Crafting Holiday Gift Guide

One of my favorite things to do in my therapy sessions is to hide the therapeutic aspects of things to my kids. Making therapy fun and engaging leads to increased engagement and less resistance to trying more challenging things. Over the course of my career, I have found that finding highly motivating craft activities can go a long way in getting kids to try things outside of their comfort zone. Being able to work on an activity for several sessions allows for the kids to learn about patience, flexibility and resilience and also makes them even more excited and proud of the final product. Below I share a handful of my favorite crafting, baking and STEAM activity sets. I tried to include gifts for children of a variety of ages so hopefully you will find something. Don't forget that I have so many more ideas that I am always happy to share so if you need specific suggestions for anyone, don't hesitate reaching out and asking. In the meantime, take a look at this years gift ideas and read about all the developmental and therapeutic benefits. 

1. Moulin Roty Baking Set-I've been baking with my now 11 year old since she was old enough to be an active participant and she just loves baking now. Fun fact.....during Covid her aunt in California and she would do weekly baking/cooking dates over Zoom to keep their connection and it was one of the highlights of quarantine. Baking with kids can help create a beautiful connection between kids and their grownups but making sure that you have the right tools is essential. I wish that this baking set was available when my daughter was younger because the tools are just the right size for small hands and helps them be more independent and successful when baking. This gorgeous kit comes with an oven mitt, rolling pin, whisk, spatula, pastry cutter, pie tin, 2 heart-shaped cookie cutters, a muffin pan and a recipe book. They are kid-sized and can be used for actual baking or can be used during pretend play. Baking with kids can work on so many developmental skills such as improving fine motor, grasping and manipulation skills, encourages hand-eye and bilateral coordination while also boosting confidence and self-esteem. 

2. Giant Coloring Posters-Looking for a fun family activity to keep you all busy as the cold weather sets in? Lulu's Cuts and Toys has a great selection of these for you to choose from. I am a bit biased and really love the Brooklyn one but there are several to choose from. Depending on your living situation, you can hang this on a wall and keep up all the time for kids to color in as they please or work on it a little at a time, roll it back up and store in the sturdy box it comes in. Obviously this is a great activity to work on improving graphomotor skills but is also a great way to encourage conversation and language skills. These large pictures are big enough for a whole family to work on at the same time. 

3. Tiny Baking Kit-what's cuter than mini baked goods??? A perfect gift for some of your older, more Tik-Tok savvy kids! One of my sisters gifted this to my daughter a few years ago and she spent countless hours playing with it. This set comes with 17 miniature sized baking tools and a recipe book with 20 recipes using all baking supplies you already have at home.  Mini chocolate chip cookies, cupcakes, pizzas and so much more will delight your children while working on developing fine motor and manipulation skills, improve hand-eye coordination and work on improving executive functioning skills while following the recipes such as focus, attention, organization and planning skills. 

4. Flour Shop Rainbow Explosion Cake Kit-Flour Shop is a cake store in SoHo in Manhattan and was all everyone was talking about when it first opened years ago. If you have a serious baker on your shopping list this year, this would be a really fun gift for them. The kit comes with all the ingredients you need to make this 6-layer rainbow kit (you will need cake pans): 1 pouch of vanilla cake mix, 6 rainbow colored gels, 1 pouch of cream cheese frosting mix, 1 pouch of rainbow explosion mix (sprinkles), 1 pouch rainbow polka dots (sprinkles). This is an awesome gift for an older child who loves to bake and works on improving executive functioning skills such as focus, attention, following directions, organization, planning and task completion. 

5. Play-Dough Baking Kit-I am SO SO obsessed with this adorable "baking" kit for the little ones in your life. I am planning on ordering a handful of these for some of the kids on my shopping list this year and only hope that I am invited over to play with it! This kit comes with four silicone baking cups, candles, cookie cutters, a rolling pin, and pom poms, buttons, beads and jewels to decorate their cupcakes. It also comes with 3 containers of homemade/non-toxic cinnamon, strawberry and sugar cookie sprinkle play dough. First and foremost, these kits (be sure to check out all of the products from Young + Wild and Friedman because there are so many great ones to choose from) encourage creativity, imagination and play skills for little ones. They also work on improving grasp strength and manipulation skills, improve visual motor and visual perceptual skills and are great for sensory exploration. 

6. Orb Factory Sticky Mosaics-I can't tell you how much my kids love doing these Sticky Mosaics and they have made my gift guide year after year. Simple one of the best fine motor crafting activities out there and the kids have no idea how many therapeutic goals they are working on when using them. For younger children, the stickers are larger and different shapes and colors which are easier for their fingers to manipulate. For older children, the stickers are slightly smaller and kids have to match the correct color to numbers. In addition to working on fine motor skills, kids can work on shape, color and number recognition, improves hand eye coordination and improves visual motor and visual perceptual skills. Attach to an easel to work on increasing upper extremity strength. Kids are so proud of the final product and love showing them off. 
***Be sure to check out your local toy and book stores for these kits. I am always seeing them and grab them whenever I do!

