The Small Stuff-2017 Holiday Gift Edition

This is one of my favorite parts of my holiday guide year after year.  I love finding little treasures that will not only entertain kids but will work on improving a variety of developmental skills.  Personally, I find shopping for stocking stuffers more fun than anything because my daughter spends more time picking out her Santa gifts.  The things that she opens in her stocking are usually 100% a surprise and more often than not, the things she is most interested in since they are totally novel.

I am constantly on the lookout for little toys and gifts when exploring my neighborhood stores.  There are a lot of holiday gifts that can't be found at my local stores but I do my best to support y local small businesses when I can.  Many of the items listed below can be found at the following New York City/Brooklyn based stores:  Lion In The Sun, Pink Olive, Little Things, Norman & Jules, Lulu's Cut and Toys, Stationery and Toy World on the UWS, Mary Arnold Toys and West Side Kids.

Below, I share some of my favorite little gifts...little treasures that will bring joy to your children.  I tried to include things that I thought parents would enjoy playing with with their kids as well.  There is a whole lot of old school toys mixed in with some of the current fads.  The one thing they all have in common is that they will help develop essential skills without your kids really knowing it.


Moulin Roty Town and Country Transfers-I love when I find something that brings me back to my own childhood and this is definitely one of those things that sends me back in time. The Town and Country Transfers comes with over 30 pictures that you can put into the provided scene or put on your own blank canvas (they will show up on either black or white paper).  This is a great and affordable craft that will not only encourage creativity and imagination, it also works on improving fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, visual motor and perceptual skills and focus, attention, planning and organizational skills.

Slime Suckers-these were one of my greatest finds of the year.  Kids can work on improving grasp strength and manipulation skills while grossing out family and friends.  They simply squeeze the sucker and put into the slime and release the sucker and watch the slime disappear.  To get the slime out, they squeeze it again.


Zoo Sticks-these are always a favorite for kids.  They can use the chopsticks to eat or to pick up small objects.  I always have a few pairs with me at home and at work.  There are all kinds of different ones to choose from including farm animals, sea creatures and vehicles.  Kids can work on improving grasp strength, manipulation skills and visual motor/perceptual skills while using them.

Aaron's Thinking Putty- you can never go wrong with Aaron's Thinking Putty.  There are a ton of different ones to choose from.  I love their holiday themed options:  the Mini Holiday Collection and the Gelt Trio come in small tins making it great for throwing into a bag to entertain your kids when you are on the run.  Kids love when I hide little objects in the putty.  Great for working on improving grasp strength and manipulation skills.


Sidewalk Chalk Spray-chalk is always a great gift for kids of all ages.  Living in Brooklyn, you see some amazing chalk art on the sidewalks.  Some of my favorite times with my own daughter are warm spring and summer nights out on our sidewalk drawing with chalk.  This set of chalk spray comes with 4 colors; add some water, shake and let your kids start creating.  You can pair this gift with these chalk stencils.  This is not only great for encouraging imagination and creativity but also works on improving grasp strength and manipulation skills, hand-eye coordination and visual motor and perceptual activities.
**while we like to keep our sidewalk art up for as long as Mother Nature allows, some don't.  The Sidewalk Chalk Spray easily rinses away with a hose or a rain shower.  

Rainbow Twirler-sometimes, the simplest of toys can bring more joy than those that cost a lot.  This simple toy will keep kids entertained for hours and costs almost nothing.   Kids spin the toy and create all kinds of rainbow shapes.  It's a great way to work on improving hand-eye coordination, motor planning and organizational skills.


Memory Maze-I couldn't love this hand-held Simon Says game more!  Just like the original Simon Says, kids have to to follow the light pattern.  If you get all the way to 15 steps, you win.  This is great for working on improving hand-eye coordination, memory skills and executive functioning skills such as focus, attention, organization and memory.  Kids (and their grownups) of all ages will love this and most likely become obsessed with this game.

Mini Bop-It-who doesn't love Bop-It?  This is one of those games that I loved as a kid and so happy that it's still around.  This mini version of the game will be sure to keep your kids entertained while also working on improving hand-eye coordination, sequencing, focus, attention, motor planning and organizational skills.  If you have a child who has difficulty with following directions or may have auditory processing delays, this is a great toy for them.


Squiggle Wiggle Writer Pen-kids will love to write and draw with this vibrating pen.  As they write and draw, the vibrating pens turns their words and pictures into squiggly ones.  Each pen comes with 4 different colored inks that you can swap out.  Fun way to encourage kids to draw and write.

