2020 Holiday Gift Guide-The SEL Book Guide

The last several months have been so eye-opening on so many levels but the most incredible thing to me is how resilient and wonderful the children have been. We have asked them to make so many changes to their lives and while some of them have been good and exciting for some of the kids, it's also been really challenging and has brought up a lot of feelings and emotions. In my social skills group, I have found that discussing some of these difficulties can be a challenge so have turned to reading them children's books. It's amazing what kind of conversations can come from a thoughtfully written book. Below, I share just a handful of my favorite books (some recommended by colleagues and other parents). I tried to focus on books that address some of the really big social emotional topics that have come out of the last several months: kindness, diversity, acceptance, flexibility, resilience, feelings, emotions and coping skills. 

The Little Ghost Who Was a Quilt-a beautiful book that teaches kids that it is okay to be different. This little ghost doesn't understand why he's a quilt when his parents and all of his friends are sheets. Ghosts are supposed to be sheets so they can whirl and twirl and float and soar but he can't do any of that and when he flies, he gets hot. Being different makes the little ghost feel sad and left out and he just doesn't understand why he can't keep up with them all. But that all changes one Halloween when he has an experience that no other ghost could have and it only happened because he is a quilt and it helps him realize that being different is okay. A beautiful story to share with children who may feel or look different than their friends to help them understand that it's okay to be different and that sometimes it can actually make you even more special because of being different. 

Not A Box-this is one of my favorite books and great for teaching kids about being flexible and thinking outside of the box. Inspired by a memory of sitting in a box on her driveway with her sister, Antoinette Portis, encourages kids to use their imagination. A box is more than just a box if you take the time to think about it. From mountain to rocket ship, a small rabbit shows that a box can be anything you want it to be. What I love about this book is that it is easy to come up with accompanying activities to do after reading the book. Be sure to save some of your cardboard boxes and see what your kids can turn them into. 

The World Needs Who You Were Made To Be-written by Joanna Gaines and illustrated by Julianna Swaney, this beautiful book celebrates how creativity and acceptance can come together to make a wonderful adventure. The book follows a group of children as they each create their own hot-air balloons. As they begin to work together, they realize that they each have their own special talents and skills. In a time when so many people are struggling, I think it is more important than ever to teach our kids that we should always be willing to lend a helping hand to those in need, especially when our skills or talents will help them. If you want to add a nice little hands-on craft activity, print out a picture of a hot-air balloon and have your kids decorate their own. I can't wait until we are back to in-person sessions for my social skills group, TMH Juniors, and we can incorporate this book and some really fun art projects into our routine. 

The Color Monster: A Pop-Up Book of Feelings-we spend a lot of time teaching children about concepts such as colors, numbers and letters, but not enough time teaching them about feelings and emotions. This interactive pop-up book helps kids learn about emotions by matching them with a color and helps to open up the conversation about what feelings look like. One of my favorite things about this book is that they talk about how it's okay to feel more than one feeling at a time. Teaching kids to identify and handle big emotions is a really important skill and one that I think needs more attention now than ever before. After you read it, you can make your own Color Monster Feelings Chart. I did a quick google search and there are so many brilliant ideas out there from teachers, therapists and parents. 

The Feels Book-I stumbled on this book during my research and fell in love with this book (I think it is the adorable Yeti). Another great resource for parents to support their children during this crazy and uncertain times where big feelings and confusion is at an all-time high for so many kids. Join Yeti on a journey as she meets each of her feelings and learns how to take care of each one. Included with the book is a digital parent resource guide that provides a variety of questions and activities to help children develop positive emotional well-being and appropriate coping skills. You can also get this adorable Yeti Snuggler which comes with a mindfulness activity that works on regulating emotions and reducing anxiety. 

Ruby Finds A Worry-Ruby is a happy, curious and imaginative girl until one day, something unexpected happens: she finds a Worry. It begins out small but with each day, that worry grows and grows until she can't think about anything else. It takes meeting another kid who also has worries that Ruby learns everybody has worries and that there are ways to get rid of them. Ruby Finds A Worry is a great book for right now because so many children are experiencing a variety of worries and struggling with how to deal with them when that happens. Teaching kids strategies to decrease their anxiety at a young age is so important, especially during these times of so much uncertainty. 