7. Razzle Dazzle DIY Gem Kit-I discovered these awesome sets right before the lockdown and they ended up being a great thing for my virtual sessions for some of my kids. Very much like the sticky mosaic sets above, kids match colored gems to the correct letters to create a sparkly picture of various animals. The kit comes with a template, gems, a glue pen and a frame to protect your picture when completed. This is an amazing and fun way for kids to work on developing fine motor, grasping and manipulation skills, improves hand-eye coordination and works on improving executive functioning skills such as focus, attention, planning and organizational skills. 

8. Kid Made Modern Arts & Craft Library-this is one of my favorite arts and crafts collections and love that it is appropriate for children of all ages and developmental levels. This collection comes with over 1000 pieces of art supplies including peg dolls, wooden loose pieces, pipe cleaners, beads, pom-poms, googly eyes and SO much more and come in a sturdy case with a handle so it can be taken on the go. While they give you suggestions on what you can make with the different materials, it is truly and invitation for kids to use their imagination and be creative using a variety of materials. This open-ended craft library allows children to think outside the box and figure out all the different ways they can explore and use materials to create which helps with improving confidence and self-esteem. 

9. Dress Me Threading Game-loving this "sewing" kit for kids by Haba. Kids work on improving hand eye coordination, bilateral coordination and fine motor, grasping and manipulation skills while dressing these wooden dolls. Each set comes with 1 double-sided scene card, 36 clothing tiles, a sturdy stringing cord and 3 double-sided pattern cards. Kids can make their own outfits or follow the pattern cards (which is great for improving visual motor and visual perceptual skills and working on executive functioning skills such as focus, organization and task completion). 

10. Hat Not Hate Quick Knit Loom-for younger children who are eager to learn how to knit but don't quite have the patience or coordination for knitting needles this is a great starting point. I began knitting during a sad time in my life and it's been nothing but a source of calm and comfort ever since. Post-Covid I am seeing that there are a lot of kids who need something to help them deal with some anxiety and I personally think busy hands help with that. I love this knitting loom from Faber Castell and Lion Brand Yarns that comes with all the materials needed to create two hats. My favorite thing about it is that they have also partnered with the Hat Not Hate Anti-Bullying Awareness organization to encourage children to knit a hat for themselves and then donate to the organization during Anti-Bullying month (October). This particular kit comes with all the materials needed to create two hats including 4 balls of yarn, a reusable loom, a loom hook, a tassel and pom-pom maker and two #HATNOTHATE leather tags to attach to the completed hats. The instructions are clear and easy to follow meaning kids will have success which will lead to increased confidence and self-esteem. Additionally, kids will work on developing fine motor, grasping and manipulation skills, improve hand-eye and bilateral coordination skills and executive functioning skills such as focus, attention, planning and organizational skills. 

11. Knitters of Tomorrow Beginner Kit-do you have someone in your life who would like to learn how to knit but not sure where to start? This beginners kit is one of the best that I have seen when searching for friends. It comes with 2 balls of yarn, a set of light-weight knitting needles, a plastic sewing needle for completing your projects and a beginner's guide pattern book with lessons broken into reasonable and appropriate lessons. There are also suggested links to online video tutorials to guide the children as they learn how to knit a hat and scarf. Knitting, once mastered, is such a wonderful skill for children. It's not only an amazing fine motor, visual motor and visual perceptual activity, it's great for working on improving executive functioning skills such focus, attention, organization and frustration tolerance. Most importantly, when a child masters knitting, they have increased confidence and self-esteem. 

12. Kid-Friendly Succulent Kit-I'm loving all the great DIY gardening kits made for younger children and am completely obsessed with this succulent kit! Gardening is a great hands-on activity that not only encourages sensory exploration, but works on improving fine motor, grasping, hand-eye coordination, bilateral coordination and visual motor and visual perceptual skills. These kid-friendly kits come with a succulent (easy for kids to take care of), a ceramic animal pot, mini gardening tools, stickers for decorating and a bag of soil. In addition to all the therapeutic benefits, kids learn about responsibility by watering the plant. 

13. Classic Friendship Bracelet Making Kit-it's so fun when an activity from my own childhood comes back so when I saw these friendship bracelet kits from Purl Soho, I immediately bought them for the tweens/teens in my life. Each kit (you choose your color-wave) comes with enough materials for 9-18 bracelets depending on the width of the bracelets you make. Each set comes with a safety pin and 5 spools of Chinese Knotting Cord in a really nice storage box with a step-by-step friendship bracelet pattern book. Great for working on improving fine motor, grasping and manipulation skills, improves bilateral coordination and hand-eye coordination and works on improving executive functioning skills such as focus, attention, organization and task completion. 

