks are great for children who may have difficulty with manipulating other kinds of building blocks due to physical disabilities. The set I have linked is a good first set and comes with 42 pieces in various shapes and sizes but there are so many other sets to check out here. Tegu blocks encourage creativity and imagination skills while also working on developing grasping skills, hand-eye coordination, bilateral coordination, visual motor and visual perceptual skills.
Rainbow Family Peg Doll Sorter-this is something I bought on a whim a few months ago and have been pleasantly surprised at how much use they have gotten at work. It is a simple toy with endless possibilities. The set consists of 6 rainbow colored boxes which house 4 matching peg dolls in 4 sizes. I have used this to work on skills such as color identification, sorting and matching but I have been so excited to see how the kids all have their own way of playing and interacting with the dolls. Some kids have organized their sorting all of one color at a time and placing them in the box in size order which shows some pretty awesome executive functioning skills.

Way To Play Highway Play Set-this is one of my new favorite toys of the season and definitely worth splurging on if you have a kid who loves to build and play with cars/vehicles. They have also been a huge hit with all my kids at work. Kids can make their own roads by connecting the segments. These can be used on any surface and used indoors or outdoors. These are great for encouraging creativity and imagination, works on developing bilateral coordination skills, improves hand-eye coordination, visual motor and visual perceptual skills and helps with increasing grasping skills. It's also a great activity to encourage social skills by having kids work together to build their roads.

Areaware Blockitecture Big City-this block set is a perfect compliment to the Way To Play Highway Play Set. Once the kids build their road, they can use these blocks to build a whole city around the road. They not only helps them develop hand-eye coordination, visual motor and perceptual skills, it helps with developing planning and reasoning skills. As with all kinds of other building blocks, these will help with social and emotional growth by having kids work together to create their city, taking turns adding things to the city and being flexible when their friends are adding things they may not want.

Does  your family have a favorite open-ended toy? It's always fun to hear from families and therapists what kind of open-ended materials they use to encourage creativity in children.

Be sure to keep checking back for the rest of my 2018 Gift Guides. If you are looking for something specific for your child(ren), please let me know. I am always a click away and love hearing from everyone.

For Your Young Architects...Construction Toys for All Ages

Building toys are great for a variety of reasons.  They are one of the things that I tell parents to splurge on because good building sets will last forever.  When my daughter was younger, I discovered that she and my husband loved to build and create things so I went out and bought a few sets of building toys.  To this day, her Magna-Tiles are still out and used all the time by her and her friends on play dates.  They continue to be worth every penny I paid!

One of the biggest benefits of building toys is the opportunity to offer open-ended play experiences for kids.  Open-ended play is crucial for the development of imagination and creativity in children of all ages.  Through open ended play, kids can develop a variety of social and emotional skills such as empathy, cooperation, problem solving, and improved self-confidence and self-esteem.  There are also a number of cognitive benefits of open ended play including working memory, self-regulation, organizational skills and so much more. While all of the building sets I recommend come with suggestions and visual directions, they can also use their imagination and build whatever they want.  Another thing I like about building toys is that they can be done by a single child or can be done with a group of kids, which is great for working on improving teamwork and other social skills.

In addition to working on all that I have previously mentioned, building toys are great for working on improving bilateral coordination, increases grasp strength and manipulation skills.  If children follow visual directions while building, they are also good for working on improving visual motor and perceptual skills.

Tegu-these continue to be one of my favorite construction toys since I discovered them.  These wooden blocks have magnets built in so they can stick together.  Since they stick together so easily, they are great for children who may present with decreased grasp or upper extremity strength or have difficulty with bilateral coordination due to physical limitations.  Tegu blocks come in a variety of color-waves and each set comes with a variety of different shapes.  In the last couple of years, they have begun offering kits that you can make different vehicles, monsters, robots and smaller travel packs that are perfect for throwing in your bag to keep kids entertained in the car, at a restaurant or while waiting in waiting rooms.  One of the things that I love is that because they are magnetic, they can stick to any metal surface like a refrigerator so you can work on building upper extremity strength at the same time as creating.

The Offbits-I had been on the lookout for construction sets that would be more motivating and

challenging for the older children on my caseload.  I wanted something they could build by following visual directions or could just use their imagination to build things.  I was excited to discover The Offbits while on the Fat Brain toys and they have become a big hit with the older kids on my caseload.  Using a variety of spare parts (nuts, bolts, screws, springs, etc.), children can build robots and vehicles.  Each set comes with an instruction manual with a handful of ideas and directions or kids can use the bits and pieces to make whatever they want.  They come with mini tools which are great for working on improving fine motor skills such as strength and manipulation skills.