I'm Not Just A Scribble-if you are not familiar with the author Diane Alber, I highly recommend that you take a look at her SEL books. We have been reading some of her Little Spot books during our remote social skills groups and the kids really love them. During our lesson about inclusion and kindness, we read I'm Not Just A Scribble and the conversations that the group had with each other after was so wonderful. Scribble, the main character of this book, never thought he was different until he met his first drawing. After being left out for being different than everyone else, Scribble decides to teach the drawings how to accept each other for who they are. This book comes with 100 stickers for your children to make their own scribbles and a feelings chart that you can hang up. Another fun activity to do is to have kids scribble all over a piece of paper and then see what they can turn the scribble into. 

The Little Ghost Who Was a Quilt-a beautiful book that teaches kids that it is okay to be different. This little ghost doesn't understand why he's a quilt when his parents and all of his friends are sheets. Ghosts are supposed to be sheets so they can whirl and twirl and float and soar but he can't do any of that and when he flies, he gets hot. Being different makes the little ghost feel sad and left out and he just doesn't understand why he can't keep up with them all. But that all changes one Halloween when he has an experience that no other ghost could have and it only happened because he is a quilt and it helps him realize that being different is okay. A beautiful story to share with children who may feel or look different than their friends to help them understand that it's okay to be different and that sometimes it can actually make you even more special because of being different. 

Wish-this beautiful book by Chris Saunders teaches children about kindness, sharing and the magic of friendship. The story is about Rabbit who has never had a wish before. One day he gets three wishes but can't decide what to wish for so he asks his friends Mouse, Fox and Bear what they would wish for. Rabbit decides to grant all three wishes for his friends and they are so grateful that they share their wishes with him. Not only is this a beautiful story about being kind to other people, the illustrations are gorgeous. 

The Day You Begin-there are many reasons for children to feel different and this book by Jaqueline Woodson does a wonderful job talking about this topic. Maybe it's the way you look or talk, where you come from or maybe it is because you may have a harder time talking or walking. It's not easy to take the risks to join a group when nobody really knows you yet, but you know you have to do it. This book is a helpful reminder to children how we may all feel when you have to join a new group and that if you open up and share  some of your own stories, there just might be others that you can connect with. This is a story about being brave, especially when you feel like you might be alone. It also feels very important to share this story this year given the number of changes so many kids are experiencing during the pandemic. So many children I know have left their familiar school environment and may be starting new schools or doing remote learning and experiencing a lot of anxiety about being the new and different kid. 

After The Fall by Dan Santat-Everyone knows that when Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. But what happened after? Humpty Dumpty, an avid bird watcher whose favorite place to be is high up on the city wall―that is, until after his famous fall. Now terrified of heights, Humpty can longer do many of the things he loves most.

Will he summon the courage to face his fear?After the Fall (How Humpty Dumpty Got Back Up Again) is a masterful picture book that will remind readers of all ages that Life begins when you get back up.

Kindness Is My Superpower-I think one of the most important things I ever taught my own daughter is the importance of being kind to others. We never know what other people are going through and making sure children know this from a very young age. In this delightful book, kids learn about how kindness, sensitivity and generosity can make the world a better place. This book is chockfull of examples of kindness at home, school or in your community and how if we are all more understanding of others and accept them for who they are, the world will be a more empathetic place. There are also Acts of Kindness Cards included with the book that promote empathy and kindness. 

ish-in one of my favorite Peter H. Reyolds books, we meet Ramon who loved to draw. Anytime, anything and anywhere! Drawing is what Ramon does and what makes him feel good about himself. It is what makes him happy until his older brother makes a mean comment and he no longer can find the joy in drawing. Ramon can't draw without feeling sad and worried about what he is doing. Luckily for him, his younger sister the world differently and opens Ramon's eyes and makes him realize that things don't always have to be "just right". This is a great book for children who are always seeking perfection and need to know that "just right" is different for everyone and just because someone doesn't like care.

Tessie Tames Her Tongue-Tessie loves to talk but her constant talking gets her into trouble at home and at school. The more she talks, the louder she becomes. She talks with her mouth full of food. The problem with this is that she doesn't give others a chance to talk and her brother and classmates begin to ignore her. With the of her school counselor, Tessie learns the importance of listening and how to tame her talkative tongue. We never want to dampen a child's spirit or make them not want to share their stories, but when it means that other children/people don't have an opportunity to say what's on their mind, it can turn into a problem. 

