Open-Ended Play and Sensory Materials Gift Guide

I say this a lot and you will read it throughout this post, but how I wish I knew what I know now about open-ended play when my now 11 year old daughter was younger....I would have done things so differently. While she is a truly creative kid, I think that had I encouraged more sensory and open-ended play to her at a young age, she may not be so hooked to her electronics! 

Open-ended play materials encourage children to be more independent and creative thinkers, help them make choices and really foster creativity and imagination. By definition, open-ended materials do not have a pre-determined use....kids are in charge of deciding what will do with these materials. For example, a block can be a person, car, rocket ship, etc.. Children who engage in more open-ended play tend to develop wonderful problem solving skills. Sensory play is critical for development as well. Sensory play supports language development, cognitive growth, fine and gross motor skills, problem solving skills, social interaction and so much more.

If you are interested in building up your child's open-ended play experiences, be sure to check out my gift guide below. I have tried to include things that can be played with as toddlers through childhood. 

1. Tegu Baby's First Magnetic Blocks-I've always loved all things Tegu and always include them on my gift guides. They are especially great for children who have motor coordination difficulties because the magnets inside the blocks allows them to be successful with building and putting structures together. Ideal for children 6 months and older but I have a feeling some of my bigger kids would love these two. The brightly colored set of magnetic square blocks come in appealing colors and are easy to wash. Perfect for working on hand-eye coordination, visual motor and visual perceptual skills, and encouraging fine-motor, grasping and manipulation skills for your little ones. 

2. Magna-Tiles Doodle Tiles-I am always looking for ways to make handwriting and drawing more fun and knew that my magenetic-tile loving kids would most definitely be motivated to practice graphomotor skills with these. My 11 year old daughter and her friend were even motivated enough by these to put their phones down for a while to test them out for me! This Magna-Tile and Crayola collaboration is so great and will encourage creativity and imagination skills while also working on developing fine motor, grasping, visual motor and visual perceptual skills and work on improving hand-eye coordination and bilateral coordination. Each set comes with 8 small square tiles, 2 large square tiles and 5 Crayola markers that easily wash off. Compatible with all other Magna-Tiles. 

3. Magna-Tiles Jungle Animals-another awesome new set from Magna-Tiles that again be used with any other Magna-Tiles in your collection. This 25-piece set includes colorful tiles with different jungle patterns on them and 5 of the most adorable magnetic animals that stick to the other pieces. These are great for encouraging creativity, imagination and language skills while also working on developing fine motor, grasping, visual motor and visual perceptual skills and work on improving hand-eye coordination and bilateral coordination. 

4. Silicone Pop Fidget Building Blocks-one of my speech therapy colleagues tipped me off on these and I am now obsessed. Think a fidget pop-toy that you get to build yourself! These incredibly well-built and sturdy building blocks come in a variety of colors and can be snapped or slipped together to make shapes, objects or to even practice learning how to make letters. Great for working on improving fine motor, grasping and manipulation skills, improves hand-eye and bilateral coordination skills and works on motor planning and organizational skills. You can also work on sorting, matching and following patterns. A great on-the-go building material that will keep your kids entertained for a long time. 

5. Grapat Lola Building Toys-this beautiful open-ended building set is definitely what I would call an investment piece (a toy with a bigger price tag but that will last forever and has endless play and learning potential. This set comes with 72 pieces....36 colorful Lola dolls in various colors and sizes. Kids work on improving matching, sorting, stacking, problem solving and categorizing skills while also working on improving fine motor, grasping, manipulation and hand-eye coordination skills. Playing with open-ended play materials is also great for working on encouraging creativity, imagination skill and early storytelling skills. 

6. Grimm's Shapes and Colors Block Set-another investment toy that will last you forever. This brightly colored 70-piece set from Grimm's comes in a variety of geometric shapes and sizes. Kids can learn about shapes and colors through open-ended building and exploration. Introducing block building with kids at a young age is so beneficial and helps them develop life-long skills. It helps children develop language and vocabulary skills, encourages creativity, imagination and play skills and helps them learn about things such as early math skills, balance, motor planning, organization and problem solving skills. When building with siblings or peers, block building can teach children about turn taking, accepting other people's ideas and collaboration. 

7. Magic Color Changing Dough Jars-I saw these and thought about how much fun my kids at work would love to see these glittery white balls of play dough magically turn into a mystery color. I actually have ordered a bunch of these to give each of my kids this holiday season. I love how the simple act of manipulating the play dough works on increasing grasp strength and manipulation skills. Once they find out what color it is, they can build whatever they want. I always like to have tools such as a rolling pin, scissors, beads or whatever else I might have lying around to spark their creativity and imagination. 