Plus Plus-I was originally drawn towards Plus-Plus Mini pieces because of their bright colors and convenient packaging (the tubes were just perfect to throw in my bag and keep my daughter entertained when we were on the go).  Once I started using them, I realized what a great tool they were for reaching occupational therapy goals.  In addition to being an awesome open ended building toy to work on improving creativity, they were ideal for working on improving fine motor skills such as grasping, strengthening and bilateral coordination and for working on visual motor and perceptual skills.  Kids can follow the visuals provided with each set to build something or can use their imagination and create whatever comes to mind.  For younger children, be sure to check out the Plus-Plus Midi pieces.


Timber Planks-sometimes kids need opportunities to build and create without any rules....to have an opportunity to play where there is no right or wrong to what they are doing. Timber Planks are perfect for this.  This set comes with 300 planks (270 natural wood and 30 bright orange) that kids can stack and arrange to create large structures.  Not only is this a great toy to work on increasing creativity and imaginative play,  it is great for working on improving fine motor skills, visual-motor and perceptual skills and improving focus, attention and organizational skills.  Kids can play with them on their own or can be used in groups.

Build & Imagine Building Sets-I've been a long time fan of Magna-Tiles and they make my list every year but this year, I have become obsessed with the Build & Imagine building sets.  Instead of colored tiles, the Build and Imagine sets are made up of tiles with pictures that when put together create a castle, a pet portrait studio and many other things.  In addition to the tiles, each set includes a bunch of magnets to add details to the tiles and dolls that can be dressed and played with.  Kids can work on so many skills when  playing with the Build & Imagine sets including developing fine motor and manipulation skills, improving spatial awareness, hand-eye coordination and visual motor and perceptual skills.  At the same time, kids are offered an open-ended play experience that builds creativity and imagination skills.  My speech therapist friends love how kids can work on improving their language skills and work on storytelling skills when playing with them.

Natural Building Blocks (Waldorf Construction Toy)-one of my daughters favorite playgrounds in Brooklyn is found in Prospect Park.  It's a natural playground that has been built using fallen trees.  When my friend Heather from Hope Learning Toys showed me these natural birch and oak building blocks, I immediately thought of them and how much kids enjoy playing and building when out in nature.  Now with this all natural open-ended building set, kids work on building imagination and creativity skills as well as spatial awareness and hand-eye coordination.  The 30 piece set comes with a different sized blocks and opens young minds to create and construct.

Fort Boards-if you have a kid who loves to build forts, these are a great gift for them.  The sets come in a handful of colors and can be used indoors or outdoors to build. Fort Boards are large tiles that snap together and can be turned into structures that kids can play inside of.  We have been using Fort Boards with our kids at The Meeting House and the kids just can't get enough of them.  I love that while they invite kids to play together to create and build a fort....and what I have noticed is that the bigger the structure is, the happier the kids are!  Fort Boards are great for working on increasing grasp and upper extremity strength, improves spatial reasoning and hand-eye coordination, encourages creativity and imagination skills, and is a fun way to work on improving executive functioning skills such as focus/attention, planning and organizational skills.  

Groovy Blocks-these are bright colored plastic construction toys that come in a variety of shapes.  Each block has grooves on all four sides so pieces can slide together to build structures. Kids build by sliding the grooved pieces together; since they are connected, their structures are very sturdy which means they won't get knocked down which can cause a lot of frustration for the kids I work with.  In addition to encouraging creativity and imagination skills, Groovy Blocks are great for working on improving fine motor skills such as grasp strength and manipulation skills, improves bilateral coordination and works on spatial skills.  Additionally, they are great for working on problem solving and organizational skills.  Unlike a lot of construction toys, these are small and lightweight making them easy to throw in a bag and keep kids entertained when outside of the house.

Popoids-I discovered Popoids when on a mission to buy a bunch of birthday gifts and they have been one of my favorite finds of the year.  This open-ended construction toy encourages problem solving, organizational skills and creative thinking.  The set comes with 36 colored mini poptubes and 24 different shaped connectors that kids use to build and create.  The set comes with some suggestions on what to make but when I have my kids use them at work, I have them build whatever they want.  Popoids are great for working on a variety of occupational therapy goals such as improving grasp strength and manipulation skills, bilateral coordination and hand-eye coordination.

