2018 Holiday Gift Guide-Gross Motor Toys

When people think of occupational therapy, they probably think of fine motor and sensory processing skills. While that is often the main focus of the work we do, there is also a lot of opportunities to work on gross motor skills as well. Below, I share ten of my favorite gross motor toys, games and activity sets that make developing body strength, improving motor planning and organizational skills and improving balance and coordination fun.

Calm Mind Kit-this is one of my favorite new items to my whole gift guide this year. I have been a huge fan of Rose & Rex for years so when I heard they were developing their very own product that would work on mindfulness and mediation, I was immediately sold. This beautiful set was designed for children as young as 3 years old and can be used through the ages. Created by childhood development and wellness experts, it provides children with a variety of tools that encourage emotional development and improves their overall well-being making them more able to focus, self-regulate and to have improved confidence and self-esteem. Each kit contains three handmade toys and a set of Calm Mind Activity cards that provide instruction on how to use the toys for different meditative, movement and breathing exercises.
One of the best things about any purchase made from Rose & Rex is that for each toy you buy, toys will be given to a child in need. For example, for each Calm Mind Kit purchased, 8 toys will be given in turn.

Gel Floor Tiles-these are a big hit with all the kids at my sensory gym and I love how they can be used for a lot of different things. First things first, they are a huge motivator to get kids to jump, leap, hop and other gross motor activities. These colorful tiles are filled with gel so when they are being stepped or crawled on the gel moves all around. We have used them in a variety of ways but my favorite has been to set it up like a simplified Twister game where kids have to listen to and follow the verbal directions given to them. This is great for working on increasing motor planning and organizational skills, focus and attention and following multi-step directions. Also a motivating way to work on increasing gross-motor skills.

Wobbel Board-I had been coveting this beauty for a long time after following someone on Instagram. I've been using it at home with my daughter (because she won't let me take it to work) and it's been so fun to see how she uses it. When I purchased it, I imagined I would bring it to work and use it as a balance board with the kids. At home, it is being used not only as a balance board, but also as a prop in some of her imaginative play. The Wobbel Board is great for working on improving overall strength, trunk control, motor planning and organizational skills.

Stomp Rocket-this is one of those toys that makes my list each year and one of those things that kids love no matter how old they are. It's a simple toy that can help with the development of so many gross motor skills, especially jumping and overall strengthening. Their line has expanded over the years so be sure to check out the link. I like the Dueling Rockets set because it helps kids learn how to jump with two feet at the same time, but they are all great and keep kids entertained for hours. I am kinda excited to check out their newest product, Stomp Rocket Stunt Planes. Kids can work on building endurance (by running to collect the rockets), hand-eye coordination (trying to catch the stomp rockets as they fall down) and motor planning skills when using any of the stomp rocket sets.

Rody Horse-the physical therapists I work with recommend the Rody Horse for a lot of our younger kids (they recommend for kids 2-4 years old but depending on the size of a child, they can be used as young as 1 years old). Similar to the hippity-hop ball, kids bounce up and down on Rody. These are great for working on developing balance, coordination and motor planning skills. Also great for working on increasing core strength and trunk control.

Kick Scooter-living in NYC, parents are always looking for ways to get to places quicker. Once kids outgrow the stroller, they want a faster way to get to place from place so I always recommend a scooter. There are a lot of them out there but I personally love the children's scooters from Micro Kickboard. They are lightweight and the two wheels up front make it a bit easier for kids to maneuver. Scooters are great for working on developing bilateral coordination, motor planning, focus and attention, organizational skills and visual motor and perceptual skills. I also recommend having kids who may have sensory processing difficulties ride their scooters to school to help "wake up their bodies" before getting into the classroom.

Move Your Body Fun Deck-parents often ask me for simple activities they can do with their children at home. Super Duper has a whole series of activity cards that I highly recommend and use at the gym. In the past years, I have recommended (and still do) the Yogorilla cards. This year I thought I would switch things up a bit and find something a little different Move Your Body Fun Deck has 59 illustrated cards that help your child improve their body strength, balance, coordination, motor planning and motor organizational skills. I like this set because the activities are simple and can be done as a whole family. They are easy enough to include in a sensory diet at home or in school that won't require equipment. Some of the activities are to stand on one foot like a flamingo, do a long jump or to do a log roll.

Door Pong-I am loving this game for older kids and it is especially a great thing for kids who live in the city. It is essentially ping-pong without the table. Attach the clamp to the top of any doorway and then turn the dial to adjust the length of the string for your kid. The goal of it the game it to see how many times you can hit the ball back and forth to each other without missing. Door Pong is a fun way to improve hand-eye coordination, executive functioning skills such as focus, attention and organizational skills, increase upper extremity strength and encourages cooperative play.

Handee Band-I wrote about these in depth a few months ago and feel like they definitely deserve a shout out on this years gift-guide. Parents are always looking for ways to get their kids moving or exercising at home. As kids get older, it's important that they can be more independent and take more control of their physical well-being. The Handee Band, created by a California based occupational therapist, was designed with that exact thing in mind. The Handee Band Exercise Kit comes with 1 6 pound resistance Handee Band (you can order extras if you want more for your family), a book with 15 illustrated exercises with easy to follow 5-step directions, Handee Band Spinner Board and a dry erase Handee Checklist for children to keep track of their progress. Using the Handee Band will be a fun and motivating way for children to work on building body strength and will improve bilateral coordination, motor planning and motor organization, hand-eye coordination, balance and coordination skills.