Super Duper Scented Gel Pens-I've spent a lot of time looking for the perfect gel pens and I have found them in this set by OOLY.  This set contains 24 mini gel pens in a durable case.  There are 12 glitter, 6 neon and 6 pastel pens and each has its own scent which is always fun for kids.  These are the brightest and most vibrant gel pens I have found.  The smaller size of the pen helps to encourage a proper grasp when holding it.  Kids will want to practice writing, draw or color if they have these pens!

Wikki Stix-I first discovered Wikki Stix when at a restaurant with kids years ago.  Instead of the usual crayons and activity menu, this place gave out little packs of Wikki Stix to entertain the kids.  At first I was confused and wondered how it would possibly keep them quiet for an entire meal, but then I was fighting with the kids to play with them and I quickly understood.  For those of you not in the know, Wikki Stix are basically different colored wax covered yarn that can be bent into different shapes.  They can be used for play and for learning.  Kids can practice making different shapes, letters or numbers by bending the Wikki Stix.  For younger kids, you can have them put the Wikki Stix on printed out shapes, letters or numbers and for younger kids you can provide them with a blank piece of paper and have them create them without a visual cue.  They are incredibly durable and can't be ripped or torn (you can cut them into smaller pieces if you need to).  Wikki Stix are great for working on improving fine motor skills, such as improving grasp strength and manipulation skills, encourages bilateral coordination skills.

Build Bonanza Lego Tape-I know for a fact that I'm not alone in having a kid who is obsessed with Legos.  While she loves building sets, she is also happy making her own creations.  We are now in love with our rolls of Lego compatible tape that can make any surface a place to create with Legos and other kinds of building blocks.  It's flexible, bendable and can be put on curved and corner surfaces.  It can be cut to whatever shape you want....I like the idea of writing your kids name with them.  Great for working on increasing grasp strength and manipulation skills, improves visual motor and perceptual skills, hand-eye coordination and encourages creativity and imagination.

Hogwild Poppers-finding the right toy to work on hand strengthening can be tricky because kids who are weak are very good at avoiding those kinds of activities.  When it comes to doing it at home, it really has to be motivating and seem like a toy and not a therapy activity.  The Hog Wild Popper toys are perfect for this and definitely are more fun than work.  My unicorn obsessed daughter has been gifted more of these than I can count and loves them.  There are TONS of poppers to choose from ranging from animals to team mascots and all are just under $10.  The balls are foam so there is little risk for them hurting someone else or breaking anything in your house.
In addition to hand strengthening, they are great for working on improving bilateral coordination, hand eye coordination, motor planning and focus and attentional skills.  You can also combine working on improving visual and gross motor skills by setting up a target that kids aim towards and then having them wheelbarrow walk, run or do some kind of animal crawl to retrieve the ball.

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

Puzzle Trio Stories-I love these mini puzzles from one of my favorite toy companies, Djeco.  This set contains 8 3-piece puzzles that when put together tell a story.  They are great for working on improving visual motor and perceptual skills, hand-eye coordination, bilateral coordination and focus, attention, motor planning and organizational skills. If you have a child who has speech and language delays, they are a fun way to work on sequencing and storytelling skills.  You can make these more portable by throwing them in a ziploc bag.

Plus-Plus Tubes-one of my favorite open-ended manipulative toys out there.  They have a large selection of tubes which come with about 70 pieces and instructions for something you can make.  The tubes are great for throwing in a bag and taking on the go to keep your kids entertained while at a restaurant, in waiting rooms, etc..  I especially love their holiday themed tubes available right now like snowflakes, an elf and a Christmas Tree!  They are great for improving fine motor skills such as grasp strength and manipulation skills, improves visual motor and visual perceptual skills and encourages creativity and imagination.

Super Sonic Gyro Disc-I was so excited when I came across this toy in a little bookstore while on vacation this summer.  I remember playing with something similar to the gyro disc as a child and thought it would be a perfect addition to my occupational therapy tool box and a great toy for parents to have at home.
This simple and inexpensive toy (I picked mine up for under $5)  is great for working on improving bilateral coordination skills, increasing upper extremity strength, motor planning and organizational skills.  Kids are motivated by the spinning noise and how the LED lights light up once they get it going.  This can be tricky for the kids to get started so I sometimes offer hand-over-hand assistance until they feel like they have the hang of it.  For older kids, I add a challenge by having them do this activity while balancing on a balance board or a bosu ball.
Clip-On Doodle Pro-a great gift to keep your little ones entertained while on the go.  The Clip-On Doodle Pro is a magnetic drawing board that you can throw into a bag, attach to your child's backpack or keep in the car.  Encourages creativity and imagination while also working on improving visual motor and perceptual skills.