Click Blocks-this 100 piece set of natural wooden blocks comes with different colored and shaped blocks that invite kids to build and create.  These are something that your kids will play with for years and years and well worth the investment.  For many of the kids I work with, building with blocks can cause a lot of frustration because they may have decreased coordination and can easily knock down their creations.  The Click blocks are similar to Legos in the sense that they can be pushed together and stay together until you pull them apart.  In addition to being great for encouraging creativity and imagination, they are also great for working on increasing grasp strength and manipulation skills.  They also work on improving bilateral coordination, visual motor and perceptual skills and hand-eye coordination.

These are just a handful of the amazing construction sets that are out there.  Does your family have a a set that they love?  I would love to hear what kinds of sets other families or therapists/teachers use with their kids.  I am always a click away and love hearing from you all.

Building Blocks of Play

Building/Construction Toys
This is one of my favorite sections to complete each year.  While there are several items that are always on there, I have included some new construction and STEM sets this year.  These kinds of toys are great for developing a variety of fine motor skills, visual motor and perceptual skills, problem solving and executive functioning skills.  They are also great for helping children become more creative, develop imagination skills and can help them feel more confident when they are done building and creating.

Magna-Tiles-these magnetic tiles have made my list every year since I began.  Not only are they great for working on motor planning and organizational skills, they are easy for kids of all ages and abilities to use them with great success.  If you have a child with decreased motor skills or decreased upper extremity strength, these are great for them.  Kids can build anything from an ice cream cone or a building as tall as them.  In the last few years, they have created different colored sets and ones with doors, windows and wheels so kids can create even more.  In addition to working on motor planning and organizational skills, playing with Magna-Tiles can help encourage bilateral coordination, imagination and creativity and easily be played with a friend to work on improving social and play skills.

Tegu Blocks-another favorite of mine, the Tegu blocks are beautiful wooden blocks that stick together via magnets.  Like the Magna-Tiles, I was originally drawn to these blocks because they were great for children of all ages and abilities.  Kids who may present with motor and coordination problems can play with these independently and successfully which helps in building confidence, self-esteem and imagination and creativity.  Tegu has evolved over the years and now have sets where you can make robots, helicopters and some really cool circuit sets!

Toobalink-I love discovering a new building toy, especially ones that can use household objects to help you create and build.  Toobalink is a construction kit that comes with connectors, joiners and couplers that help turn paper towel and toilet paper tubes into whatever it is your child can think of.   It also comes with an instruction booklet that gives you idea but that doesn't mean that you can't let your imagination go crazy and think outside of the box!  Great for working on improving motor planning and organizational skills, bilateral coordination, imagination and creativity skills.  Also great to work on with friends or siblings to encourage team-work and collaborative play.

Robot Engineer Kit (Level 1)-more and more young kids are interested in building and being engineers.  One thing I have noticed over the last few years is the increase in products that encourage STEM education.  This fun robot kit introduces kids to the basic engineering concepts, teaches them about gears, levers and wheels and allows them to be creative at the same time.  Each kit comes with extremely well made and durable pieces that snap together to build a robot.  It also comes with a book that has 10 different stories the kids have to follow along with in order to put the robot together.  Great for working on improving fine motor and grasping skills, visual motor and perceptual skills, bilateral coordination and executive functioning skills such as organization, motor planning, focus, attention and following multi-step directions.

Squigz- These colorful suction cup toys seem so simple but encourage a bunch of developmental skills in kids of all ages.  pipSquigz are perfect for babies and younger children. Each set comes with 3 different shape and colored pipSquigz with a different texture and sound (kind of like a rattle) which is great for expanding their tactile world.  The suction cup toys not only stick to each other but to mirrors, windows and similar like surfaces.  My kids LOVE the sound they make and I love that they work on improving eye-hand coordination, visual motor and visual perceptual skills, bilateral coordination and exploring a variety of different textures.  Another bonus, they are BPA-free which makes them ideal for children who may be teething.  As kids get older, you can get them the Squigz.  These suction cup toys can be stuck to each other or to different surfaces (like the refrigerator, mirror or windows).  Kids LOVE them!  Great for working on improving bilateral coordination, eye-hand coordination, grasp strengthening and visual motor skills.