Fair is Fair-"It's not fair!" This is something that parents and teachers hear all of the time when they think someone else, a sibling or classmate, is getting more than they are. Do special needs for one mean less love for another? This is the question explored in this short children's story of three zoo animals. They learn that being equally loved doesn't necessarily mean that they're treated the exact same. Rather, true love is expressed when each animal gets what they need. This is a perfect book for all families with siblings who think may think that things are never fair. 

All Are Welcome-after the events that unfolded this spring, I know that many parents are trying to find ways to teach their children about diversity and kindness and sometimes the best way to do this is through books. In this book, you follow a group of children in their school. They are all culturally different, celebrate different holidays and have different family traditions but that is embraced in this school. Kids learn about each other and different cultures and realize that everyone is welcome in their school and welcomed with open arms no matter what. 

While I linked all of these books to Amazon, I can't stress the importance of supporting your local bookstores during this crazy time. I have shared some of my local bookshops and encourage you all to share your favorite local bookstores in the comments below. 

Community Bookstore-Park Slope, Brooklyn
Greenlight Bookstore-Fort Greene, Brooklyn 
powerHouse on 8th-Park Slope, Brooklyn (there is also a second location in DUMBO)
Books Are Magic-Cobble Hill, Park Slope 
Bank Street Bookstore-multiple locations on the UWS of Manhattan
Books of Wonder-Union Square and UWS locations
Shakespeare and Co-UES and UWS locations

2019 Holiday Gift Guide-Social Emotional Toys

One of the most important shifts I have witnessed in my career as on occupational therapist is the increased focus and attention put into social emotional development in children as young as preschool. While always an important issue, there has been a lot of research done in the last few years that show that teaching social emotional intelligence at an early age help children become more successful as they get older. With this increased attention to social emotional learning, there has also been an uprise in the products available to young children that help facilitate a better understanding of feelings, emotions, empathy and self-awareness.
In this portion of my 2019 Holiday Gift Guide, I share some of the amazing products out there that can help children learn about feelings and emotions, learn about empathy and kindness while working on improving fine motor and manipulation skills, improves visual motor and visual perceptual skills and can build confidence and self-esteem. 



Build a Robot Emotional Developmental Toy-teaching kids about emotions can be difficult, especially in the moment when they are feeling big feelings. This educational robot toy not only works on helping children learn about emotions but helps with developing fine motor, grasping and manipulation skills. This robot comes with one body and four interchangeable heads with different emotions. Great to use with young children when talking about their feelings. I love how each of the heads is a different shape and offers a variety of tactile experiences.




Emojinks Emoji Card Games-I have been a big Spot It fan for years and years and now that I run a social skills group, I tend to try and find games that have some kind of social emotional learning component. So try and imagine how happy Emojinks makes me! Very similar to Spot It, Emojinks is a game of speed where you try and be the first to find the matching Emoji. The nice thing about this game is that there are two different levels, beginner and advanced, so you can use it will all members of your family. Another great thing, the game is compact and easy to take on-the-go for non-screen-time entertainment. Emojinks is perfect to help your children learn about feelings and emotions while also working on developing focus, attention, visual motor skills, visual perceptual skills and visual tracking skills, improves fine motor and manipulation skills and works on social skills such as being a good winner/loser, taking turns and being flexible.

Make A Face-I first learned about this social emotional toy from my friends at Norman and Jules in Park Slope and fell in love with it immediately. Make A Face is a beautiful wooden toy that helps children create hundreds of expressions. Kids can use this 9-piece set to not only work on learning about emotions, feelings and expressions but also work on developing fine motor, grasping and manipulation skills and improves hand-eye and bilateral coordination skills. This toy shows kids how a simple change in the eye or mouth positioning can change the way someone sees them and makes them think about what they are feeling. While this toy was originally created for free play, Moon Picnic has realized that they could do more with it and have created a set of free downloadable flash cards that can add to the importance of playing with this toy.




eeBoo Pretend Play Stickers-pretend play is critical for the development of a variety of social skills. Through cooperative pretend play, children learn how to take turns, share responsibility, creatively problem-solve, be flexible with friends and can encourage creativity and imagination skills. I discovered the eeBoo Pretend Play Stickers last year and thought how awesome it was that these reusable stickers could be used with cardboard boxes (and we know how many of these we accumulate over the holiday season) and instantly transform them into a kitchen, spaceship or a car. Each set comes with four giant sheets of reusable stickers that will turn a plain cardboard box into a prop for kids to spend hours playing with. Not only are these great for developing social skills, they are great for working on developing fine motor and grasping skills and improve visual motor and visual perceptual skills. 