14. Arcade Claw Game-for your STEAM loving kids, this is a pretty awesome gift. The Arcade Claw Game from Klutz Maker lab will get your kids excited for learning and creating. Kids follow the child-friendly, illustrated instructions to build their very own arcade claw game from a variety of materials (chipboard parts, acetate windows, cotton string, dowels, tall and short pulleys, carriage, claw and plastic snaps) . Once built, kids can fill the claw machine with 3 prize capsules and try and use the claw to grab them. This toy encourages the development of fine motor, grasping and manipulation skills, spatial reasoning, hand-eye coordination and works on executive functioning skills such as focus, attention, following directions, planning and organizational skills. 

15. S.T.E.A.M. School Deluxe Studio Science-another STEAM gift but more appropriate for younger kids, this kit contains 10 amazing arts and crafts projects that has some kind of fun science, math and engineering concepts built in. Each activity comes with a fully illustrated card to make it easy for them to follow along for task completion. Some of the activities included are building with conductive light-up dough, playing with gears, making paper gliders. Kids will learn so much about engineering, electricity and so much more while working on improving fine motor, grasping and manipulation skills, work on improving visual motor and visual perceptual skills and improve executive functioning skills such as focus, attention, planning and organizational skills. 

16. The Kindness Mission Box-I felt like it was important to complete this list with this awesome activity box. There is never a time to not try and teach our children about the importance of kindness and how they can spread it themselves. This activity kit includes a series of "secret missions" for kids to complete that teach kids about caring for themselves, their friends, family, community and environment. Children go through all 4 "training missions" by making clay friendship pots, a wooden birdhouse and origami creations before they move onto a deco of over 50 kindness missions to complete throughout the year. In addition to all the crafting materials and the cards, the kit also includes a self-care checklist which helps create healthy habits in children. Kids have no idea that while they are engaged in these activities, they are also working on improving fine motor, grasping and manipulation skills, improve visual motor and perceptual skills and are engaged in constant social emotional learning. 

Once again, I have tried to link some of my favorite local toy stores whenever I could as I have always found it very important to support our local businesses but even more so now. Many of the items listed above are ones that I have seen in most toy stores I have visited all over the place. And since are all hearing about shipping nightmares and problems with supply chain, why not take out some of the stress and support your local stores where you don't have to worry about toys arriving on time. If you are shopping for family members who are not local, find out their local toy stores and see if you can shop from there. If you are in the NYC area, be sure to check out the following stores: Lulu's Cuts and Toys, Little Things Toy Store, Norman and Jules, Annie's Blue Ribbon General Store, West Side Kids, Stationary and Toy World, Mary Arnold Toys, Kidding Around Toys and Boomerang Toys. 

Again, if you are looking for specific crafting or baking ideas for your kids or kids on your shopping list, please do not hesitate reaching out to me for suggestions. I have so many more thoughts on great gifts for the important toddlers in your life. I am only an email away at otmeghan@gmail.com and love to hear from and help in any way I can. 

Cooking With Kids

One of the most challenging things at this point is filling up our days. Especially for those of us who live in the city with lack of outdoor space, keeping our kids busy and limiting the amount of time watching television or on some kind of screen becomes incredibly stressful. So many of the parents on my caseload are looking for easy, fun and non-screen time activities for children so this week I am going to talk about baking with kids. As soon as my daughter was old enough, I started including her in baking with me. It started with her simply just watching me at work as I baked and her involvement increased as she got older. Today, at 10 years old, she loves to bake. Actually, to make up for the fact that she wasn't going to be with her cousin for Easter, my sister and I had our girls pick out a recipe and the FaceTimed the entire time. It was adorable and made them feel connected on a day that they just love to be together.

Baking with children is not only a great way to connect with your children but has so many developmental benefits built right into it. At this crazy time, I think the most helpful thing I can do for parents is provide them with activities that don't seem like therapy or work. While I know baking isn't for everyone, I am going to outline the benefits and provide a bunch of baking activities that you can do with your children.

There are so many benefits of cooking with children including:

*improves fine motor and manipulation skills. Measuring ingredients, rolling out dough, using cookie cutters and decorating your baked goods will lead to improved fine motor and manipulation skills. 

*improves visual skills such as improved hand-eye coordination, visual motor skills and visual tracking. 

*encourages language development. Use this time to not only label ingredients, but talk about the ingredients. Have them describe how they feel. For example, put out a little plate with some of the ingredients and have them feel them and talk about the textures. Are they soft? Are they rough? 

