When creating this year’s small gift and stocking stuffer guide for school-age (ages 5 to about 9/10 years 0ld), I really focused on more open-ended and sensory based gifts. Also knowing that during this stage of childhood, kids are expected to do a lot more writing and learning so tried to find fun ways to encourage learning in a way that wouldn’t see like work but work on following directions, build problem solving skills and provide sensory play opportunities that could help with focus, attention and improved regulation skills. Because I am an occupational therapist, I am always on the lookout for toys that naturally work on developing fine motor, grasping and manipulation skills. Most importantly, I wanted to choose things that could offer screen-free entertainment since so many parents are looking for. There was so much more I wanted to put on this gift guide and have so many other suggestions so if you don’t see what you are looking for and would like some ideas, email me at otmeghan@gmail.com and I will help you find the perfect gift for your kiddos!
1. Kid’s Tool Kit-young kids love to help their parents out when they are using tools to fix something up or building something but real tools are large, heavy and often too dangerous. When I saw these tools, I knew so many of the kids I work with would love them and immediately recognized the therapeutic benefits. There are 6 different animal themed tools to choose from: dog tape measurer, a giraffe hammer, a hippo wrench, an octopus flathead and Stanley screwdrivers and a pair of safety glasses. All of the tools were designed with the purpose of giving young children the chance to learn real DIY skills safely with things like comfort grips and built-in protection details. Playing with age-appropriate tools works on improving fine motor, grasping and manipulation skills, works on developing hand-eye and bilateral coordination skills, encourages motor planning and visual motor and perceptual skills and works on focus, attention and concentration skills. It also boosts confidence and self-esteem as they get to tinker and build alongside their grownups.
2. Clixo Ocean Creatures Pack-I have loved Clixo blocks for years because they can provide hours of open-ended creative play while working on a variety of occupational therapy skills. Clixo blocks are multi-sensory magnetic play system where flexible, 2D shapes click together with magnets to create a variety of 3D structures. They are lightweight, durable, easy to clean which makes it great for on-the-go entertainment. This particular set comes with 24 pieces in varying colors and shapes (some of them glow in the dark!) and a visual guide on how to make a variety of sea creatures but there are so many other sets to choose from based on your child’s interests. Clixo blocks are great for working on improving fine motor, grasping and manipulation skills, improves hand-eye and bilateral coordination skills, improves visual motor and visual perceptual skills and encourages creativity and imagination skills.
3. Crazy Aaron’s Mixed by Me Boba Thinking Putty DIY Kit-with so many of my kids loving both putty and Boba tea, I thought that this would be a perfect addition to this year’s gift guide. I am a huge fan of any and all things Crazy Aaron’s and this DIY kit is adorable. This kit includes three different colored “tea” base putties (taro, Thai tea and matcha) and a white “milk” putty, five different charm packs (ice, kiwi, dragon fruit and boba beads) that can be mixed in. There is not a right way to make your putty which allows for kids to be as creative as they want while also working on increasing grasp strength and manipulation skills. Putty also has a ton of sensory benefits including that it can provide deep, calming pressure, can act as a tool for decreasing stress and anxiety and can help with focus and attention.
4. DIY Fidget & Sensory Bottle Kit-sensory jars/bottles are a great tool for emotional regulation. They offer a calming and visual and tactile experience and help with the management of big feelings and emotions. I received this DIY sensory bottle kit in my Sensory TheraPlay box one month and have been recommending it for kids at home and at school. This kit, which comes in 4 color themes, includes a filler packet with confetti, glitter and themed surprises. It’s simple to put together….you simply dump the filler pack in and fill with water and you are done. What’s nice about sensory bottle is that it’s easy to clean and you can use your own objects when your child tires of what is inside. In addition to being a great tool for emotional regulation, it is an easy and fun fine motor activity
5. Googly Eye Sticker Book-I have always been obsessed with anything with googly eyes. Whenever possible, I use googly eyes in craft projects with my kiddos at work and it brings so much joy to not only them but me! The one that I linked is a Christmas themed book but if you click here, you will see other variations of the sticker books. Each book comes with 18 pages of oversized stickers with eyes on them and a bunch of sticky googly eyes that kids can put on the stickers. This is great for developing fine motor, grasping and manipulation skills, improves hand-eye coordination and improves visual motor and visual perceptual skills. If you have a kid who is working on learning how to write letters, these stickers would be a fun way to encourage them to write the name of the object next to the sticker.