Penny For Your Thoughts Games-this is an amazing game that includes 80 hand-illustrated cards that were designed to increase connection between kids and adults, encourage more positive ways to communicate feelings and teach social and emotional skills that lead to success at home, school and various environments with friends. Using the cards, kids identify how they are feeling, other people who may be involved and learn to problem solve on how to get through some really challenging situations and deal with big feelings. 

Silly Street-this game began as a Kickstarter project a few years ago and I was really excited about. Silly Street helps children with developing social and communication skills, encourages creativity and builds confidence and resilience all through play! As an occupational therapist, I love how they have also incorporated ways to work on developing fine motor and grasping skills and improving visual motor and visual perceptual skills. I also love that this is a multi-sensory game that gets kids up and moving and encourages them to get their sillies out while building confidence, creativity, empathy, flexibility and resilience.





Lion In My Way-in this cooperative game by eeBoo, players work together to help the lion who is on a journey overcome hazards and barriers. By using a variety of objects, kids have to decide which one would be best to help the lion stay on his way. There are a tremendous amount of benefits from exposing children to cooperative games. First of all, by elimination the competition, the pressure of having to be the winner is taken away. These kinds of games also encourage kids to problem-solve together, accept ideas from others and be flexible in their thinking. Lastly, this game is great for encouraging communication skills with peers.


The Calm Mind Kit-I have been a fan of Rose and Rex for years and years so when I heard they were developing their very own product that worked on mindfulness and meditation, I was completely sold. This amazingly thought out kit was designed for children as young as 3 years old and can be used by grownups as well. The kit teaches techniques that can help people who are feeling anxious, have difficulty staying still and a variety of other common emotional struggles. This kit was thoughtfully created by childhood development and wellness experts to provide children with a variety of tools for emotional development and well-being that will help them learn now to focus, self-regulate and most importantly, build confidence and self-esteem. This well-crafted kit contains three handcrafted toys and a deck of beautifully illustrated Calm Mind Activity Cards that teach people how to use the tools provided. As an occupational therapist, I love how this kit helps children get into the right state of mind to work on more stressful or challenging activities by providing them with the tools. 


Feelings and Emotions Peg Doll Set-I love when a simple toy can help children develop a deeper understanding of their own emotions. This beautiful set of feeling peg dolls are perfect for pretend play while also helping children gain a better understanding of feelings and emotions. Included with the set are 5 birch discs with the feelings sad, calm, angry, happy and worried etched on them so kids can work on being able to match and discuss these emotions. These can be perfectly matched with the Hope Learning Toys The Friend Ship which is another beautiful homemade product that was developed to help children learn about their feelings. 






The Unworry Book-unfortunately, there are too many children who have a hard time talking about their feelings and anxieties. Having an outlet to express these feelings can be incredibly helpful for children (and their parents). The Unworry Book is filled with amazing activities for your anxious child. One of the most important things to do is allow children to express these feelings. This illustrated, write-in book is an unworry toolkit, for distracting you from any anxieties, calming you down, and providing a place to sort through your worries and thoughts. It includes a variety of activities, from things to write, color and design, to calm-down tactics and relaxation exercises.

Lets Talk! Conversation Starters-sometimes getting kids to talk about or express their feelings can be really difficult. I can't tell you how many times I have heard parents complain that they can't get their kids to talk to them about things that have to do with how they are feeling. This conversation starter kit from Lakeshore Learning is designed for children starting at age 5 but could easily be adapted for younger children. The box contains 50 open-ended questions that help parents and children talk about their feelings, ideas and so much more. Also great for working on conversation skills.

Guess It. Get It. Gumballs-this fun and engaging from Peaceable Kingdom teaches young children learn about feelings, develops empathy and encourages cooperation. Kids take turns spinning the spinner and then use the gumball-grabbing mirror to choose a matching color gumball. Look in the mirror and make the face that you think you might have grabbed. If you guess correctly, add the gumball to the scoreboard. If not, put it back in the gumball machine and try and remember what it is. In order for everyone to win, the players work together to collect a rainbow of gumballs before finding the stink face card. In addition to the social emotional learning that takes place, kids will also work on improving memory skills and improves visual motor skills. 