*encourages executive functioning skills. Baking with children is a great way to naturally work on things such as improving attention, focus, organization, sequencing and working memory. For some kids, it might be helpful to print out pictures of the steps and have them put them in order before actually starting baking. 

*for older children, baking can be a really motivating way to work on math skills. For younger children, you can introduce the concepts of more and less while measuring out ingredients. For example, put the measuring cups out with the ingredients in them and ask what you will use more of. My 10 year old is working on fractions right now and when she begins to get really frustrated, I bring out our measure cups as a visual.
*boosts confidence and self-esteem. It really is so much fun to see kids light up as they see their completed baked good come out of the oven. Even more exciting is when they get peoples reactions when they eat them.

I am going to share some cooking activities that you can do with your children. It's important to find activities that will encourage independence for children while also working cooperatively with their siblings or parents. If you are cooking with more than one child, set clear expectations and responsibilities from the get-go to limit arguing during the actual activity. Below you will find several baking and cooking activities. Some requiring cooking, others might not. There are not just food cooking ideas, but also sensory materials like play dough or colored rice and noodles.

Food

Play and Freeze Ice Cream Ball Ice Cream Maker-this was actually recommended to me by one of my occupational therapist colleagues and couldn't love it more. With kids not getting as much physical activity as they are used to, I love that you can combine some gross motor work while making ice cream. Kids can make make ice-cream in about 30 minutes using just a few ingredients by rolling the ball back and forth to each other. Check out this link from L.L. Bean with a bunch of different recipes you can try using this ice cream maker.

English Muffin/Bagel Pizzas-I remember making these as a child with my parents and sisters. This is a great activity because it doesn't require a lot of ingredients and most are things you can easily get even during a pandemic! You will need english muffins or bagels, sauce, shredded mozzarella and any toppings you might want to add. To add some depth to this activity, give your child a pad of paper with a list of everyone’s names on it and write the kinds of pizza available and have him check off what everyone wants. Another fun thing to do is use ingredients to make silly faces. For example, use a pepper to make a mouth or olives or pepperoni to make eyes. 

Rainbow Fruit Kabobs-a variety of cut up fruits in different colors and wooden skewers. Talk about the colors and what order the colors are in a rainbow and have them put the fruit on the wooden skewers in the correct order. This is a great baking activity to do with younger children who you might not feel comfortable with them using mixers and other baking equipment. There are a lot of kid-safe baking tools that you can give your kids to use so the can cut the fruit up. I love this activity because it's a great way to work on developing fine motor, grasping and manipulation skills while also working on hand-eye and bilateral coordination skills. Best part is that the end result is a healthy treat for you and your kids to enjoy. 

Rice Krispie Treats-I have always found that making rice krispie treats is another kid friendly baking activity where you can adapt the activity based on your child's age. For younger kids, you can melt the butter and marshmallows and just have them add the cereal and stir but for older and more responsible kids, have them do that (in the microwave or stovetop). You can make this more of a hands-on/sensory experience by having him roll them into balls instead of putting them in a baking pan. You can also change things up by using different kinds of cereal to add color or have them use cookie cutters to make different shapes once they are cooled down. 

M&M Energy Bites-this is another simple non-baking activity that kids can be really involved in. Mix together 1 cup rolled outs, 1/2 cup of peanut butter, 1/2 cup M&Ms, 1/3 cup of honey and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. Stirring the ingredients with is a great way to work on increasing upper extremity strength and encourages bilateral coordination skills. Use an ice cream scoop or large spoon to grab a spoonful, place in hand and roll into a ball. 

Chocolate Chip Cookies-you can make them from scratch or use slice and bake ones. No matter which method you use, making chocolate chip cookies are a delicious way to work on fine motor skills. If you make fresh, let your kids add all the ingredients (break the eggs into a bowl for him) and stir as much as he can. When I was baking with my daughter when she was younger, I would put all of the ingredients in bowls and then would tell her which one to add. If you use the slice-and-bake cookies, give your kid a safe knife and help them cut the dough into chunks and then allow them to roll them into balls before placing on the cookie sheet. 

Sensory Materials

Homemade PlayDoh-play doh is another sensory material that kids LOVE. I love this recipe from Mothercould and love that it can last up to 6 months if stored in a good container. There are so many benefits of playing with play dough such as increasing grasp strength, improves grasping and manipulation skills and encourages hand-eye coordination and bilateral coordination skills. Roll play dough into long snakes and practice making shapes, letters or numbers. Use a rolling pin and roll play dough flat and use your favorite cookie cutters.