6. Grab and Go Sensory Jars-I know that it is often much easier to just give your kid a tablet to keep them occupied but so many of the kids that I work with can become disregulated by too much screen time. Offering kids sensory play is a great way to keep those little hands busy while at a restaurant, traveling, etc. and these grab and go sensory jars from Young, Wild and Friedman are wonderful. There are a ton of different themes to choose from such as Hanukah and Christmas, space, zoo, princesses, ballet, pizza and so much. more. Each jar comes with an all-natural homemade playdough and a bunch of toys and manipulative objects that go with the theme; everything can be stored right in the jar. These are great for on-the-go entertainment. The Grab and Go Sensory jars are great for working on increasing grasp strength, improving grasping and manipulation skills, encourages creativity and imagination skills. Open-ended sensory play has many benefits, especially for sensory sensitive kids, such as improving emotional regulation, improves focus and attention and encourages problem solving and language skills.
7. HyperTiles-if you have a kiddo who loves to build and create and you want to expose them to something other than Legos or MagnaTiles, you should check out HyperTiles. These uniquely shaped building tiles are simple, super-versatile shapes that can be joined together in an endless number of combinations providing the opportunity for building some super fun and unique 3-D creations. While they are intended to be an open-ended and creative building experience, you can also go to their app which will give you some ideas of what you can build. Building with HyperTiles are great for developing fine motor, grasping and manipulation skills, encourages hand-eye and bilateral coordination skills, improves visual motor and visual perceptual skills and encourages creativity, motor planning and organizational skills. Great for playing with solo and working together with a friend or sibling to make unique creations.
8. Let’s Go! Activity and Coloring Kits-one of the things I like to find when putting these gift guides together are things that will be good for keeping kids entertained while on-the-go as well as at home. Ooly, one of my favorite companies out there for kid’s art supplies, always has a great selection of things that fit into that category. These Let’s Go Activity and Coloring Kits are a great example, With three themes to choose from (Kitty In The City, Unicorn Candy Town and Robo Dinos, you will find the perfect on-the-go activity book for your little ones. Each of the kit’s is packed with 40 pages of activities such as coloring pages, word searches, puzzles, color-by-number and other kinds of games. They also come with 2 sheets of stickers, two postcards and four double-ended markers with eight colors all organized in it’s own storage bag. These activity kits are great for working on improving visual motor and visual perceptual skills, work on graphomotor skills, encourages creativity and imagination and works on executive functioning skills such as organization, problem solving and task completion.
9. microMags Travel Set-Magnatiles will always find a way on my gift guides and after getting these for work last year and seeing how much the kids love them, I knew they had to make this gift guide. This 26 piece set of mini MagnaTiles can be played with on their own or can be used with your regular sized tiles to add details to structures. They are also great for taking on the go to keep kids entertained while traveling, at a restaurant or killing time in a waiting room. All the pieces fit in the metallic storage case and can be easily thrown in a bag. MagnaTiles are great for working on improving fine motor skills, grasping and manipulation skills, encourages hand-eye and bilateral coordination skills, works on improving visual motor and visual perceptual skills and encourages imagination and creativity.
10. Orb Stretcheez Foods-these might be one of the most used sensory toys at my gym by both the occupational and physical therapists because the kids are so obsessed with them. They are not only a very satisfying sensory experience, they encourage creativity and imagination skills by mixing and matching all the different kinds of foods. There are three sets to choose from: Hamburger and Sandwich Trio, Cuties 3-Pack and Secret Snack Pack. These sensory toys were designed to encourage creative play while offering the opportunity to work on improving fine motor, grasping and manipulation skills, improve visual motor and perceptual skills when you follow the secret menu diagrams included with each set and works on improving hand-eye and bilateral coordination skills. Because kids want to play with these so much, it’s great to know that they can be easily cleaned by soaking in warm water and letting air dry.