Putting together this gift guide was a particularly meaningful one for me. I run a social skills group for young children so I know how important having fun and motivating tools have helped them. All of these suggestions are ones that can easily be used in groups or at home. If you have any specific questions or are looking for something else, please reach out to me. I am only a click away and love hearing from you all. I would also love to hear from any of you if you have any wonderful tools that can be used to deepen children's social emotional intelligence. 

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!

Book of the Week-The Color Monster!

Starting this week, I will be partnering with my favorite Park Slope children's bookstore, Stories Bookshop, to share a book of the week.  Each book will offer some kind of social emotional lesson that will help in increasing children's social intelligence and awareness.  In my work at The Meeting House, I have found just how valuable a tool children's books can be in helping children become more aware of a variety of social challenges.  It's difficult for younger children to be able to identify the difficulties they may be having and how that is impacting their social success.  However, they are often able to

This weeks book is The Color Monster:  A Pop-Up Book  of Feelings written by Anna Llenas.  This has been a staple of my social skills groups for the last two years and a crowd favorite every time it is read.  While this book was originally intended for younger children, I have found it to be an incredibly fun book to help preschool and school-age children learn about feelings and emotions.  So many kids have a hard time identifying feelings and emotions and what I love about The Color Monster is that it gives a color to match to each feeling making it easier for kids to learn about the feelings.  The author does a great job of describing and giving examples of each emotion making it clear that they are not good or bad just that they are things we all feel at times.  Being able to identify feelings and emotions is not only important for personal growth and improved self-esteem in children, it helps them form relationships with their peers.

Below, you will find a few questions and activities that you can do in conjunction with reading The Color Monster:
~for each feeling and color, have your children tell you one thing that makes them feel that way.  If they are struggling, you may tell them what makes you feel that way which may help in triggering an answer on their end.

~use this as an opportunity to talk about some coping strategies the monster could use to help them through some of the bigger emotions like anger and sadness.  Providing kids with coping strategies allows them to be more in control of their feelings and emotions in a variety of environments.  By talking about them and practicing them at home, kids will have a better chance of being able to generalize their skills later on.

~at The Meeting House, we had the kids make a feelings chart with each of the colors.  On a long piece of paper, we drew empty jars that they had to fill in with different colored objects that matched the feeling.  The OT in me had to make it as therapeutic as possible so added as much of a sensory component as I could so we used all kinds of tactile materials such as pom-poms, shredded up tissue paper, bumpy cardboard paper, etc..  We encouraged parents to hang this feelings chart up someplace that the kids had easy access to so when they were feeling upset or angry or any other feeling but can't express it they can have a visual to help them out.  Many of our parents have shared with us that this has been one of the most helpful tools not only for the children, but that parents have used it to show their children how they are feeling at different times to help them understand that EVERYONE has feelings and sometimes can't talk about them.

~whenever possible, I like to incorporate some kind of gross motor activity.  I have found that kids are able to generalize and internalize anything I am teaching if we provide multi-sensory activities.  One game that kids love is Freeze Dance.  I found this squishy toy at Duane Reade that has all different emojis on it that I have the kids roll when the music stops; they then shout out the emotion to the group and everyone has to act it out.  Not only does this help kids learn about feelings and emotions, it helps with improving modulation and regulation skills.

I am really looking forward to sharing some of my favorite children's books with you all this year.  If any of you have any books that you love, please pass them along to me and my readers!  I am always a click away and love hearing from you all with your ideas.

Meet Norman & Jules

Today, I am featuring one of my favorite Park Slope toy stores.  Norman & Jules, established in 2012 by long time Park Slope residents, Courtney Ebner and Avi Kravitz, has one of the most beautiful selection of handcrafted toys that not only encourages imaginative play in kids of all ages, but many of them are great for working on improving a variety of fine motor, visual motor and visual perceptual skills.  One of the things that I find sets it apart from many of the other toy stores I shop in is the fact that almost none of their toys are battery operated, make lots of noises (the Loog Electric Guitar

makes noise but teaches children how to make music) or lights up in crazy ways.  The gifts that you find here are ones that will end up in your family for years and  years.

 Norman & Jules is committed to providing parents and children with options that are not only aesthetically beautiful, but are carefully crafted from sustainable materials. Norman & Jules works with a number of local and international artists and craftsman in order to support both our community and other entrepreneurial spirits.  