Zoom Ball-this will always be a huge favorite of mine. First of all, it's super affordable and can be used with our without another person. The second thing I like about it is that it can be used in a variety of ways to work on a bunch of different skills. The goal of the Zoom Ball is to fly the ball back and forth by opening and closing your arms. This is amazing for working on increasing upper extremity strength, bilateral coordination, motor planning, organizational skills and focus and attention. I try and throw in some kind of language aspect when using the zoom ball at work. For example, I have them list the months of the year or name a color every time they open their arms. If you don't have someone to do the zoom ball with, you can attach the second set of handles to someplace higher and the kids can shoot the ball up and it will drop down on it's own.

In addition to the aforementioned toys, there are a bunch of great family board/big body games that encourage gross motor development. Some of them are Twister, Seek-a-Boo, Sturdy Birdy: The Game of Balance, I Got This, Giant Wooden Tower Stacking Game and Crocodile Hop Floor Game.

Gross motor skills are crucial for children of all ages. Not only is it important for keeping kids physically active and healthy, it provides opportunities for building confidence and self-esteem. Additionally, research shows that encouraging free movement can give children the space to develop a more keen level of self-awareness, learn non-verbal ways of communicating with family and peers and help in developing improved body and safety awareness.

What are your favorite family or work based gross-motor games? I'm sure that my readers would love to hear about your favorites just as much as I would. I am always a click away and love hearing from you all.

Sum..Sum...Summertime Writing!

For some kids, summer vacation is well under way.  For others, like my daughter, there are still a handful of days left.  We are so excited for the summer and a more relaxed schedule.  While many parents look forward to the more relaxed schedule, many of the families I work with, especially the older kids who will not be attending therapy due to long days at camp or because they will be spending the summers at their vacation homes, get anxious about their children regressing and losing some of the skills they worked so hard to gain during the school year.  For these parents, I often suggest things like having a pen pal over the summer (what kid doesn't love to get mail???) or keeping a journal of your fun summer activities.

For some kids, that open-ended kind of writing presents an increased challenge for them causing them to avoid it at all costs.  Since I want to work on keeping my daughter's creative juices flowing over the summer and get her ready for the increased demands of second grade, I have been trying to find motivating activity books or journals that will make this seem like less like homework.  Through my research (spending a whole lot of time in bookstores browsing their journals and activity books), I have found that there are so many great books out there that help to make writing fun.  There are a ton of books that provide you with a simple writing prompt which can help jumpstart those kids that are struggling to come up with what to write about.  Depending on the child, you may even want to have a discussion about the subject before they begin writing to help them organize their thoughts.

Below, you will find some of my favorite journals and activity books that will not only work on handwriting, but will encourage creativity,  stimulate possible conversation and eventually lead to increased confidence and self-esteem.

Mad Libs-I love when I find things from my own childhood that still brings about tons of joy to today's kids.   Mad Libs have been a huge hit with my own daughter and one of the biggest benefits is that she learned all about nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs.  For kids who are able to write, be sure to take turns in letting them be the interviewer and have them write the words in themselves.  In addition to working on improving handwriting skills, Mad Libs are great for working on creativity and social skills.  For the younger kids, be sure to check out Mad Libs Junior.  Instead of having to come up with the words, they choose from lists (there are different shapes and under each shape are a bunch of words for them to pick from).  The best part of any Mad Lip collaboration between people is hearing the kids laugh like crazy as they read they completed story.

Write and Draw Your Own Comics-I have been a big fan of all things Usbourne for ages.  Now that some of my clients and my daughter are getting older, I have had to move from their coloring and sticker books to books that will meet their needs.  My daughter is a big fan of reading graphic novels so when I introduced the idea of creating her own comics, she was so excited.  In this book, kids are provided with simple step-by-step instructions and tips to show them how to create their own stories.  What's great about this book is that in addition to the templates, there are lots of ideas about characters and storylines to help those kids who might need assistance in getting their creative juices flowing.  For added detail, this book comes with a bunch of stickers to add to their completed comics.  This is a fun way to motivate kids to write, create and draw.  Additionally, it helps with executive functioning skills such as focus and attention, planning and organizational skills.
For kids who might not need the help with getting their ideas started, you should check out The Blank Comic Book For Kids.

Journal of Awesome-my daughter was given this journal by a family friend and we both love it.  I'm always struck at the increased educational demands that are placed on children and how it can have such a negative impact on their self-esteem and confidence level.  The Journal of Awesome helps to remind your child just how great they are and inspires them to remember how important the little things in life truly are.  Each page provides you with something to write about that will make you think of all the good things in life instead of focusing on the things that are going wrong or may be challenging for you.  Some of the things that they have you write about:
-coming back to your own bed after a long trip
-secret handshakes
-wearing a new pair of shorts
In addition to working on improving writing skills, kids will work on improving executive functioning skills such as focus, attention, planning and organizational skills.  They will also be encouraged to focus on the positive side of things which will help develop confidence and self-esteem.