Joinks-last year I wrote about Straws and Connectors, another great building toy, but spent some time this year looking for something that was a bit more durable and could handle the wear and tear of use by multiple kids.  Joinks are just that!  This construction kit comes with 76 flexible connectors and wooden sticks that you can use to build a variety of shapes, buildings, people, etc..  Great for working on building fine motor skills, visual motor skills, bilateral coordination, motor planning and organizational skills.  Kids can work on their own to create or play with a friend and work together to help build something fabulous.


Waldorf Inspired Rainbow Stacker-this homemade Waldorf inspired building toy by Hope Learning Toys is great for working on visual motor and perceptual skills.  It's a beautifully made toy that can help younger children work on learning colors.  It can also be used to encourage free play and language skills.  Made with all natural materials and dyes and safe for all ages.

Action-Stackers Little Builder Set-for as long as I have been practicing as an occupational therapist, I have always used the Lauri tall stackers and pegboard.  They are definitely the best pegboard set out there and great for working on so many fine motor, visual motor and executive functioning skills.  I was really excited when I was walking around Westside Kids in Manhattan and saw this awesome product.  Kids can use the pegboard and pegs to build 3-D designs or can just use the pegs, connectors and wheels to build structures, cars, etc.. Great for working on building their imagination and creative skills.  Also great for working on improving motor planning, organizational skills
In addition to the pegboard and pegs, the set comes with a variety of connectors, wheels and a step by step activity book.

Legos-I always try and make as many different suggestions for construction and building sets before recommending the good old standby, Legos/Duplos.  Over the years, Lego has evolved into something so big and targeting the interests of kids of all ages.  Whether you are a superhero fan, a lover of princesses or vehicles, you will always be able to find a set that is good for your child.  Legos/Duplos are great for working on improving fine motor and grasping skills, grasp strength, bilateral coordination, a variety of visual motor and perceptual skills and executive functioning skills.  It's also great for building confidence and self-esteem when they complete their Lego sculpture.

One of the great things about Legos is that you can find them in any local toy store so support those small businesses and purchase your Lego sets from them instead of getting them from the big box stores.  Some of my favorite stores in NYC to get them from are Westside Kids, Mary Arnold Toy Store, Toy and Stationery World ,  Lulu's Cuts and Toys and  Little Things Toy Store in Park Slope.

Basic Builder Set-another amazing product from Hape Toys that encourages younger children to build and create!  This is a great set for younger children because the pieces are bigger making them easier to manipulate.  Kids can work on improving fine motor and manipulation skills, bilateral coordination, motor planning and organizational skills.  The set also includes a bunch of cards with images on how to make a bunch of different things which is great for working on improving visual motor and perceptual skills.

We Are Family!

When you work with children, you end up working with their entire family....and that's pretty fantastic.  We all know the importance of family, especially the role a sibling plays to a child who may have delays.  I believe that a pediatric occupational therapist has a lot of very important jobs and one of them is helping parents figure out the best way to promote a healthy sibling relationship.  I have lost count of how many times parents have told me that they feel terrible about the lack of attention their non-therapy children get.

There are a lot of ways to include siblings, especially those that are close in age, in the therapeutic process. As therapists, our goal is to make sure that the kids we work with meet their goals.  However, I find it equally important that I provide parents with activities that they can do at home with all of their children.  Kids spend a lot of time at home and for some parents, figuring out what to do with them at home can be difficult.  I try and suggest games, crafts and activities that can easily be done at home, especially for those times where the weather prevents kids from getting out of their houses.

Below, you will find some of the things I have done over the years to help support sibling relationships:

*whenever possible, I have siblings join in on a session...even if only for 5 minutes.  This is far more important when a sibling is close in age or a twin to the child you are treating who is always dragged from session to session and having to spend so much of their time in a waiting room.  This practice goes a long way for all people involved!  Maybe the parents or the caregivers get 5 minutes to run to the bathroom or make a phone call or maybe they can actually observe the shared time and pick up some of the language that you use to help make play time at home more successful.