11. Plus Plus Puzzle by Number Activity Kits-Plus Plus Blocks might be one of my favorite manipulate toys and I was so happy when they made these activity kits. While I am all for an open-ended building toy, some of my kids don’t do great without some kind of visual prompt. These Plus Plus activity books come in 4 different themes (space, fairytale, ocean and transportation) are great for taking on the go as they have built-in storage. Each comes with a mixture of different colored plus plus blocks and numbered instruction cards so kids can make both flat mosaic style and 3D figures. They can also use the blocks to create their own designs. These are great for increasing grasp strength, improving fine motor, grasping and manipulation skills, encourages bilateral and hand-eye coordination, improves visual motor and visual perceptual skills and works on executive functioning skills such as focus, attention, organization and task planning.
12. Crayola Scribble Scrubbie Sets-if these had been around when my daughter was little, she would have lost her mind! Scribble Scrubbie are are washable, fuzzy animal toys that can be colored using special Crayola markers that can be washed with water and a dash of soap so they can be colored over and over again. There are so many cute sets to choose from including Bluey (a favorite of my kids at work), Paw Patrol Pups, Dinosaurs, pets, unicorns and so much more. Some of the sets even come with bathtubs or showers that you can fill with water to clean your toys in. It’s important that you use only the markers that come with the set in order to be able to use them over and over again. This is a great toy to work on graphomotor skills, works on improving fine motor, grasping and manipulation skills, improves bilateral and hand-eye coordination skills, works on visual motor and visual perceptual skills and encourages creativity and imagination. If you have a kiddo who resists bath time, these could be a motivator to keep them entertained.
13. All In One Scented Sensory Dough Play Kit-with three sets to choose from, these all in one sensory kits make a great gift for your little ones this holiday season. Each of the sensory kits comes with a couple different colored and scented playdoughs and tools and toys that go with each theme. As with all sensory play kits, these offer so many ways to work on occupational therapy skills such as increasing grasp strength, improving grasping and manipulation skills, encourage creativity, imagination and when appropriate, collaborative play skills and encourage problem solving and improve language skills.
The three sets available are:
Bunny Berry Village-this set encourages kids mold and shape their own garden village using adorable bunny friends, mushrooms, plants and a variety of other little charms and trinkets.
Doughnut Shop-kids can make pretend doughnuts using their scented dough. This set comes with a doughnut mold and pretend sprinkles to decorate their doughnuts and play doughnuts.
Garbage Play-this set comes with root beer scented “dirt” playdough that hides trash, recycling and compost. It also comes with a garbage truck toy, raccoon figure and a shovel to dig through the trash.
14. Taba-Licious DIY Kit-squishy toys are always a big hit with my kids at work and we are always on the lookout for new and interesting ones. One of my new discoveries this year which some of my kids absolutely loved were the ORB Taba-licious squishy toys. These are a line of super squishy, sticky and stretchy sensory toys with a variety of different textures that were created with the intention of being used for stress relief and motivating tactile play. When I saw that they had a DIY kit, I immediately thought of a handful of my kids who would freak out over being able to make their own squishies. Kids have to follow directions in order to make a solution that they pour into molds to create their own Taba-licioius squishies. The completed squishies are completely customizable and can be put into the provided clear vinyl bags that double as bag charms or key chains. This DIY kit is great for improving fine motor, grasping and manipulation skills, works on improving executive functioning skills such as following directions, planning, organizational skills, focus and attention, encourages creativity while providing a final product that can help with decreasing anxiety and improving emotional regulation.
15. ZipString-another fun toy that I got in my Sensory TheraPlay box that has been a huge hit with all my kiddos at work. The ZipString is a handheld string launcher toy that propels a loop of string in the air so it “flies” and follows the movements of the person holding it. A cool feature of this toy is that kids can learn how to do a variety of tricks by watching the videos on their website. Each one comes with 3 different sizes and colors of string; as a child becomes more comfortable with the toy, they can experiment using longer strings. In addition to this just be a super fun toy, it’s works on improving motor skills through hand-eye coordination and fine motor control, can be used to help with self regulation by providing calming visual input and can work on motor planning and coordination skills by following the trick videos.