Choose Kind Journal-one of my favorite books is R.J. Palacio's Wonder.  For those of you not in the know, the book is about a boy named Auggie who was born with significant a significant facial deformity that has kept him from attending school.  The book Wonder follows Auggie on his first year in school with the overall message being all about choosing kindness.  When I saw the Choose Kind Journal-, I bought several copies.  This was something I not only wanted to do with my 7 year old daughter, but also to share with the kids I work with.  The Choose Kind Journal- is definitely geared towards older kids are are more independent in their writing skills.  However, you can easily go through and pick out questions that you can have conversations with your child about and write their answers down for them.  This journal provides daily prompts on how children can do something kind each day through quotes and questions for the kids to think more deeply about kindness.  Some of the things they will write about are:
-what annoys you that you will choose to ignore this week?
-is there someone older in your life that you feel might be lonely?  Spend a day asking him or her questions about life at your age.  What might you want to know?
-Today is random acts of kindness day.  What random acts of kindness will you do for someone today?
In addition to working on handwriting skills, this journal can help generate empathy and kindness in children who might need support in that area.
**if you are looking for a great summer reading book, I can't recommend Wonder enough.  My daughter and I are reading it together and the conversations we have about acceptance and kindness have been wonderful.  

Me:  A Compendium: A Fill In Journal For Kids-this fill in the blank journal is geared towards the preschool set of kids and helps them to identify all their unique qualities.  If kids can write themselves, have them fill in answers themselves (do not focus on the spelling); if they can't write, do it for them.  What I like about this book is that on many of the pages, kids can either write or draw their answers.  This book is filled with kid-friendly illustrations that get the kids thinking about things about themselves, things they like and how they might see different images.  For example, one page has a picture of two pieces of bread and they have to draw what they like inside of their sandwich.  Another page has a picture of a person and they have to either draw or write what's in their brain right now.
Kids will work on developing graphomotor skills, creativity and executive functioning skills such as focus, attention and organizational skills.  This is a fun book to do with your child and can stimulate conversational skills, confidence and self-esteem as they complete each page.

I Like.....Activity Book-similar to Me, this activity book is geared more towards younger children (but kids of all ages will have fun filling it in) and can be done with a grownup if a child might need more help.  Kids can fill in the blanks while writing a letter to someone (encourage a child who can write to fill in the answers without worry about the spelling), draw toppings on a pizza or circle multiple choice questions about themselves.  The illustrations by Sara Walsh are beautiful and kids will love looking back at this as they get older.  In addition to working on improving graphomotor skills, it can encourage conversation and creativity skills.  Also great for working on improving executive functioning skills such as focus, attention, planning and organizational skills and improving confidence and self-esteem.  

642 Things to Write About: Young Writer's Edition-this book encourages children ages 4-8 years to become more creative writers through over 600 prompts.  If you have a younger child, you will have to write their answers down for them but I would encourage you to have them draw a picture to go along with the story.  Older kids who are independently writing should write on their own.  For kids who might have a hard time organizing their thoughts for writing, you may want to have them talk through their response before writing and help them outline what they will write.  This will help improve executive functioning skills such as focus and attention, planning and organization.  Some of the things that your child might be asked to do are:
-write a story that includes a streetlight, a bear and a kid with a jar of honey
-describe your dream house (have your kid draw a picture at the same time!)

In addition to improving creative writing and graphomotor skills, kids' confidence and self-esteem will improve.

Just Between Us:  a no-stress, no-rules journal for girls and their moms-as a mother to a young girl, I aim to have meaningful conversations with her as often as possible.  Sometimes it ends up being much more challenging than others to get her to share her feelings with me, tell me about her day or talk about a variety of things.  When I saw Just Between Us, I was so excited about a way to deepen our conversations over the summer.  Through a variety of writing prompts, quizzes and questionnaires, moms and daughters get to know each other a little better and helps encourage conversation in a stress-free way.  I love how it includes pages for mom and daughters to make lists about things and has lots of free space to encourage writing about things that come up at any given time.  It's important to establish guidelines as a unit about using this book.  Make sure your daughter feels safe that the information she shares with you will stay between the two of you.  And make sure you are having fun while getting to know one another just a little bit better.
Some of the things moms and daughters will write about are:
-answering 20 different questions about yourself (page for mom and for daughter)
-things I talked about with my mom at your age/things I wish I had been able to speak to her about (mom)

And because I never want to leave anyone out, I found these other journals for parents and kids to complete together:
Between Mom and Me: A Mother Son Journal
Dad & Me: Journal for Fathers and Their Sons or Daughters




Scribbles and Doodles:  Kid's Summer Journal-this summer journal is intended for children 6 and up and most appropriate for kids who are generally independent writers.  The 90-page journal has a kid-friendly design with the top half of the page meant for writing about your day and the bottom half blank space for drawing.  While it is meant for kids to keep track of what they did each day during the summer, I had a different idea for my own daughter when I saw it.  When I saw this book, I immediately thought of how it would make a great journal for keeping track of her daily reading.  Since my daughter has been journaling about her reading all year in school and is now obsessed with reading chapter books, I figured she wouldn't mind doing a daily writing activity.  She was especially excited about the idea of having the space to draw a picture about what she read that day.  
In addition to working on improving writing skills, Scribbles and Doodles works on improving creativity skills and executive functioning skills such as focus, attention, planning and organization.  

Putting this list together has been so much fun.  Perhaps it is because my own daughter will benefit so much from so many of the books that I have suggested.  I think it was mostly fun because I was able to discover so many great books that not only encourage children to write, but make it fun and motivating at the same time. During the summer, we want to keep our kids thinking, want them to continue to let their creative juices flow and prepare them for the increased demands of the next school year.  Most importantly to me, is that kids realize just how fun writing can be and how many ways there are to work on this skill.  The added bonus for me is that we can boost a child's confidence and self-esteem by making this kind of work as much fun as possible.