*one of the things I like to do is help kids learn how to be the "masters" of a game during our sessions.  This means that they not only know how to play the game, but are able to set it up and explain the directions to people.  Once they are masters, I have the parents buy the game for home so they can play it with their siblings.  It is such a confidence booster for the kids to be able to be in charge of something as their siblings tend to be the ones in control most of the time.  It's important that the games are good for a variety of ages and that they aren't too complicated, especially when it comes to explaining the rules.  Some of my favorite family games:
-Uno
-Yeti In My Spaghetti 
-Tumbling Monkeys
-any of the matching or simple games by Eeboo
-Thumbs Up
-Spot It

*cooking and baking with kids can be a great way to not only address some of the occupational therapy goals at home, but can also be a fun way to help in developing a good sibling relationship.  You want to try and keep things simple and with not too many steps or ingredients so you can encourage as much independent and cooperative play as possible during these moments.  Something like making pizzas (put all the ingredients out and let the kids go to town) is a great choice and one of my favorites.  Need other ideas, check out this great website that has tons of videos with cooking activities just for kids.  Obviously, be there to supervise and do all the important parent things like turning on the oven, putting food in and out, etc. but really try and let kids work through any of the problems they may run into.

*arts and crafts can be a great way to have kids play together at home and if you choose the right thing, they may not even need that much help from grownups.  If you have an easel, set it up with an endless amount of paper for them to color, paint or draw all over.  Once they are done with their masterpiece, have them tell you what they did or maybe have them tell a story and write it on the paper and then make a big deal and hang it up somewhere for everyone to see.  If you need inspiration for craft activities, do yourself a favor and spend some time searching Pinterest.  It may be an easy way to procrastinate, but can help you come up with some great ideas. And check out this link on Parents that can send you to a bunch of kid-friendly crafting sites. Some of my other favorites craft ideas:
Orb Factory Sticky Mosaics (get a set of large ones that they can work on together)
Pirasta Coloring Posters-these are a huge favorite for my daughter and my nieces.  They are large enough that at least two can get involved in the coloring fun....many more if you get the super big posters!
Play-Doh Sets

*last, but not least, blocks and other kinds of building toys make a great activity for siblings to do together.  They can work together to build something and then can add characters and spend some time doing imaginative play together.  Investing in good building toys is worth it...it might hurt the wallet at the time of the purchase, but good ones will take a good beating and still last forever.  Some of my favorites (and ones that are used in my house all the time) are:
Tegu Magnetic Blocks
Magnatiles
Janod Building and Construction Toy Sets

As one of four girls, I realize how important a good sibling relationship is and how it is can be easy for one child to feel like they are getting short changed on attention.  As a therapist, I think it is important that we do what we can to help families understand how easy it is for them to play together, no matter what kind of difficulties one of their children may be having.  Try and encourage parents to take their kids outside and play together whenever the opportunity comes up.  Whether it be blowing and catching bubbles, drawing with chalk on the sidewalk, kicking a ball back and forth to one another or one pushing the other on a swing, there are tons of ways that parents can help strengthen the relationship between their children instead of one feeling slighted.  Let's not forget how much children learn from each other...especially what they can learn from a sibling that they adore.

I know I am not the first therapist/professional who works with children that has faced this particular problem:  advising parents what to do to foster a healthy sibling relationship and limit the amount of guilt the parents feel about providing one child with more attention than the other.  What kind of advice or activities do you suggest?  Do you have a favorite Pinterest board or websites that you rely on for helping you come up with activities to do with your children?  Not only would I love to hear some of the things you all suggest to parents, I know that my readers would love to hear as well.  I am always a click away and love hearing from you all.

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!

Oh The Weather Outside Is Frightful, But Play Inside Can Be Delightful!

I have a lot of memories of growing up and the fun things I did with my sisters.  We had a massive garage and no matter what the weather was, we would be outside in some way.  She would pull the car out into the driveway so we could ride our bikes or play games in that garage.  During the fall, we would be given rakes and make mazes or homes with our piles of leaves.  We were encouraged to play, be creative and have fun.  My husband and I have worked hard in making sure our daughter has a life where she is encouraged to do the same things.  Even though we live in New York City, we have found ways to make sure these things happen.  We build snowmen in front of our Brooklyn brownstone.  We walk through the park and collect leaves and acorns.  With the change in seasons comes a whole new level of creativity in order to keep our little one busy and excited!