Being an occupational therapist and having spent much of my career working with children who were born prematurely, I love the fact that a percentage of all sales at  Norman & Jules are donated to The March of Dimes.  This beautiful gesture is in honor of their 6 year old daughter Charley and other children who have spent time in the NICU due to premature births.  

Below, you will find Courtney and Avi's picks for this holiday season.  If you are in the neighborhood or looking for one of a kind toys that you won't find elsewhere, please be sure to check out their store. 

Make A Face-How are you feeling today? Express your feelings with Moon Picnic’s Make a Face kit! This adorable, silly, sad, scared, laughing, crying, grumpy, happy, kookie kit is a fun way to play with your emotions. Originally inspired to help children with Autism find an outlet to best describe their emotions, Make A Face has become a fantastic tool for parents of children with all abilities to discuss emotion in a comfortable and fun environment. Use the eight different facial features on your face plate and make a face to match your feelings! Make a puzzle game with the play booklet to match frightening and funny faces or cute and clever creations. Use your imagination to make emotions all your own! 

This kit is made with solid beech wood and non toxic paint.

*OT skills that can be worked on using Make A Face is improving fine motor and grasping skills, hand-eye coordination, motor planning and organizational skills.  If you follow some of the images in the pamphlet that comes with the toy, you can also work on visual motor and perceptual skills

Min Yellow Star Light -Wish upon a special star every night with this charming light beside your child’s bed.  A Little Lovely Company has a fantastic knack for making products that make everyone say “Aww!” Touch activated, battery powered and eco-friendly, this whimsical little light is redefining the night light. With a friendly face and soft LED glow, Mini Yellow Star Light is an eye-catching accessory made especially for wishing for a good night’s rest and the sweetest of dreams. The touch sensitivity lets your child easily control this small night light all on their own. It’s also a wonderful way for children to feel safer in the dark and at bedtime. We all know how tricky that can be! The Mini Yellow Star Light will help everyone feel safe and cozy at bedtime. 

*this is a great gift for a child who may have a hard time winding down at the end of the day and having a hard time falling asleep.  The soft light will help calm a child down and relax. 

Bella Nail by Nailmatic-Let your child be the stylist and the star with Nailmatic’s Bella nail polish! This brilliant concoction of color and fun is a darling and safe way to play with nail color. Made specifically for little fashionistas, this nail polish can easily come off with warm soapy water. With no mess and no stress, Nailmatic polishes are a fantastic way for children to play together to further develop their social and fine motor skills. Enjoy having your very own nail artist right in your home! 

*I love these nail polishes and have used them with my own daughter.  Putting nail polish on is a great fine motor activity for those older girls who are resistant to doing work for parents.  Also great for working on improving bilateral coordination, crossing midline and visual motor and perceptual skills.  

Stencil City-Use tools to create your own world with fun packs in Stencil City! Each stencil sheet is full of creative characters, outdoor elements, automobiles and accessories, with big buildings to make a wacky world all your own! A fantastic way to play for children of all abilities, Stencil City helps children develop their fine motor skills and find pride in their carefully crafted creations. Great for kids to play during quiet time alone or as a family activity, Stencil City will be hours of fun for everyone! 

*OT skills that can be worked on with Stencil City are improving fine motor, grasping and graphomotor skills, improving bilateral coordination and hand-eye coordination.  Also works on encouraging creativity and imagination as they build their scenes.  

Rainbow Bowl Sorting Game-These differently colored bowls, each containing a fish, a star, and a heart, turn learning colors and shapes into a fun game for everyone! With the stylized simplicity for infancy, this clever set will grow in difficulty as your child grows up. Introduce the oversized tweezers to add an extra challenge as your child ages and develops greater hand dexterity. The genius behind the sorting game is that it can truly be hundreds of games in one, helping your child develop and grow for years. The only limit is your imagination! Add building blocks and use these unique shapes to create worlds, play matching games with the colors and shapes, role play dinnertime fun with the tweezers and pieces, we can’t wait to see how you play! 

*OT skills that can be worked on with the Rainbow Bowl Sorting Game are color recognition and identification, improving fine motor, grasping skills, building hand strength, improving visual skills, bilateral coordination and focus and attentional skills. 