A few final important reminders/tips to make summer writing as successful as possible:
-find fun writing instruments to make summer writing more fun/less work.  My favorites are the Super Duper Scented Gel Pens by Ooly and the Cadoozle Colored Mechanical Pencils.
-focus on the content and not the quality....in other words, don't correct spelling or suggest changes.  If you start to micro-manage what your child is creating, you run the risk of them not wanting to participate at all.
-make this fun for your child....if you are going to set aside time each day or a few times a week, make them look forward to it.  I plan on picking up a special snack that my daughter can have while she is writing.
-if your child has decreased hand strength/endurance, encourage them to take breaks.  Maybe start the writing activity with a quick strengthening activity like playing with Discovery Putty or building with Legos.  My new fine motor obsession, which I will blog about soon, are Plus-Plus toys.  

While I want to say it the most important message from this blog is that kids will become better writers, that would be a lie.  I really worked hard to find books that would help kids get a better sense of who they are, help in create relationships with people they might write with each day, encourage kindness and empathy and help kids become more confident in their skills.  

Keeping writing fun and as stress-free as possible is the ultimate goal with each of the books I suggested. If you have any journals or activity books that you recommend, I would love to hear about them.  I am always a click away and love hearing from all of you.  

My Top 10 OT Tools

For those of you who aren't occupational therapists, you may not realize that April is Occupational Therapy Month.  It began in 1980 and was scheduled to coincide with the AOTA Conference and Expo.  I feel beyond fortunate to work in a field where there are so many dedicated professionals with the common goal of making life better and happier for people.

I thought it would be fun to make this week's post focus on my top 10 tools for my sessions.  While my closet and storage boxes are overflowing, there are a handful of things that I consistently use with kids of all ages and skill levels almost every single day.  The thing that is common amongst all of the items listed below are that they can be used at home with kids.  They are tools that a parent can have that will help us therapist's carry over some of the work that I do during my sessions.  They are things that don't take up a ton of space and don't require the knowledge of an occupational therapist to use.  Most of them are things that can be picked up in local toy stores or on Amazon.com.  Lastly, they are all affordable and things that can be modified depending on a child's age and skill level.

1.  Discovery Putty-for years, I was hiding objects and coins in therapy putty.  It served the purpose to help build strength in those little hands, but it got old and boring and the kids would lose interest quickly.  When I heard about Discovery Putty by Fun and Function, I quickly became obsessed and it became a fan favorite of all my kids.  Kids who used to avoid this activity now ask to find the animals, treats, vehicles or school supplies hidden in varying resistance of putty.

2.  Zoo Sticks-where shall I begin with my love for Zoo Sticks by Hog Wild Toys???  I began using them to pick up these squishy plastic animals to work on improving fine motor skills and grasp strength.  I now use them for pretty much anything I can....whether it is to pick up the pieces of fruit from a game like Hi Ho Cherry O or to pick up M&Ms to work on sorting by color, Zoo Sticks are a great, versatile and affordable tool to have at home.  I often suggest parents pick a few sets of these up to have eat dinner with.  It's an easy way to work on improving eye-hand coordination, grasp strength, visual motor skills and independence for feeding.  Plus, they are super fun and cool looking!

3. Stylus for an iPad-there are a ton of different kinds of stylus' to choose from these days.  And like most things, when there are so many to choose from, it becomes too difficult and we just opt to avoid. If you are going to use an iPad to help facilitate skills, especially handwriting skills, I always suggest using a stylus as it is  I have 3 that I recommend to parents these days:
iCreate Crayon Stylus-looks and feels like one of those fat Crayola crayons.  Good for promoting an appropriate grasp on a writing instrument.  Kids like to use it because it looks like something they are used to using
Kikkerland Retro Stylus Pen-light weight and provides a 2 in 1 writing option.  Kids can practice using an appropriate grip on an iPad and a piece of paper using the same writing instrument.
Cosmonaut-I've been through a lot of different stylus pens but right now, this is my absolute favorite. There is a lot to love about this $25 stylus....the width of the stylus makes it good for encouraging an appropriate tripod grasp.  The weight of it is good for encouraging a child to use the appropriate amount of pressure when writing with it.  Lastly, it is a very well made and durable stylus so it is able to a beating from a lot of use from kids.

4.  Orb Factory Sticky Mosaics-I discovered these years ago and now always have a couple of sets in the office to work on with kids.  The idea is very simple:  kids have to match different colored stickers to the number that it goes with to make a colorful picture.  It's a great craft to work on improving fine motor, visual motor and visual perceptual skills.  They are super motivating and fun activity to do with children of all ages.  Over the years, the selection has grown making it easy to find a set that will make your kid excited to complete.

5.  Spot It Games-I'm a big fan of games that are not only fun for kids to play, but easily adapted for all different ages and skill sets.  Spot It, by Blue Orange Games, is one of those kind of games.  There are a variety of ways to play this game, but the basic gist of it is that you have to find matching objects between cards.  Each card has an equal number of objects and even when you don't think it is at all possible, there is always one matching object.  Great for working on a variety of visual skills, focus and attention and social skills.  One of the best things about this game is that it is small, lightweight and easy to take with you.

6.  Crayola Triangular Crayons-these days, there are so many different brands of crayons to choose from that you can easily get confused.  I am a traditionalist when it comes to crayons and stick to Crayola...you know they are good quality and offer the best colors!  For my little ones, those beginning to color and draw, it's important that the crayons are wider making it easier for them to hold. I also encourage parents to get the triangle shaped crayons for two reasons:  it encourages a tripod-like grasp and they won't constantly roll off a table!  Another little trick:  break the crayons into two or three small pieces to encourage kids to use a non-fisted grasp when holding them.