Sticker Puzzles-these make a great gift for kids of all ages.  These sticker puzzles by Lee Publications come in a variety of sizes and feature some of your children's favorite characters from movies and television shows.  They simply find the matching number on the grid; as they add the stickers, a picture comes to life.  Great for working on improving hand-eye coordination, visual motor and perceptual skills and works on increasing grasping and manipulation skills.
Mini Coloring Rolls-do you have a kid who loves to color?  Mudpuppy's Mini Coloring Rolls are perfect for them then.  They will enjoy 3 feet of coloring (there are a bunch of different ones to choose from based on your kid's interests) at home or on the go.  Each set comes with a box that you can use as storage and keeping the picture from getting torn or wrinkled when not being colored.  It also includes a few crayons but I always make sure to have a little baggie of gel pens or markers in my bag for my daughter.  This is a fun way to keep your kids entertained but will also work on improving visual motor and perceptual skills, hand-eye coordination, focus, attention and organizational skills.

Mini Pocket Pal Journals-in addition to always having markers or gel pens with me, I ALWAYS have some kind of notebook or drawing pad for my daughter to draw in when we are out and about (especially when we are going out to eat). She loves to draw, have us throw spelling words at her or to just write her own stories while we are sitting at the table.  For under $10 you can give your kid the gift of imagination and creativity.  For under $10, your kid can get a set of 8 books with some of their favorite creatures on the cover.  These are great for keeping your kids engaged during down time, encourage creativity and imagination, work on improving graphomotor skills and executive functioning skills such as focus, attention, organization and task management.

These are just a handful of my favorite small gifts. I would love to hear from you all and hear about your favorite small gifts/stocking stuffers.  I am always a click away and am always happy to hear from my readers with their suggestions.

Gifts For the Little Ones!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

Game Time!

This part of my Holiday Gift Guide focuses on games.  Some of these games make my list each and every year but many are new this year.  I even consulted with one of my favorite speech therapists who made some great suggestions that were included this year.

When looking for games, I try and look for a few things.  The most important thing is that they are motivating games that the kids will enjoy playing.  I also try and find games that will help meet occupational therapy goals, such as improving fine motor or visual motor/perceptual skills.  I love to find games that can be adapted for children of different ages and skill sets.  This year, I have included a bunch of collaborative games....games that kids work as a team in order to accomplish a mission.  I had such fun putting this list together.  Check out my favorite games below!


Burger Mania-because I am a total OT nerd, I am a complete sucker for any game that comes with a pair of chopsticks or tweezers.  I was in Toys "R" Us the other night and stumbled upon Burger Mania and knew it had to be part of game collection at work.  It's only been a couple of days but every single one of the kids I worked with after and my own daughter  can't get enough of this game. The game comes with a working conveyer belt, the ingredients needed to make burgers, tiny plates, tweezers and cards with pictures of different kinds of burgers that need to be made.  Burgers are made by grabbing the ingredients with tweezers!!  Whoever makes the most burgers is the winner.  There are 3-different speed levels so that the conveyer belt moves faster to make it more challenging as the kids master the game.  Great for working on improving fine motor skills such as grasp strength and manipulation skills, improves hand-eye coordination, visual motor and visual perceptual skills and works on improving executive functioning skills like focus, attention, organization and motor planning. 
*one of the things I have done to make it easier for some of my younger kids is to have them just make burgers in the order in which you put the ingredients in their storage spots.  They are still working on all of the aforementioned goals, but you are taking away the difficulty of following the game cards.

What Letter Do I Start With-I know a game is good when my daughter doesn't want me to take it to work with me.  I was surprised because she usually doesn't feel that way about educational games!  This game is perfect for emerging readers but will entertain older children as well. The point of the game is simple:  be the first to find an object on the board that starts with the letter on the card flipped over.  Kids have to scan the board, find a matching picture and place their color token on the picture.  The first person to get rid of all 10 of their tokens is the winner.  This is a fast-paced game that works on letter recognition, visual motor and visual perceptual skills, hand-eye coordination, improves fine motor skills and helps with improving focus, attention and organizational skills.
*whenever possible, I like to work on other goals when playing games with the kids.  When playing What Letter Do I Start With with some of my older kids, I will practice handwriting by having them write the name of the object that they found.