A Book Worth Reading

I'm sure many of you have had this experience before:  you walk into a bookstore with something in mind and you are drawn to another book (or 5) for whatever reason.  This happens to me a lot lately.  In addition to my work as an occupational therapist, I run a social skills group for The Meeting House.  The group is made up of children 5-8 years of age with a variety of social delays.  During the beginning of the weekly group, we have free choice and one of the very popular choices is reading books.  It's been so fun to find books that help children learn about feelings, emotions and other aspects of social emotional learning. 

Last week, I saw drawn to the beautiful cover of the book Be A Friend by Salina Yoon.  I was brought close to tears reading the story in Barnes and Noble and have shared it with just about every person I have run into since.  The story and illustrations are so incredibly beautiful and teach such an important lesson:  it's okay to be different.  

The basic premise of the book is simple:  Everyone Needs Someone.  In this case, that someone is a little boy named Dennis who doesn't speak but has a wild imagination and shares his thoughts and ideas through his actions.  Not many of the kids who are near him can be bothered by his behaviors but one day a little girl named Joy decides to take the brave step to get to know Dennis a bit more.  With time, they develop a beautiful friendship that relies on accepting and embracing someone who might be different.  In the end, the other children in Joy and Dennis' class saw what fun they had together and ended up joining in on their imaginative play.  

If you work with children, have a children or know anybody with children, I highly recommend this book being part of their library.  Sometimes children learn lessons better through stories and this story will be such an opportunity to have conversations with your children about accepting and understanding how every child is different.  Just because they may look, act or talk differently, it doesn't mean that you can't be their friend.  

I have several books about friendship for kids, but I have a special love for Be A Friend.  If you have a child who feels different from others, be sure to get this for them and read it to them again and again.  

Life Is An Open Book

This is a new addition to the gift guide.  My daughter is now 5 years old and in kindergarten so this is something that has been a major focus at home with her.  Finding fun and motivating ways to teach her how to spell, read and tell stories has been tricky.  However, there are so many great books and writing activities out there that have made such a big difference for

Over the course of the year, I've discovered some pretty great books that would make the perfect gift for those little bookworms in your life.  There is nothing like a good book, especially a good book that teaches important  life lessons to our little ones.  I could list a million books (not even exaggerating) but I am going to stick to ones that have teachable moments built in.  Ones that you can use to help children learn to be more creative are my favorite.

Just as important as the books, are the tools you can use to teach children how to learn the letters of the alphabet and numbers, learn how to read, spell and write.  Over the course of my career, I have tested out more toys than I can remember.  There are a lot to choose from and as parents, it can be very confusing to figure out which ones are the best for your child.

Below, you will find a handful of books that I think should be part of everyone's library.  You will also find different toys, games and activities that have been proven to be successful with the kids that I have worked with.  All of the activities I have mentioned are ones that can be used at home in a fun way.  They aren't workbooks, but real toys and activities that can be fun for children of all abilities.

I Am Books-I was introduced to these amazing children's books by one of the families I work with.  Brad Meltzer has written a series of books about real life heroes.  They are each written from the perspective of these heroes as children and talks about the struggles they had growing up.  He highlights what made them different and how they took those differences and made the world better.  For example, did you know that Albert Einstein was a later talker?  Or that Lucille Ball was encouraged to not be so funny?  My daughter who is 5 1/2 adores these books and I have been so impressed with what she has learned from each of them.  The questions she has asked and what she has taken from each book has been so fun to watch.
I Am Amelia Earhardt
I Am Rosa Parks
I Am Lucille Ball
I Am Helen Keller
I Am Martin Luther King
I Am Albert Einstein
I Am Jackie Robinson
I Am Abraham Lincoln
Disney Pixar Inside Out Box of Mixed Emotions-the success of the movie Inside Out was no surprise to me once I saw it the first time.  The kids I work with loved it and I loved how this movie helped kids feel okay about expressing their feelings and gain a better sense of understanding about their emotions.  When I saw these books, I had to pick them up to bring to work.  I run a social skills group at  The Meeting House for children with a variety of social difficulties.  We have put these books out for the kids during our snack and hangout time and they love them.  This set of 5 books features each emotion.  They are easy to read and even if you have a kid who can't read, they can look at the pictures instead.
In My Heart:  A Book of Feelings-this book by Jo Witeck is a brilliant and beautiful book about feelings.  For many of the kids I work with, understanding your feelings can be quite challenging.  In addition to being an occupational therapist, I work for The Meeting House, a recreational based after school program for awesome kids who have social difficulties.  This book is great for
Little Book of Big Fears-this book is written and illustrated by Monica Arnaldo and talks about all different kinds of things that people may be afraid of.  It introduces you to 16 children (in alphabetical order) who are each afraid of something different.  Drew is scared of raccoons and Quinn is horrified by needles.  Not all letters of the alphabet are in the book, but that is on purpose.  The letters that are missing spell out Gutsy and Brave....two things that will help a child get over their fears. This is a cute little book that helps children understand that it's okay to be scared of things and that there are ways to deal with those fears.