Dye Rice/Noodles-another great sensory experience and kids can be part of the whole experiences of making it. Kids will love watching the plain rice or pasta go from plain to brightly colored sensory materials.  For each color, you need 1 cup of white rice/baby pasta, 1 tablespoon vinegar and desired amount of food coloring. Have kids help you by pouring the rice and vinegar into little Tupperwares and squeezing a few drops of food coloring. Close the lid and then have them shake the Tupperwares until the rice/noodles are all covered. If you make some of each color, you can pour them into a much bigger Tupperware and hide little characters or animals in it and and have him dig through using their hands or spoons or scoopers to rescue them. Another fun activity is to dye penne or rigatoni noodles and have kids make necklaces out of them. 

Homemade Flubber/Thick Slime-so many of the kids I work with love sensory exploration and there are so many great recipes out there. Flubber/thick slime is a very popular sensory material at my gym and doesn't require a lot of ingredients. You’ll need 1 cup of Elmer’s White Glue, 1/2 cup room temperature water, 1/2 cup liquid starch and glitter or food coloring (optional). Click here for directions. Once made, you can hide little objects in them like beads to work on increasing grasp strength and improving grasping and manipulation skills. 

Salt Clay-this is another simple activity that can be done with kids of all ages and uses only 3 ingredients: salt, flour and water. If you want, you can add a few drops of food coloring to the dough. One of the things I like about using salt clay is that you can adapt how you use it making things either more simple or more challenging depending on the age of your child. Kids can use cookie cutters to make creations or they can use their imagination and make whatever they want to create. Once they are done making their creation, they can use markers or paint to decorate them if you didn't add color earlier. 

One of the things I think is really important is to not expect perfection when cooking/baking with kids. This should be a fun experience and making mistakes is to be expected when engaged in this kind of activity with children. The other thing to try and let go of is to not get worked up if a mess is made. Unless someone is going to get hurt, don't worry about ingredients on the counters, floors or even on themselves. Wait until the activity is complete and hand out cleaning up responsibilities to each person who participated. Remember, the most important thing is to have fun because even though this is a crazy time, there are so many opportunities to make fabulous memories with your children. 

Have you been baking/cooking with your kids during this crazy time? What are your favorite recipes for baking, cooking or sensory materials? I would love to hear from you and am always a click away. I'm sure I am not the only one who would be interested in hearing about other recipes to keep kids busy these days. 

2019 Holiday Gift Guide-Crafty Kids!

I think one of the things that I love most about being a pediatric occupational therapist is that I get to play and craft throughout my work day. I love having a job that I get to find products that are not only fun but ones that work on achieving occupational therapy related goals. Crafting with kids can be a fun and effective way of working on developing fine motor skills, increases dexterity, improves hand-eye coordination, boosts self-esteem, encourages self-expression, helps in developing social skills, encourages imagination and creativity, enhances decision making skills and works on developing flexibility.

Discovering new arts and craft activities and projects fills me with such satisfaction. Watching kids play with them and show off their completed projects is another awesome thing to witness. Completed art projects help children feel more confident and encourages them to try more challenging activities down the line.

Below, I have shared some of my favorite craft kits. You'll see that there are a variety of sets intended for children of all ages.


Razzle Dazzle DIY Gem Art Kits-these are a new addition from Ooly and they are an awesome gift for older kids on your list this year. My 9 1/2 year old daughter and her friend spent so much time working on these during a playdate and they look awesome. There are 4 different sets to choose from (Llama, Unicorn, Fox and Lion) and come with all the supplies, including a picture frame to put it in once it is completed, you need. Kids use glue and a little pen to place the different size and colored gems onto the correct letter. This activity is great for working on SO many skills such as improving fine motor and grasping skills, improves visual motor and visual perceptual skills, visual tracking, visual attention, bilateral coordination, hand-eye coordination and executive functioning skills such as focus, attention, frustration tolerance and organizational skills.




Scratch and Scribble Art Kits- t-another fun little arts and crafts kit from from Ooly that work on developing fine motor, graphomotor skills and visual motor and perceptual skills. There are 8 different sets to choose from (dinosaurs, unicorns and dogs are just a few of them) based on your child's interests. Each set comes with 6 scratch and scribble sheets, 4 with designs already on them and 2 blank ones for them to come up with their own designs. These are also great for on-the-go entertainment as they are small and lightweight enough to throw in a bag.

Klutz Make Your Own Puffy Stickers-this is another big hit with my daughter and some of my older clients at work. It's funny how happy a sticker can make even older kids. This set comes with all of the materials to make 60 puffy stickers. There are many designs for them to color in but also comes with some that are already colored in. Using a special tool and following the easy to understand directions, kids will make their own stickers. Great for working on developing fine motor, grasping and manipulation skills, encourages graphomotor skills when you color the sticker in and great for executive functioning skills such as focus, attention, planning and organization.