8a. Build A Snowman Sensory Sand Bin-sensory bins are a great way to keep kids occupied as the weather gets colder and it gets dark earlier. I know so many parents are trying to limit the amount of screen time since 2020 and 2021 meant so much screen time for their kids. I am in love with this Snowman Sensory Bin from Young, Wild and Friedman and think it would be a great gift, especially for those little ones who might not get to actually experience snowy weather. This set comes with homemade moldable sensory sand and cloud sand, various snowman figurines, SNOW glitter letters and a bucket and shovel all stored in a sensory bin with a lid. What a fun way to work on improving fine motor, grasping and manipulation skills, encourage hand-eye and bilateral coordination, encourage sensory and tactile exploration and encourage imagination, creativity, language and play skills, right? If snow play might not be your kid's thing, be sure to check out the extensive collection on the Young, Wild and Friedman website. 
**If you are looking for a way to contain your child's sensory play or make it easy to move around your house, I can't encourage the Hope Learning Tray enough. I have one at work and at home and it's been so incredibly handy. I have referenced this amazing sensory tray in my Baby and Toddler Gift Guide so be sure to go and check that out for more information.

9. Bristle Blocks-each year I like to include some of the classic toys in my gift guides. I think that a toy that has been around as long as I have been must be doing something right! Bristle blocks are not only a wonderful building toy, they offer a sensory and tactile experience that no other blocks do. They are also pretty indestructible which is a real bonus for some of our rough and tumble kinda kids. Young children can work on improving fine motor, grasping and manipulation skills, improve hand-eye, bilateral coordination and motor planning skills while playing with these blocks. As grown-ups, we can teach kids about shapes, colors, size, etc. while they play with these blocks.  

10. Roll and Bounce Tower-I will never not be mesmerized and fascinated by a marble run and have often wondered how to introduce this toy to little ones but was always so nervous about the safety risks because of the marbles. This set comes with 27 chunky track and tower pieces that can be mixed and matched to be a different path each time. Kids place the large ball into the starting point and watch it go through the tunnels while watching panels flip and spin. This toy is great for working on improving hand-eye and bilateral coordination skills, increases grasp strength, fine motor skills and manipulation skills and teaches kids about cause and effect. Since there are an infinite ways to put the tower together, kids won't get bored or feel like they are playing with the same toy over and over again. 

11. Stained Glass Jewel Mandala Loose Parts-while looking through Etsy I stumbled upon these beautiful blocks and thought they would be a beautiful addition to any child's toy room. This 15-block set comes in a variety of colors and are great for open-ended play and can be used with any other blocks. These blocks can be stacked, sorted by color and can be used to work on sequencing and following patterns. 

12. Design and Drill Toolbox-we have had a different version of this toy at my gym for years and it is a big hit amongst the kids. I chose this new drill set from Educational Insights this year because of the storage box which is always a selling point for me. In addition to the power drill, the screws and the board, this set also comes with a handful of other tools including a hammer, measuring tape and much more. Kids can make their own designs or can work on improving visual motor and visual perceptual skills while copying the designs on the cards included with the set. This toy is also great for working on increasing grasp strength and manipulation skills, improves hand-eye and bilateral coordination and can be used to encourage creativity, imagination and expand play skills. 

13. Way To Play Road Pieces-I have loved these interchangeable road pieces since I first saw them a couple of years ago and recommend them to any of my families who have a little car lover in their life. This set of 40 interlocking pieces helps your little one create different routes and paths allowing your child to make his/her perfect path. The best part is that because they can design their own paths, they don't get bored and can change it up anytime they want. They are made of a soft, flexible rubber so you can create obstacles over other toys. Playing with these road pieces are great for working on improving fine motor and manipulation skills, improves bilateral and hand-eye coordination and encourages motor planning and organizational skills. Pair with your favorite cars and let your child's imagination take the steering wheel!

14. Rainbow Peg Dolls Sorting Set-I have a set of sorting dolls and with boxes and work and they have been one of the best purchases I have ever made. This set of 12 rainbow colored peg dolls comes with a cotton bag for storage that also doubles as a play with the numbers 1-12 in colors for kids to work on matching skills. Kids not only work on color and number recognition, they can work on developing counting skills. When not used for matching and sorting, they can be used during open-ended play which encourages creativity, imagination, play, organizational and language skills. 

15. Wooden Loose Parts Kit-I am in love with all of Hope Learning Toys products. This set of wooden loose parts comes with 6 3D shapes, 7 forest gnomes and 8 piece peg doll family. As I have mentioned in previous posts, I wish I knew more about open-ended play and the benefits of playing with loose parts when my daughter was younger. Not only is it great for working on grasping and manipulation skills, it encourages creativity and imagination skills, encourages play skills and is a great way to work on improving language and conversational skills. Loose parts can be used on their own, in sensory bins, with doll houses or any building toys you already might have at home. 

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 open-ended or sensory toys 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 kids 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. 

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.