7.  ZoomBall-the zoomball has been one of my favorite gross motor/upper body strengthening tools from the very beginning of my career.  Kids feel so good about themselves when they finally figure out how to get the ball going back and forth with a partner.  This is a good toy to have at home since it doesn't take up a lot of space.  Parents often ask what they can buy or do at home to work on strengthening and this is one of my top suggestions.  It's great for a kid to play with with their parents or siblings.  If you want to add a challenge, you can play a word game while playing:  think of a category (sport, food, color, etc.) and every time you send the ball back to your partner, you have to call off something in that category.

8.  Usborne Drawing Books-learning how to draw can be a challenging thing for kids.  And when something is challenging, kids will avoid it.  For me as a therapist, helping a child gain confidence with drawing is an important thing.  Drawing is a critical skill in young children as it is their first way of telling stories.  Usborne has a wonderful drawing book that teaches children how to draw everything animals to hot air balloons in easy to follow steps.  Kids will begin to see how you can draw so many different things by joining simple shapes together.  At the same time, their confidence will grow!

9.  Kumon Workbooks-it can be incredibly overwhelming walking into a bookstore trying to find the best workbooks for kids these days.  There are so many choices making it difficult to know which ones to get.  For years, I have been using and suggesting the Kumon workbooks.  My favorites are the cutting, coloring and pasting books for the younger kids but I really do love all of the books.  The pictures are always motivating and the paper is often thicker than most of the workbooks I have tried out in the past.  This is especially important for cutting....the thicker the paper is, the easier it is for children to have success with cutting.  Personally, I have a 6 year old daughter who asks for her cutting books at least once a week!

10.  Fiskar's Scissors-when kids are learning how to cut, it's really important to provide them with a good pair of scissors.  Ones that are the correct size, easy to open and close and cut through paper with little difficulty.  I can't tell you how many times I have walked into classrooms and had a teacher tell me that so many kids can't cut and they can't figure out why.  When I look at their scissors, they are often too big and the blades are full of glue and stickiness making it impossible for the kids to cut with ease.  Whenever anyone asks me for a scissor recommendation, I suggest Fiskar's children's scissors.  They never disappoint!

It was a lot of fun to put this list together and hope it will help some of you parents out.  It can be hard knowing what kinds of things you need at home to help your children be successful and oftentimes you think that you have to rely on the therapeutic catalouges where everything is much more expensive.  It's important to me to educate parents that more often than not, you can just adapt toys or tools for your children who may need more support.  If you have any questions or want some advice on other tools you can use at home, please feel free to email me.  I am a click away and love hearing from you all!

The Small (But Fun) Stuff!

Goody Bag Bar at Hiho Batik

Whether you celebrate Christmas or Hanukkah, finding small presents is a necessity during the holiday season.  For me, filling an advent calendar and stockings are so much fun.  I love finding little treasures because I know how much my daughter loves them.  I was actually in Hiho Batik, a local clothing and gift store in Park Slope, recently and saw they have a Goody Bag Bar but all of the little gifts would make wonderful stocking stuffers as well.  They have a fantastic selection of little gifts (think lip gloss, bouncy balls, modeling clay, etc.) you can stock up on.  If you are local, I highly recommend checking it out.  I know that I am going to be hitting them up to find some special treasures for a lot of the special little kids in my life.

Finding little gifts that aren't junk can be a real challenge.  If you are like me, you don't want to just buy stuff for the sake of buying it.  The good news is that there are actually a lot of quality small and inexpensive gifts out there.  I have tried to include items that are good for kids of all ages and don't take up a lot of room (being a New Yorker, I appreciate the importance of real estate and not having your space taken over by your kid's toys!).  Each of the items I have featured below are guaranteed to be lots of fun but, at the same time, offer some kind of educational and therapeutic value.  Lastly, I have tried to suggest things that are priced under $10 (most but not all fit into this last category).

Here are some of my favorite little gifts for this year:
Rainbow Loom Finger Loom-even though it seems like more of a summer thing, I love therapeutic value of the Rainbow Loom.  When I found the Finger Loom this summer, I was super excited.  This little bracelet maker is perfect for throwing in a baggie with a bunch of your child's favorite colored bands.  Perfect for working in fine motor development, eye-hand coordination, focus, attention and organizational skills.
Discovery Putty-I can't love this putty more by Fun and Function.  More importantly, the kids I work with couldn't love it more and it does so many great things for them.  There are now 4 different putties to choose from (school supplies, transportation, treats and animal rescue).  There are about a dozen or so small pieces hidden in the putty and the kids have to search through find them.  Once they find them all, you can have them hide the pieces again for the next person.  This is great for working on strengthening and fine motor control.  Also great for working on speech and language development.
Moulin Roty Transfers-I remember the sticker transfers when I was a kid and was so excited to see my friends at Norman and Jules had a couple of sets....a city setting and a farm setting.  Great for working on improving fine motor skills such as grasping and strength, bilateral coordination and executive functioning skills like organization, planning, focus and attention.  I have been experimenting with different tools to use and have found that a good pencil seems to work the best.