Perfection-I've had this game in my closet since I began working as an OT approximately a million years ago ;) and was really bummed when they stopped making the 25-piece game and replaced it with a smaller 9-shape game.  Maybe it was all my complaining, but you can now find the original 25-piece game in stores again and I couldn't be more happy.  For those of you who don't know the game, Perfection is a beat the clock game where you try and match all the shapes before the timer goes off and the board pops up and the shapes go flying.  It's a great game for working on improving visual motor and visual perceptual skills, improves fine motor skills such as grasping and in-hand manipulation skills and works on improving focus, attention and organizational skills.
*some of the adaptations I make while playing the game is to hide the pieces in putty and have the kids find them; this works on increasing grasp strength.  For some of my kids, the idea of a timer stresses them out so I will start it after they put a certain number of pieces in.

Tumbling  Monkeys-this is another game that continues to make my list year after year because it continues to be a hit with my kids at work.  This game is similar to Kerplunk, but instead of marbles, there are monkeys.  Once you put the tree together (a great fine motor activity!), kids roll the dice and pull out the stick of the same color and see what happens.  While the rules of the game say that the winner is the person with the fewest monkeys I play so they have to rescue as many of them as possible.  This is particularly helpful with the younger kids I work with who don't have the clinical reasoning and understanding quite yet.  In addition to being great for working on developing grasping skills, it also works on improving hand-eye coordination, visual motor and perceptual skills and can work on improving executive functioning skills like focus, attention, organization and planning skills.
*one way I adapt this game is  having the kids use Zoo Sticks to pull the sticks out of the game instead of their fingers.  It's a nice way to sneak in some hand strengthening in while having some fun!

Getting Ready to Write Gumball Grab-this is a great game for preschoolers.  Kids can practice sorting and matching skills while building up the strength in their hands using the special grabbers (you know how I feel about games that come with any kind of tweezer/grabbers/etc!).  Gumball Grab comes with a bubble gum machine, 4 game boards, different colored "gumballs", cards and grabbers.  Each card has directions to either add or remove gumballs to their game board.  The first person to fill their gumball machine is the winner.  In addition to working on improving grasp strength and manipulation skills, this game is great for working on improving hand-eye coordination, visual motor and visual perceptual skills, motor planning and organizational skills and improved focus and attention.  It also is a nice way to introduce kids to colors and numbers.
*for the really young kids, I remove the cards that have them take gumballs off of their board so they can be more successful and also helps move the game along a little quicker for those kids who have difficulty with focus and attention.

Silly Street-I love finding games that throw in some gross motor activities, especially for the younger kids I work with. I have found that adding movement to games helps improve focus, attention and organizational skills.  There are so many things about this game but it starts with the game set-up: you have to put together a giant 6-piece puzzle! Kids flip over cards with different kinds of directions on them; it can be to find something on the board, do a silly gross motor activity and several other kinds of challenges.  The people who created Silly Street had a goal of helping kids develop a variety of skills including social skills, communication skills, creativity, resilience and confidence.  Additionally, it works on improving fine motor skills, visual motor and perceptual skills, motor planning and organizational skills and focus and attentional skills.  When I used this in my social skills group, I had the kids work in groups of 2 to also work on encouraging teamwork while playing a game.
*I truly love this game but found it hard to follow the "street" on the game board.  I resolved that by taking a thick black Sharpie marker and outlining the street making it easier for the kids to follow.

Animal Act-A Silly Street Character-Builder Game-it's not an unusual thing for me to buy several games by the same game makers because if one is a hit, it's pretty likely the other one will be a hit as well.  Animal Act is from the makers of Silly Street (recommended above) and combines verbal and physical communication and encourages bravery and creativity while playing.  Kids roll the die and draw a card and then given some kind of challenge:  they may need to act, sing, mime to their audience....if the audience guesses correctly, you earn a ticket.  Kids move around the gameboard collecting tickets to fill their playbill.  The first player to fill their playbill is the winner.  In addition to all the aforementioned goals of the game, kids can work on improving motor planning, organizational skills, problem solving and increasing overall body strength.