Kid Made Modern Arts and Crafts Library-while some children really benefit from structured art projects with a definite beginning and end to it, others do much better with more open-ended and creative kind of activities. This amazing collection of art materials comes in a sturdy carrying case and features all kinds of materials (including glue and scissors)  that encourage creativity in children age 7 and up. Some of the fun materials you will find in the box are feathers, felt pieces, buttons, pom poms, beads, googly eyes and SO much more. This kit encourages children to use their imagination and be creative while also encouraging the development of fine motor, grasping and manipulation skills and improves executive functioning skills such as organization, planning a project and completing it.

My First Arts and Crafts Library-I love that Kid Made Modern realized that younger children would benefit from different kinds of materials and created another arts and crafts library that is better suited for 4-6 year olds. Just like the original Arts and Crafts Library, this kit offers children the opportunity to use a variety of art materials that encourages creativity. The pieces in this kit are a bit larger and easier for smaller hands to manipulate. Kids will use straws, stickers, buttons, pipe cleaners, beads and so many other materials to create. This kit encourages young artists to use their imagination while developing fine motor, grasping and manipulation skills.

Orb Factory Sticky Mosaics-these make my gift guide every year and for good reason, they are awesome! There are a variety of sets for both toddlers and big kids with themes ranging from unicorns and rainbows to dinosaurs and sports. Sticky Mosaics are great for working on a ton of developmental skills such as color and number recognition, improving fine motor, grasping and manipulation skills and works on a variety of visual skills such as visual tracking, visual attention, hand-eye coordination and visual motor skills. Kids gain confidence and self-esteem as they match the coordinating colored stickers with the number on the picture. When they are done, they have a piece of art they can display at home. Be sure to check out your local toy stores as they tend to have a large selection of these kits.

Klutz Clay Charms-Klutz has made making these cute little charms for a charm bracelet easy by providing simple step-by-step directions. Kids get to work on improving fine motor and manipulation skills, increase grasp strength, work on following visual directions and improve focus, attention, planning and organizational skills when making their charms. Each kit comes with a clay shaping tool, special glaze, 9 bright clay colors, the supplies needed to turn each clay creation into a charm bracelet, a charm bracelet, a display stand and a detailed instruction book.

Unicorn Smile Kit-my daughter never got into the whole slime thing (which I have always been grateful for), but I know it continues to be a big thing with a lot of kids. I love that this kit comes with everything you need, including a sturdy storage box, to make tons of different slime. The kit includes glue, unicorn beads, ink, different kinds of textured materials to put in the slime, slime containers, scents and so much more. It also comes with different slime recipes for your kids to try out. Making slime is great for working on improving fine motor and manipulation skills and works on executive functioning skills such as planning and organizing, task completion, following directions and focus and attention. The great thing about slime is that it can be used to help build grasp strength when they are playing with it.

Aaron's Thinking Putty Mixed By Me Thinking Putty Kit-like
slime, I find putty to be another big hit amongst kids of all ages and I couldn't be more excited about this kit from Crazy Aaron's. Kids can create their very own color changing Thinking Putty in this newest addition to their line of Mixed by Me kits. Each kit comes with 5 tins of clear putty, three Chiller concentrates, three Thriller effect putties and a mat that has all the directions to make a heat sensitive Thinking Putty. The cool thing about this kit is that it comes with a variety of recipes for different ages. This kit is great for working on increasing grasp strength, improves fine motor, grasping and manipulation skills and encourages executive functioning skills such as focus, attention, motor planning, task completion and organizational skills.



Trading Card Kit-I discovered these DIY when my daughter became obsessed with making her own Pokeman cards. While she was making those, I thought about what a great activity it would be to have kids make their own trading cards during sessions. This awesome kit from Kid Made Modern comes with 36 blank trading cards, 12 gel pens, 3 foil bags (for those kids who love to open blind packs, this will be a huge hit) and a sticker sheet. There are so many fun things you can do that encourage creativity while working on developing fine motor, graphomotor and visual motor skills with this kit. Here are some ways to use these cards:
*have kids create a trading card with a picture of themselves on one side and all their important information on the other side
*have kids make their own superhero cards. Draw pictures of their superheroes on one side and then have them fill in important information about them on the other side
*if they have trading cards that they love to collect, have them make their own. Baseball cards, Pokeman Cards, etc. Encourage them to think about things that they love and make their own unique trading cards.

Rainbow Weaving Kit-Kid Made Modern has done it yet again with this fun weaving kit for kids 5 and up. As a child, I remember learning about weaving by making pot holders with those stretchy cotton bands and those plastic looms. I was introduced to this kit when shopping at Stoopher and Boots on the UWS last spring and they were a huge hit with my kids at work. Each kit comes with enough materials to make 4 projects. The frames have double sided tape on the edges so there is no glue necessary. Kids can choose their colors or you can encourage them to make a pattern for an added challenge. This is a great activity to work on improving fine motor and manipulation skills, improves hand-eye and bilateral coordination and works on improving executive functioning skills such as focus, attention, task completion, planning and organization.