Kikkerland Rainbow Twirler Top-this is one of those little things I stumbled upon and didn't think much of it.  It didn't cost much and we saw some kids playing with it in the store and my daughter really wanted to try it.  This little toy is super fun and my love playing with it.  I have used it to work on improving bilateral coordination but mostly to get kids to calm down and regroup if they are getting anxious about something.  The spinning is fun to watch but what I really like is that if you go too fast it gets all tangled up.  It causes a child to really concentrate on slowing down.
Animal Poppers-I've always loved these little toys and they bring kids such joy.  My daughter and husband will play with these things for so long and end up in tears...the happy kind that come from laughing so hard!  I've used them in therapy before because they are great for improving fine motor skills, bilateral coordination and eye-hand coordination.  I have set up targets for kids to have to aim and launch the balls out which helps with improving visual attention and tracking skills.They  require a tremendous amount of focus, concentration and planning and finding fun ways to work on that with kids can be difficult.
LED Light Up Spinning Flyers-I remember this toy from growing up and have always snatched one up one I have seen one in any store.  I actually remember  making my own at some point using a large button and yarn!  It's a super simple and inexpensive gift but there are so many benefits to this toy from an OT point of view.  This particular set from Hearthsong comes with two spinners in different shapes.  It requires using bilateral coordination, focus/attention, patience and motor planning in order to get the spinner moving.  If you get it going just right, you can keep it spinning and making fun sounds for a long time.
Travel Spirograph-I love that so many of the toys that I used growing up are still around and/or
coming back after years of being shelved.  Spirograph is one of those great timeless toys that kids love today as much as we loved it years ago.  The travel set is perfect for airplane rides, long car rides or keeping your kids entertained while out to dinner.  Each set comes with 6 different wheels, two pens, a pad of paper and case that has a built in ring to put your wheels into.  Everything fits inside easily so it's easy to keep things in order and organized.  Great for working on bilateral coordination, fine motor skills, eye-hand coordination and visual motor and perceptual skills.
Rapper Snappers-also known as pop-tubes, these are a staple in almost every sensory gym I've ever worked in or visited.  A really simple toy but for some reason the kids love it.  Maybe it is the fun sound it makes when you pull it apart and push it together or the way it feels as you play with it.  Whatever it is, kids don't tire of them and they work on so many things.  Great for working on improving bilateral coordination, grasping skills, upper extremity strength and eye-hand coordination.  I will make shapes out of them and have kids copy what I did with them before we might practice drawing the shape.  Adding a hands-on, tactile experience helps kids learn things at a faster rate.
ZooSticks-I love my zoo sticks and try and use them whenever possible when working with my kids. Chopsticks are hard to use but since these are connected at the top, they are easier to use.  I will recommend parents get these for meal times when their kids are struggling with fine motor skills because they work on improving fine motor and grasping skills.  I use them all the time at the gym with the kids...whether it be picking up squishy animals or cleaning up game pieces, the ZooSticks are great for working on improving a ton of skills.  And if you find your child's favorite animal, they are so excited to use them, they don't even realize that they are doing work!

WikkiStix-this is another one of those toys that I have been using since becoming a therapist a million years ago.  Simply put, WikkiStix are wax covered pieces of yarn that can adhere to almost any smooth surface.  You can bend them into a variety of shapes and squeeze them together to make longer to make different shapes and objects.  I have used them to work on teaching children how to make shapes, letters and numbers.  They are great because they are light-weight and don't take up much room making them perfect to throw into a bag for using in restaurants, waiting before appointments, etc..  Check out these Super Wikki Stix...each strand is 3 feet in length making creating much  more exciting and fun!
Super Snow-it's winter and even though some of us get lots of natural snow, there are a lot of people who don't and want to get that wintery feeling.  Super Snow is a perfect solution for that problem and at the same time is a great sensory experience.  Simply combine water with the snow powder, stir and your snow appears.  The more you stir it, the more it shines and sparkles.  Best part is that it can be reused by spraying water on it again.  As mentioned, a great sensory experience but also great for working on bilateral coordination, strengthening (hide things in the snow and have them dig through and find it) and can improve speech and language.
Melting Snowman-I have used this at work and the kids love it!  You get a little box of white putty with all the necessary parts to build a snowman.  Once it is all together, he will melt and you have to put him back together.  Everyone thinks it is hilarious to watch him melt!  Great for working on improving fine motor skills, bilateral coordination, building grasp strength and manipulation skills, body awareness and focus and attention.  I've actually seen these sets at several of my local toy stores (Little Things in Park Slope, Stationary and Toy on the UWS of Manhattan and Mary Arnold Toys on the UES to name a few).

Jiggly Jewels-I love finding hands on activities that kids can really   interact with.  So many of the kids I work with have difficulty with feeling different kinds of textures which can cause them to have trouble in other areas (most common, using glue or paint for school activities).  Through play and exploring different sensory materials, children can actually overcome these defensive behaviors.  The important thing is to find materials that are inviting for the kids...ones that they will want to play with.  Jiggly Jewels is sensory exploration and science combined into one fun activity.  Each set comes with the supplies needed to make colored crystal cubes, fish eggs and garbled marbles.  They start off as small little beads and by adding water, they turn into the different things mentioned before.  Kids can watch them grown and then play with them (they are wet and slimy (good kinda slime feeling)).  One of the best things about this is that the whole set costs under $8!

Wacky Wally-another one of those kids toys that will bring you back in time.  This inexpensive toy is guaranteed to bring hours of fun to your little ones.  What I really love about it is that you can make this a therapeutic toy without the kids knowing they are working on occupational therapy goals.  In our gym, we have this mirror that takes up the whole entire wall and I have the kids throw these sticky creatures at different targets.  Great for working on improving visual motor and perceptual skills, eye-hand coordination, motor planning and organization and upper extremity strength. With a price tag of about $5 or $6, you won't feel bad or poor buying a couple!