Hope Learning Toys-this brand of nature based learning toys have been created by a mother, teacher and toy lover.  Using a variety of objects found in the beautiful state of Maine, Heather has gathered rocks, shells, branches and wood to come up with an amazing set of learning toys.  My daughter has the Vintage Letter Alphabet Stones and adores them.  As soon as she received them, she started exploring them.  I loved that she wanted to put all the stones in alphabetical order while making their sounds.  We have been using them with her to practice her sight words during homework time and it has made it more interesting and exciting for her.  There are so many products to choose from beyond just the alphabet products.  I, for one, can't wait for the phonics matching game using wood from my favorite tree, the lilac tree.  You need to really spend some time exploring the Hope Learning Toys Etsy shop to find what products are best for your child.
Kids Story Maker-created by Magnetic Poetry, this kid friendly magnet sets encourages kids to build their own crazy stories using over 150 different word magnets.  I love how they have color coded all the words by different parts of language to reinforce nouns, verbs, prepositions, adjectives, etc..  For so many of the kids I work with, writing a story can be really challenging for them (decreased writing endurance) but they have lots of ideas.  For those kids who need some creative ways to practice telling stories, this is a great solution.  You can make a long-term project out of it by having them write a few sentences at a time...first they create their story by putting the magnets up and then they can copy them into a book.

Tell Tale-another great storytelling game by Blue Orange.  Tell Tale has three different versions to choose from (original, Fairy Tale and Disney Pixar).  Using the 60 different cards and illustrated rules, kids and families work together to make a story.  It's hard to bore of this game because it's different every time you play.  The best part is that kids are learning the whole entire time but having tons of fun.  If you want to work on handwriting, you can have the kids write their stories out as they are telling it.  It might take more than one session in order to complete it, but I am always happy to find activities that we can do over the course of a few sessions.  Great for working on improving processing speed, verbal abilities, attention and problem solving and reasoning skills.

Alphabet Magnetibook-another great magnet book by Janod.  This is the perfect on the go toy to work on learning how to spell.  The set comes with 26 pictures and over 100 letter tiles. Each picture has the name spelt out so kids can dig through the letters and put them in the correct order.  I love how the magnet board is in a grid (reminds me of graph paper), requiring them to focus on putting the letters in the blocks and staying in order.  For older kids, you could find magnets of pictures without the words written on them in order to practice spelling.  This toy is not only great for working on learning the alphabet and learning how to spell, but great for working on developing fine motor skills, eye-hand coordination and visual motor and perceptual skills.

BabyLit Playsets-I am a HUGE fan of the BabyLit series of board books.  They make such great  presents for all kids, especially kids of parents who love the classics.  When I saw these playsets, I got so excited.  There are four to choose from:   Pride and Prejudice, Alice in Wonderland, Moby Dick and The Jungle Book.  Each set comes with the original board book and different punch-out cards featuring the different characters from the story. The box it comes in doubles as the scenery/background for the story.  These are great for working on improving focus and attention, language skills and creative skills.  You can also work on improving fine motor skills and visual motor/perceptual by pushing the pieces out of the board and putting them together to play with them.  I can't wait to get a couple of these sets not only for gifts, but to use in my social skills groups to put on little plays with the kids.

When kids learn how to read and write, the world opens up to them in the most exciting of ways.  The tricky part is actually finding ways to encourage kids.  The books and activities I talked about in this post have been proven to teach kids.  The most important thing about each of them is that they are fun and that it ends up giving them confidence.  My rule is to always start out simple and increase the challenges as the kids master them.  Kids are way more likely to keep trying when they are given the time to move at their own pace.

Do you have any great books that you have read that you want to share with my readers?  How about alphabet and handwriting games or activities that your kids love?  I would love to hear from any and all of with your suggestions.  I am always a click away and so appreciate all the suggestions that have been given to me from you all.