Classic Friendship Bracelet Kit-this is another awesome craft kit for some of the older kids. I feel like the older I get, the more nostalgic I get about things from my childhood coming back. I have vivid memories of my collection of embroidery thread and all of the friendship bracelets I made. It makes me so happy that kids today still get enjoyment out of this activity. Not only is it amazing that we have physical ways to show how important friendship is, it is such a great activity to work on developing fine motor and manipulation skills, improves bilateral and hand-eye coordination and encourages executive functioning skills such as focus, attention, task completion, planning and organization. This kit from Purl Soho includes 5 spools of Chinese Knotting Cord, a safety pin and the pattern to make 9-18 friendship bracelets and comes in 6 different color schemes.

Olli Ella Playpa Coloring Rolls (Forest Coloring Roll, Fairytale Coloring Roll)-these came highly recommended to me by the owner of one of my favorite Park Slope toy stores, Norman and Jules and she has never steered me wrong. I've always been a fan of large coloring posters as they are great for kids to work on together and to be used as a bit of a long term group project. Kids can work on developing visual motor and visual perceptual skills, work on grasping skills and develop hand eye coordination and improve focus, attention and organizational skills. I love that you can hang these on the wall with the coordinating paper roller and then you add the benefit of being able to work on increasing upper extremity strength.






DIY Monster Kit-another great craft kit for children 8 and older. Using just a few simple materials, kids can create their very own monster. If you have kids who are interested in sewing and creating, this is a great gift for them. The kit includes a small cushion, two yes, a felt ball, an embroidery hook, needle and strands of acrylic and wool in a variety of colors. Kids work on developing fine motor, grasping and manipulation skills, improve planning, organization and task completion, work on bilateral coordination and hand-eye coordination. Additionally, this is a great craft kit for encouraging creativity and imagination and when they finish their monster, giving them increased confidence and self-esteem.

Tots Art Start-this is such a great starter art kit by Alex Jr. for toddlers who are still acquiring fine motor skills and working on the ability to focus and complete tasks presented to them. This kit comes with all the materials needed for 6 activities...shaped paper for decorating, shredded paper for adding to collages, doilies, colored tissue papers, triangle-shaped crayons (great for encouraging a proper grasp), stickers and two frames around peel and stick center areas. This art kit is great for working on developing fine motor, grasping and manipulation skills in toddlers, works on building focus, attention and task completion and encourages creativity and imagination using a variety of different materials and offers sensory exploration in toddlers which is essential for the development of a variety of skills.



Putting this list together was a lot of fun. Personally, I love doing crafts with my own daughter and was so happy to find some new craft kits that even she at 9 1/2 years enjoyed doing. So many kids prefer to spend time in front of some kind of screen but if you find the right art and craft project, you may be able to tear them away for a little while.

If you are looking for some other kinds of ideas when it comes to arts and crafts, don't hesitate reaching out to me. If you have some favorite craft kits that have been a huge hit with your children, I would love to hear about them. I am only a click away and love hearing from you all.

The Best of January

It's been a bit rough getting back into the swing of things at work. January is historically a tricky month because of all the paperwork that is required as children get ready for the upcoming school year. I know that sounds crazy since that is months and months away but that is the way in NYC. All of that to say that blogging has been put on the backburner and I'm ready to focus on it again.

Starting this month, I will be doing a monthly blog (along with more regular posts in February) with a wrap-up of some of my favorite things I discovered each month. This will include games, craft sets, activity books, story books and a variety of other things that were a hit with the kids at work. I will end each of these posts with a picture book recommendation that will focus on some kind of social emotional topic. Over the last couple of years, I have spent more time than I can count trying to curate a collection of books that will help children have a better understanding of a variety of social difficulties that they may face. I have found that even if children are having similar social difficulties, they can't quite talk about it or problem solve when it is about them. But when you read a book and a character is struggling with something, they seem to find it easier to talk about.

I am really excited to share some of the products I discovered this month with all of you.

Learn To Write Stencils-a little while ago, my local toy store, Norman and Jules, shared a picture of these stencils on their Instagram page and I became obsessed. I have found finding good stencils can be really tricky and often times frustrating for kids. If they are too flimsy, they are hard for the kids to use. This set of 15 wooden stencils comes with a variety of simple lines that are all used in developing the letters of the alphabet or numbers and can encourage open-ended drawing. One of the things I like to do with them is have the kids look at them and think about what they look like. For example, there is one that looks like waves, another that looks like mountains and another that looks like the top of a castle.  My daughter, who is almost 9 years old, tested these out for me and I loved seeing how these simple lines helped to encourage her creative drawing process. I gave her a set of gel pens, some stickers and blank paper and let her run with her ideas. Learn To Write Stencils are also great for working on developing grasping skills, hand-eye coordination, bilateral coordination and visual motor and visual perceptual skills. They encourage creativity and imagination skills which helps with the development of self-esteem and confidence.