So now that we are officially at that time of the year where you can't predict the weather, it can sometimes be much more challenging to keep your little ones entertained.  Whether it be because of rain, snow or that it's simply too cold to be outside, kids seem to become more easily bored and in need of entertainment.  As parents, we struggle with keeping our kids entertained and keeping ourselves sane! I live in NYC so snow days are not very common but when they happen, it means that we have to find ways to keep ourselves and kids as busy and occupied as possible.  And for most parents, that means we don't want to sit our kids down in front of the tv or the iPad all day long even though that would be the easiest solution to our keeping our kids busy problem.   While there is absolutely nothing wrong with that if it works for your family, there are a lot of other great activities out there that make those days that seem like they will never end.  If it's just a snowy day, the obvious thing is to just grab a sled and find a hill or find some friends to make a snow person with.  For many, this may not be an option so I am going to offer you some others.  Ones that get your kids moving, thinking and most importantly, having fun.

I have a lot of memories of growing up and the fun things I did with my sisters.  We had a massive garage and no matter what the weather was, we would be outside in some way.  She would pull the car out into the driveway so we could ride our bikes or play games in that garage.  During the fall, we would be given rakes and make mazes or homes with our piles of leaves.  We were encouraged to play, be creative and have fun.  My husband and I have worked hard in making sure our daughter has a life where she is encouraged to do the same things.  Even though we live in New York City, we have found ways to make sure these things happen.  We build snowmen in front of our Brooklyn brownstone.  We walk through the park and collect leaves and acorns.

Baking

One of my daughter's favorite activities to do with me is to bake.  We keep it simple and something that she can be actively involved with the entire time.  Baking can be something that can be done with just one child or a small group of kids.  I love using baking as a tool to improve social skills. Here are some of our favorites right now:

Pizza-we are partial to using real pizza dough when we make our pizza, but you can also make pizza bagels and english muffin pizzas if you want to simplify things a bit.  Kids can be fairly independent in the whole process starting at kneading and flattening the dough to putting the sauce and cheese on.  If you have an older child, you can have them cut toppings like mushrooms, peppers or tear basil.  Making pizza is a great OT activity because you can work on so many skills including improving bilateral coordination, increase upper body and fine motor strength and executive functioning skills.  

If you want to make this project last a little longer, you can read Pete's A Pizza, a great board book by William Steig.  You can read it to them while the pizza is cooking and cooling off before eating it!

Cookies and Brownies-we happen to be a family who has a pretty big sweet tooth and baking cookies and brownies is one of our favorite things to do, especially when we are stuck inside for one reason or another.  If you aren't into making cookies from scratch, you can get the pre-made dough.  Have the kids either slice the cookies or rip off a piece of the dough and roll them into balls.  With sugar cookies, they can do the same thing and decorate them with sprinkles or candies.  This whole activity is great for working on bilateral coordination, increasing upper body/fine motor strength and executive functioning skills.

Arts and Crafts

I happen to live in a neighborhood that offers a ton of great rainy day craft places.  Our personal favorite is Hiho Batik, a DIY batik studio where you can make shirts, bags and other great items.  What I love about it is that you are actually making something that you can use.  However, most people aren't as lucky as we are to live in such a neighborhood so they have to find things that they can do at home.  While people want to keep their kids entertained, they don't want to get involved in something too time consuming or messy.  You also want to do things that your kids can do mostly on their own.  Here are a couple of simple but fun activities you can do with your kids.

Superhero Mask-this can be a simple and very fun activity to do with your kids.  Using felt and a glue gun, your child can express their personality through their masks.   I've done this before where I

cut out different shaped eye masks and then a bunch of shapes that they can glue on.  For older kids, they can be in charge of cutting out all the shapes.  

Superhero Cape-I LOVE this easy DIY superhero cape and can't wait to try this with some of my kids at work.  All you need is a large t-shirt (the larger the better so it can really flow like a cape), felt, scissors and glue.  Kids can make a cape with their initial, their favorite superhero log or whatever else they want to make this speak to what kind of superhero they are.  For step-by-step instructions, check out this link.  

Arts and crafts should be fun and exciting for kids.  It should not be stressful or make them feel like they have to follow a bunch of rules.  It should be a time for them to be creative and to express themselves and let their personality shine through.
Crafts are also a great way to work on improving fine motor, visual motor/perceptual and executive functioning skills.  Carefully choose the writing instruments you provide your child with.  If they have an immature pencil grip, you should present broken crayons or short pencils.  If your child has a weak grip and tires easily when coloring or drawing, be sure to use markers as they require less strength

Science Experments

I've been running small social skills groups for years and what I have discovered is that kids love a good science experiment.  They love seeing something new and exciting and the more hands on it is, the better it is.  Science activities are great for working on focus and attention, following directions, increasing fine motor skills and encouraging language.  While I am the baker in my house, my husband is the science guy and has done some pretty cool experiments using everyday household items.  Here are a couple of fun ones for you to try!