Book of the Week-The Most Magnificent Thing

At the end of last summer, I sat down with my friend Maggie at Stories Bookshop in Park Slope who helped me find lots of books that I could use with my kids at The Meetinghouse during the school year.  One of the reasons I partnered with Maggie on this year long blog project is that she is not only a book expert, she has two school-aged children so I knew she would help me identify some great books.  We talked about some of the themes that children struggle with and one that we both identified with with our own children is the idea of making mistakes and having to be perfect.  It's amazing how many books are out there that cover this.

My pick for week number is The Most Magnificent Thing written by Ashley Spires.  Over the last few weeks at TMH, our focus has been working on helping kids deal with making mistakes and understanding that perfection is not the most important thing.  I spend lots of time talking to parents and other professionals working with children, and this is something that they see quite often.  While wanting to do well is a great thing, sometimes what happens is that kids have this need to be perfect and if something isn't perfect, they aren't good enough.  When wanting to do well interferes with a child's success in school or socially, then it becomes a problem. 

In The Most Magnificent Thing, we follow a little girl and her best friend, her puppy, as they set out to make the most magnificent thing.  Nobody knows what this magnificent thing but the little girl knows just what it is and exactly how it will look.  She collects all kinds of bits and pieces and begins putting it together.  Her first attempt doesn't go as she had planned and while she becomes upset, she tries again and again.  After a few times she becomes so angry and wants to give up on her idea.  Her dog convinces her to take a walk which gives her time to calm down and rethink her magnificent thing.  She comes back to see all of her attempts laying out and it gives it another go.  In the end, she is able to finally make exactly what she set out to....it just took not giving up.

In addition to focusing on the theme of making mistakes, this book is also great for teaching kids about the following:
perseverance-not giving up, even when things aren't going just the way you want.  Sometimes you have to keep going despite the obstacles you may face along the way
feelings and emotions-in this book, the little girl experiences a whole range of feelings and emotions.  When I read this book to my group, I have them pay attention to the illustrations and look at the little girl's face and how her feelings are changing as the story progresses.  I think it's extremely important for kids to learn how to read another person's expressions and be able to identify how they may be feeling.
coping skills-it's easy to just get angry and give up.  However, the more upset one becomes, the harder it is for them to focus on the task at hand.  In The Most Magnificent Thing, the little girl is convinced by her dog to take a walk which gives her time to calm down and think about her project.  Taking that break allowed her the time to think about things and not be so angry.
team work-it took the little girl's dog telling her to take a break that allowed her time to cool off and come back with a new attitude.  In the end, he helped her accomplish exactly what she wanted to!

Below, you will find some questions and activities you can do with your children:
~ask your child to name some of their most magnificent ideas.  You can talk about what they would need to make their idea, how they would go about it and what they would do if something doesn't go just right.  Being able to problem solve on how they would go about to make their creation is important, but discussing strategies they could use when things don't go just right is equally as or possibly more important.

~be sure to have your children analyze the little girls face throughout the story.  This is a great opportunity for kids to work on being able to work on identifying a variety of thoughts and feelings.  You can discuss what triggered these feelings in the little girl and what she could do to deal with some of the bigger feelings and emotions.

~if you have a group of children, provide them with materials (such as wooden building blocks, Magna-Tiles, Popoids and Straws and Connectors Building Set are a few of my favorites) and have them decide as a group on something to build.  If they are old enough, you can encourage them to draw out what they want beforehand and then they must work together to build their most magnificent thing.

~check out a bunch more activities from the folks at The Core Coaches.  They have a lot of great ideas to teach school age children about growth mindset and character development if you want to use this as part of your curriculum.

Be sure to check back next Monday to see what book I'll be sharing.  As always, if you have any wonderful ideas or have any questions, please reach out ot me.  I am always a click away and love hearing from all of you!

Gifts For the Little Ones!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Plus of Plus Plus Blocks!

As I mentioned in my last blog post, I am spending the summer learning as much about open ended play and how I could incorporate it more into my therapy sessions.  While I understand the importance of having specific activities in order to reach goals and parent/teacher expectations from occupational therapy, I think that there is an incredible benefit to incorporating open ended play materials into my sessions.  For me, I have come to the realization that if I search hard enough, I can find open ended materials that will work on reaching a variety of occupational therapy goals.

One might wonder what my sudden interest in open ended play is.  My interest was initially peaked by watching my daughter during the school year and how her structured routine over the course of the week was having an impact on her ability to "play" without us helping her decide what she should do and how she should do it.  She was constantly worrying about whether or not things were right and would like what she was doing or would they be disappointed with it.  I was watching her become more anxious about things and not enjoying them as much as she should have.  So, with some inspiration from the Instagram feed from the Workspace for Children, I began exploring the idea of open ended play with Quinn.  What I learned about open ended play is that it it is crucial for the development of imagination and creativity in children of all ages.  Through open ended play, kids can develop a variety of social and emotional skills such as empathy, cooperation, problem solving, and improved self-confidence and self-esteem.  There are also a number of cognitive benefits of open ended play including working memory, self-regulation, organizational skills and so much more.  So the more opportunities that children have to engage in open ended play, the more we are preparing them to be successful in school.