I could go on and on with little toys to buy but I have to spend some time on the rest of my gift guide!  If you have any wonderful small toys or gifts that you have given in the past that have been a huge success, please share your ideas with me and my readers.  I love hearing about new toys and gifts and I know that many of my readers would probably be thrilled to have more ideas for the holiday season.  I am always a click away and appreciate and look forward to hearing from any of you with additional  toy suggestions!

Put Your Arms In The Air Like You Just Don't Care!

In an effort to make this blog more informative for my readers, I am going to begin sharing interesting and helpful blog posts that I stumble upon.  For some reason, it hadn't occurred to me until just today that if I found these articles helpful, that my readers would also feel the same way.  The internet is a wonderful resource, especially when working with children. There is a ridiculous (in the best way possible) amount of information out there to be shared with everyone.  However,trying to sift through all the information can be exhausting and time-consuming.  So thanks to Kristin, here is my first article share blog post!

Today, the mom of one of my clients sent me a great article that talked about the importance of working on a vertical surface.  It was written by Lauren Drobjnak, a pediatric therapist and mother who began The Inspired Treehouse with her colleagues in order to share playful activities for children that promote development and wellness.  Their belief is that if kids are given a little help, they can build strong and healthy bodies and minds through play and exploration.  Do yourself a favor and check out and subscribe to their blog here...I promise you won't be disappointed by their emails.

Motor Skills and More!  Working on a Vertical Surface is a quick, easy and informative read about

what can be achieved by working on a vertical surface.  Some of you may be asking "What is a vertical surface!?!?".  Simply put, a vertical surface is a chalkboard or an easel... a surface that is on an incline that requires a child to have to raise their arms in order to write on it.  It is something that requires upper body strength and endurance.  When I was growing up, there was a chalkboard in every classroom I entered.  Daily, I was asked to go up and answer a math question or write the answer to a teacher's question on that board.  I never would have imagined that that simple task, something that seems so "normal" to so many of us, would be something that isn't really part of a kid's school routine these days.  Nowadays, we have the SmartBoard or a dry erase board in classrooms.  You may not sneeze because of all the dust from the chalk, but it will serve the same purpose in writing on a raised surface and sharing information with your classmates.

Whenever I am asked by parents about what can be done at home to help support our work in therapy, one of the first things I suggest is to get an easel.  Living in NYC, some parents worry that they don't have the space for a large and bulky object...space is limited and we all know that kids come needing a lot of things to keep them busy!  For those parents, I suggest that they get a chalkboard or a dry erase board that can be mounted to the back of a door or the wall of a bedroom.

Working on a vertical surface can be beneficial for children of all ages, especially those who need to work on increasing core strength and postural stability.  Depending on the height of the working surface, you can have a child kneel, stand or sit on a therapy ball to draw, paint or write.  Another great thing about working on the vertical is that it is ideal for working on improving bilateral coordination skills.  I have kids hold a piece of paper up with one hand while using their other to hold the writing instrument.  This article talks about playing with stencils to also work on developing skills.  Please click here to learn about all the other benefits of working on the vertical that Lauren Drobjnak talks about.  

Fort those of you wondering what kind of vertical surfaces would be good for you and your home, I have provided a few suggestions below.
Chalkboard Wallie (Extra Large)-these extra large panels can easily be repositioned and placed wherever is most convenient/space allows.  Hang on the refrigerator, the back of a door or in a playroom.  I have one of their smaller versions hanging in my kitchen and my daughter has loved drawing pictures and practicing writing her letters on it.  They are easy to clean and can be used with any kind of chalk.  Be sure to hang them up in a way that makes your child have to have their arms extended in order to work on increasing upper body strength.

Dry Erase Board-there are a lot of dry erase boards to choose from that will work on all of the things mentioned in Motor Skills and More!  Working on a Vertical Surface.  I have always been partial to this one by The Container Store simply because it takes up no room at all and is easy to hang up.  It can go on the back of a door, inside a closet or wherever you happen to have the space for.   Also, another important thing, it is very reasonably priced!

Artist's Portrait Easel-if you happen to have the real estate in your apartment for a real deal easel, don't look any further than this one by Land Of Nod.  When my mother asked me what she could get my daughter for a Christmas gift one year, this was the one and only thing that came to mind.  It's been a favorite of Quinn's for years and has gotten so much use since it was gifted to her.  My favorite thing about this easel is that while it is large, it isn't bulky.  It can be folded up and set against a wall without taking up too much space.  Another great feature is that it is double-sided and can be used for many things.  One side has a chalkboard while the other has a dry-erase board.  That's not all...at the top you will find a place to hold a roll of paper for drawing with crayons or markers or paintbrush or finger-painting.  A bonus factor.....it's modern and sleek looking.

Backpack Slant Board-Fun and Function, one of my favorite therapeutic catalogues, has a variety of slant boards to choose from.  I recommend slant boards for many of the older kids I work with for homework time.  Slant boards are great because they don't take up a lot of room.  This one I have
suggested is even better because it can easily fold up and fit into a child's backpack making it easy for them to transport back and forth with them.  The most important thing about using a slant board for kids with graphomotor difficulties is that the design of a slant board automatically puts the wrist in an extended position, thus encouraging hand stabilization for greater ease in controlling writing instruments.  I don't only use this for handwriting/grasphomotor activities...when using an iPad in therapy, I will put the iPad on it to accomplish the same thing.