Dr. Seuss Thing Two and Thing One Whirly Fun Game-who doesn't love Dr. Seuss and all of his characters??  This is a great collaborative game for younger children.  Kids work together to clean up a mess before their mother gets home. The game starts by launching a top into the living room.  Kids take turn picking cards and following the action shown.  The game ends as soon as mother reaches the last space .  If all the furniture is on a spot, the players win.  Great for working on hand-eye coordination, visual motor and visual perceptual skills, improves fine motor and manipulation skills and improves focus and attention.  I like that there are also physical challenges mixed in with the cards so kids can work on improving gross motor skills, motor planning and organizational skills. 

Yeti In My Spaghetti-another one of those simple games that quickly become a favorite of mine and the kids.  The game consists of a bowl, a plastic yeti and a bunch of pieces of plastic spaghetti.  Place the spaghetti pieces over the bowl, put the yeti on top and start playing.  The goal of the game:  take a piece of spaghetti off without letting the yeti fall into the bowl.  Great for working on improving grasping and manipulation skills, hand-eye coordination, motor planning and organizational skills and focus and attentional skills.
*I like to throw in a dice so the kids roll the dice and then have to take however many pieces they roll.  I also will have them try and remove the spaghetti pieces using kids chopsticks to work on improving grasp strength while playing.

Getting Ready to Write Gumball Grab-this is a great game for preschoolers.  Kids can practice sorting and matching skills while building up the strength in their hands using the special grabbers (you know how I feel about games that come with any kind of tweezer/grabbers/etc!).  Gumball Grab comes with a bubble gum machine, 4 game boards, different colored "gumballs", cards and grabbers.  Each card has directions to either add or remove gumballs to their game board.  The first person to fill their gumball machine is the winner.  In addition to working on improving grasp strength and manipulation skills, this game is great for working on improving hand-eye coordination, visual motor and visual perceptual skills, motor planning and organizational skills and improved focus and attention.  It also is a nice way to introduce kids to colors and numbers.
*for the really young kids, I remove the cards that have them take gumballs off of their board so they can be more successful and also helps move the game along a little quicker for those kids who have difficulty with focus and attention.

Last Letter-another game for the older crowd (suggested age is 8 and older).  In this card game, you have to come up and shout out a word from one of the picture cards that you are holding.  Sounds easy, right?  This is where it gets tricky....the word that you call out must start with the last letter of the word that was previously said.  The first person to get rid of all of their cards wins the game.
*if you are playing this 1:1 in a therapy session, you can add a handwriting challenge to the game and have them write out the words after they should the word out. 

Mole Rats In Space-for my social skills group, I like to find games for the kids to play that will not only be fun but may also encourage them to work together to win a game.  Often times, the kids I work with are so competitive and not good about winning OR losing so finding collaborative games helps develop important social skills.  Peaceable Kingdom has a ton of great these kinds of games to choose from.  In Mole Rats In Space, kids work together to collect equipment and escape the station before you're bitten by a snake or time runs out. Kids flip over cards and have to follow the directions:  they may need to move you or your teammate, move snakes around or add a new snake to the board.  Avoid getting bitten by a snake and having to return to start or even worse.  This game is geared towards older children (7 and older) and could be a great addition to a family game collection.  Great for working on improving focus, attention and organizational skills, motor planning and working as a team to accomplish a goal.

Cauldron Quest-another collaborative game by Peaceable Kingdom.  The purpose of this game is to work with your teammates to create a potion to break the spell.  Find the hidden ingredients before the wizard blocks all of the paths and you all win.  Great game for working on improving social skills, problem solving, organizational skills and focus/attentional skills.  Additionally, kids can work on improving fine motor skills such as grasping skills and improves visual motor and visual perceptual skills.  

Crazy Letters-another fun game the whole family could enjoy.  Crazy Letters from MindWare is a fast-paced word game where players try and be the first to figure out what the word on the card is supposed to be.  The word may be written backwards, letters may be flipped upside down or on their side.  There are no extra letters in the word and the letters are in the correct order (not scrambled).  The first person to collect 20 cards is the winner.  There are over 500 cards with a variety of categories; player rolls the dice to determine what category they take. This game is great for working on focus and attention, organizational skills, improves visual motor and visual perceptual skills
*if you are using this therapeutically, you can have the players work on handwriting skills by having them write the words out as they are playing.

It was really hard to not include a dozen more games in this list!  There are just so many great games out there these days.  Does your family have a favorite game?  I would love to hear what games others are playing these days.  If you are looking for a specific kind of game or would like some suggestions for your children, I would be more than happy to help you out.  I am only a click away and love hearing from you all!