A Color Symphony-you will need a flat baking tray, whole milk, liquid dish soap and food coloring.  Pour the whole milk into the pan so it covers the entire bottom of the tray.  Put 6-8 drops of different colored food coloring in different parts of the pan.  Next place a few drops of soap onto each colored spot and see what happens.  Kids love watching the colors move all around. 

We have done this at home with our daughter and instead of dropping the soap onto the food coloring, we dipped a q-tip into the soap and placed them into the food coloring.  This is good because you can work on improving fine motor and grasping skills at the same time.  

Homemade Slime-I've always loved this science project.  Most of us have made homemade playdough (which is also a really fun thing to do on an inside kind of day) at some point in our lives but there is something really fun about the slime and what I like most about it is that there is no cooking involved with it.  I actually just made this last week for Halloween with my little friends at The Meeting House.  We had the kids put googley eyes and spiders in their mixture and then they had to dig them out which is great for working on building grasp strength and fine motor skills.  Using glue, water, food coloring and Borax (the powder kind that you can find near the detergents in grocery stores or some bodegas).  Kids have the best time watching this liquid concoction turn into a blob of fun that they get to play around with.
These are just a couple of science activities you can do with your kids but there are hundreds more out there.  Check out these websites for more ideas:

ScienceBob-this page has oodles of ideas for you to try at home or in therapy with your kids.  Most instructions are clear and most have videos for you to watch.  There are a variety of experiments so you can find one that will spark any child's interest.  

Red Tricyle-I follow the national and New York Red Tricyle and have gotten some really great ideas from them.  This article from a few weeks ago provides you with almost 20 different classic science experiments you can do at home.  Some of them will bring you back to your childhood!

ScienceFun-this is a great resource for a variety of experiments that is dedicated to making science fun for kids.  Their goal is to make learning a magical experience where you take science and allow kids to use their imagination.  They have partnered with students, teachers and parents in putting together a website filled with great activities.  I like how this particular page breaks down activities by age ranges making it easy to figure out what is appropriate for your kid.

Blocks and Building Toys

It seems simple, but building toys can take up hours and hours of a day that has to be spent inside.  Encourage your kids to dump out all their blocks and other building toys and mix and match them to make something amazing.  Who says that Legos can't be used with MagnaTiles?  The more you have, the larger and more creative your kids can be as they are building.   If you want to wild, give them a bunch of characters and have them come up with stories with their siblings or friends.  You can have them practice and then have them put on a show you can record and share with people.  Don't worry about making a mess...that's easy enough to clean up later on!
Some of my favorite building toys are:

MagnaTiles

Tegu Magnetic Wooden Blocks

Lego/Duplo

Janod Building Sets

Games

I think it's important to have a hidden stash of games that only come out on these kinds of inside days.  If your kids are anything like my daughter or the kids I work with, they get obsessed with a certain game or two and play them until everyone in the house is sick and tired of them.  When you find yourself with a day that you know will be keeping you all inside, it's fun to pull out a few things that they can look forward to.  I like to pick games that are more physical and get the kids up and moving around.  For example, Twister, Kids On Stage and Charades for Kids are good choices.  They not only get your kids up and moving around, they are great for improving language skills, gross motor skills and social skills.  

For some of you, it might be pulling out those kid-friendly video game systems you have and letting them get some action.  I appreciate that not everyone is into video games, but While I know not everyone believes in video games for their kids, there are several systems out there now that provide your children with more physically active gaming opportunities.  For example, the Nintendo Wii has all kinds of fun sports related games like baseball, bowling and golf.  My nieces are big fans of the Just Dance and SingStar games.  The nice thing about all of these games are that you have to be on your feet, you have to move your body and you have to focus and attend to what is on the screen.  For kids who may struggle with focus and attention, this could be a really fun way to work on this skill.  In addition, all of these kinds of video games are great for working on improving motor planning, eye-hand coordination and visual perceptual skills.   

I'm cutting this post short as to not bore you all but I could go on and on with fun activities to do with your kids during bad weather.  I've shared some of my favorites but would really love to hear from some of you about your favorite inclement weather activities.  Do you have something that you love to do with your kids when you are stuck inside all day?  If you have some fantastic family activity you do with your kids, please share them with me and my readers.  I'm always a click away and love hearing from each and every one of you!