Thank you to The Inspired Treehouse for this wonderful and informative article!  I hope you all find this as helpful as I did!

The Small Stuff

Each year, I put together a gift guide for the holidays.  I put hours and hours into this guide.  This is something that takes a a ton of research...they are occupational therapist approved and kid tested toys.  

I am almost done putting the 2014 gift guide together (there was a bit of a technological snafoo and a lot of the work I put into this year's guide was lost) but thought I would give you all a sneak peak.

Some of the hardest gifts to find are those small ones that you need to fill the stocking, advent calendar or to cover the 8 nights of Hanukkah.  These are actually some of my most favorite gifts to look for and share with people.  These gifts are the ones that kids tend to use the most because they can be thrown in a backpack when traveling, used while sitting in a doctor's office or between therapy sessions.  

Discovery Putty-it's rare for me to suggest a toy from a therapeutic catalogue so you have to understand the aweseomeness of this product for it to make the cut.  Discovery Putty is the best....THE BEST!  Kids at my gym LOVE it and don't even understand that they are working on SO many occupational therapy goals when playing with it.  I've spent my career hiding things in theraputty to work on increasing grasp strength.  Kids got bored pretty quickly with the coins I would stick in the putty.  When I found Discovery Putty things changed.  Kids love looking through the putty to find the different treats or animals hidden inside.  Rumor has it that there are two new putties coming out soon and I can't wait!  In addition to working on increasing grasp strength and fine motor skills, Discovery Putty works on improving bilateral coordination skills,
focus and attention and language skills (identifying what they have discovered in the putty). 

Crayon Stylus-this stylus is great for your little ones.  My preschool age children love using this stylus when using the iPad.  Even with my littlest of kids, I try and use a stylus whenever we use the iPad in order to practice using a proper grip on writing instruments.  Kids seem to be much less resistant when it is a fun looking stylus like this red crayon.
Retro Pen Stylus-I use the iPad a lot during my therapy sessions, especially for working on handwriting with my older kids.  I was psyched to find these mini stylus pens a few weeks ago at a local bookstore.  These pens are a perfect size for encouraging a proper grasp.  I really love that I can easily transition from working on writing letters with my kids on the iPad to paper when using this pen!

Magiclip Princess Dolls-looking for something small and magical that will be sure to make your princess loving kids happy?  Magiclip dolls are one of the most popular toys in my office.  Each doll comes with a dress that comes on and off by pinching the bottom of the dress.  There are several princesses and to choose from and all the dresses fit on all the other dolls.  Great for working on fine motor skills such as improving grasp strength, bilateral coordination and manipulation skills.  

PopToobs-PopToobs or rapper snappers, whatever you call them, they are awesome!  I have been using these since I started my career as on occupational therapist.  They are great for working on improving grasp strength, bilateral coordination and motor planning skills.  Kids love them for their bright colors and the fun sounds they make as you pull them apart and push them together.  

ZooSticks-I have been using these kid-friendly chopsticks for years and years.  Not only are they great for motivating picky eaters to eat (they love using them to pick up their food), they are great for working on increasing grasp strength and manipulation skills.  While working with kids during my sessions, I like to have them pick up small items using the chopsticks.  They especially love when I have little squishy animals for them to "rescue".  These come in a variety of animals, including sea creatures and farm animals.
Sticker Puzzles-one of my favorite finds this year, Lee Publications has a ton of different sticker puzzle books featuring your children's favorite characters.  Each book comes with 8 different puzzles and your child has to place the numbered stickers on a numbered grid to complete the picture.  Some of the puzzles have as few as 9 stickers and as many as 48 stickers so you can find one that is best for your child.  Great for learning, identifying and matching numbers as well as improving fine motor skills such as grasping and manipulation skills.  Also great for improving bilateral coordination, visual tracking/perceptual skills and focus and attention.  

Eeboo Pipe Cleaners-I was on the hunt for different colored and textured pipe cleaners for a Halloween project and found these pipe cleaners by Eeboo.  Each set comes with 36 pipe cleaners in 3 different colors and 4 different sizes.  They come in a ton of colors and my favorite thing is that each set also comes with a simple project on the back that your child can do.  Pipe cleaners are also great for working on teaching children how to string beads when they are struggling with using a flimsy string.  

Slingshot-not for the faint of heart and definitely targeted towards the older and more responsible of kids you are giving gifts to, this slingshot by Hella Slingshots are an awesome gift!  It's important to note that this is not a toy and something to be played with responsibly.  I highly recommend the felt slingshot ammo when using this beautifully made tool.  This is great for working on fine motor skills, improving eye hand coordination, visual motor and visual perceptual skills and motor planning.  It should be used while supervised for younger kids and never used as a weapon ;)!  My daughter and husband loved setting up targets and knocking them down together; I loved how they talked before doing it and making a plan to best knock down their targets. In our house, the rule is that you can only use this with toys, never towards people.

As I have already mentioned, this is just a sneak peak of what is to come in the next couple of days.  These small gifts can make a big difference in the level of happiness the kids who you will be giving gifts to this year.

I know there are hundreds of other stocking stuffer/small gifts out there I may not know about.  If you have any gifts to add to this before I share my whole list, please do share!  I am always on the lookout and count on my fellow toy lovers to share their wisdom with me.  I am just a click away and always happy to add to this list.