One of the first things that I purchased from the recommendation of Lizzie from the Workspace for Children were Plus Plus construction toys. I am not stranger to the Plus Plus products, and there have been many times in which I walked into different toy stores over the years and would be drawn to those little tubes filled with little pieces that look like plus signs.  There were several times I had them in my hand to purchase and then looked at those little pieces and thought about kids putting them in their mouths or getting frustrated if they were hard to put together.  I can't believe that I waited so long to bring these into work (or introduce them to my own daughter).  They are a great tool for any occupational therapist's tool chest because even if you move around from school to school or between homes, they are lightweight and take up very little space.  There are a variety of colors, so you can work on having kids learn their colors or work on matching and sorting when using them.  I have been encouraging kids to make whatever they want using the pieces and tell them they will have to tell me a story about what they built after.  There is no right or wrong thing to build or story to tell.  The most important thing is that they have fun.  For some of my older kids, I might tell them they need to use a certain number of pieces in whatever they create because even though I want them to be creative, I also want them to gain strength in their hands.  For smaller hands or children who might not have the strength and dexterity to use the regular size Plus Plus, you can use the Plus Plus Midi which are the same design but bigger and easier for smaller hands to manipulate.  Like the regular Plus Plus blocks, they come in a variety of bright or pastel colors.  I have been using them to help some of my younger kids learn their colors while they build.

One of the newest products from Plus Plus also happens to be another one of my favorite occupational therapy tools.  The Baseplate Builder is similar to the baseplate for Legos.  It acts as a platform for kids to be able to build scenes or anything else they want with the blocks.  My daughter happens to love everything rainbow and unicorns and built this awesome two level waterfall and rainbow scene using two baseplates while she was building a few weeks ago.  One thing that I have seen done with them is to practice building letters, numbers or shapes.  Any opportunity a child has to learn these types of things in a multi-sensory and playful way, the more likely they are to learn them at a faster pace.

In addition to all the things already mentioned, Plus Plus blocks can be used to work on the following occupational therapy goals:

Improves Grasping and Manipulation Skills-sometimes the simpler something is, the better it is.  In this case, Plus Plus' are just the right size to encourage appropriate grasping skills.  I have noticed more often than not, the kids are utilizing a fine-pincer grasp to pick them up and then manipulate them to put them together.  If you want to really work on developing age-appropriate grasping skills, you can use the Baseplate Builder.  I have had the kids use their pincers to place the pieces in and then remove them.  For some of my older and stronger kids, I have them lie in the net swing and use the Plus Plus' and the baseplate.  This is a great way to work on increasing upper extremity strength; increasing upper body strength leads to improved fine motor and manipulation skills.

Improves Bilateral Coordination Skills-the beauty of this activity is that you have to use two hands in order to put the pieces together and build things.  If you are using the baseplate, kids are forced to hold the plate down with the hand that is not putting the pieces in or taking them out.

Improves Visual Motor and Perceptual Skills-while I like to let the kids use them and build whatever they want, you also provide kids with templates on how to build certain things.  There are many kids who are in occupational therapy because they need to strengthen their visual skills so following visual directions when building with the Plus Plus blocks is a fun way to work on this skill.

Improve Social Skills-I have purchased a few sets of both the Plus Plus Midi and regular Plus Plus' blocks in a variety of colors so there are plenty for kids to share.  Whether it be at home, at the gym or in my social skills groups, I like to encourage kids to work together to create something.  For some kids, they need to work on thinking outside of their box and following the plan that someone else might have come up with.  In my social skills group, I allow the kids to play with the blocks for a few minutes on their own but tell them that in x-amount of time they will need to combine whatever they are building to make something bigger.

I could have gone on and on about the benefits of the Plus Plus building bricks!  The most important thing to me is that I provide a place and the proper tools for the kids I work with to work on all these skills.  I take great joy in knowing that there are materials out there that can provide so many therapeutic benefits without it seeming like a therapy toy.  This makes it more likely that the  kids will want to play with them not only during our sessions, but at home with their parents, siblings or with their friends.  I know that many families are planning on going on summer vacations and looking for things to bring with them and I couldn't recommend Plus Plus building bricks more.  They are lightweight and take up almost no room at all.  They are great for airplanes or keeping kids occupied in a restaurant without having to pull out an iPad or phone to keep them from complaining.

Do you have a favorite open ended building toy?  Especially ones that travel well?  Would love to hear your family favorites....I am only a click away and love hearing from you all!