Grapat Nins Carla Wooden Figures Game-over the last few months, I have been adding more open-ended toys to my therapy sessions. I am a sucker for nice wooden toys and am pretty much can't not buy something if there's a rainbow them to it. This set of rainbow dolls is of my new favorites and I have loved watching my kids play with them. As you can see from the picture, the set comes with 6 colored peg dolls with matching discs and rings. I love how many occupational therapy skills can be worked on while also encouraging open-ended play in children. Some of the skills that can be worked on are color identification, sorting, categorizing, improving hand-eye coordination and grasping and manipulation skills. These are also great for improving focus, attention and self-regulation because you need to concentrate and take your time while stacking the rings and discs. I have found these are great to combine with some of my gross motor activities when at the gym. For example, I will have them sort and stack while lying prone in the net swing so we are adding a strengthening component to a fun fine motor activity.

Pencil Nose Game-I discovered this game at another local New York City toy store when looking for a game to entertain our New Year's Eve guests. In this hilarious game, people wear a pair of glasses with a marker attached and have to draw a pictures listed on the cards they pick while being timed. They keep drawing as many as they can to rack up the most points. This game is definitely geared towards older children but could probably be adapted for younger children. For example, you could have the kids come up with a list of simple objects that they think they could draw and pick from those instead of the ones provided. One of the things I like about this is that it encourages kids to be silly and do something differently than typically expected. So many of the kids I work with, especially those older ones, struggle with being perfect or doing things just so so I like that this makes them step outside of their comfort zone and be silly.

OOLY DIY Eraser Kit-I love a good art kit and am pretty much obsessed with all of the art products from OOLY. This simple kit comes with 12 blocks of dough that can be molded into things to create erasers. There are several kinds of DIY Eraser Kits out there, but I really like this one because it is completely open-ended and encourages creativity and imagination skills. There are three simple steps in order to make your erasers:
1. Come up with what you want to make. This requires thinking about colors, size, etc.. Using their fingers, they mold the dough into what they would like to create.
2. Bake it for a short amount of time.
3. Erase!
In addition to encouraging creativity and imagination, it is great for working on improving fine motor skills such as grasping and in-hand manipulation skills. If you want to work on bilateral coordination with kids, provide the kids with a variety of safe tools (knife, fork, rolling pin, etc.) to use.
If you want to make an eraser to put on top of a pencil, you can stick a hole in the bottom before baking it.

LetterSchool Spelling Words App!-LetterSchool is my most used and most frequently recommended handwriting app so when I saw that they had developed a spelling app, I immediately downloaded it. It has quickly become a new favorite of mine and the kids. I find this to be perfect for my pre-kindergarten or kindergarten students who are just beginning to learn how read. Much like LetterSchool, this interactive game provides multiple opportunities for children to learn how to spell and read a variety of words. Kids learn how to read and spell hundreds of words that are grouped together by their ending sounds. They have to listen to the word and then drag the correct letter to complete the word. Once completed, each letter is spelled out while being matched up with fun animations and sounds. For each group of words, there are three levels of game, each becoming more challenging. I like to add a hands-on step by having the kids practice writing out the words either on paper, Boogie Board or dry erase board once they have completed each group of words.
The first five groups of words are free but I think that this app is one that is worth every cent!

The Snurtch by Sean Ferrell-this children's book was new to me but came highly recommended to me by one of the awesome staff at Stories Bookshop and Storytelling Lab, my go-to for all of my children's books for my social skills group, The Meetinghouse Juniors. Our social skills curriculum the last few weeks has been focused on Thinking vs. Saying when  talking to people. We are all guilty of saying things out loud that we think are innocent but may come out the wrong way and actually upset others. The Snurtch is one of the books we have read to help explain this concept to children. The gist of the story is that Ruthie, the main character, has big feelings and will say or do things that hurt the feelings of her teachers and peers. She says it isn't her but is the Snurtch....this monster who makes her do all of these terrible things. This book brought up great conversations with our group about whether or not the Snurtch was a real thing or Sophie's way of dealing with things when they are challenging. It was great to hear the kids talk about how Sophie could have done or said something differently that didn't make her friends feel sad. It was a perfect book to read before launching into our activity about Thinking vs. Saying.

These are my favorite things for January 2019. I am really looking forward to putting these together each month. I am working on some other fun things this year that I think you'll all love and find helpful. If there are things you are looking for, let me know. I love hearing from you all and am just a click away!

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.