I love all of my gift guides but as an occupational therapist this is one of my favorites because developing good fine motor skills is critical for so many other areas of development and for skill building. In today’s gift guide, Fine Motor an Fidget Toys, I will share a handful of my favorite toys and fidget toys. Fine motor toys are crucial for a child’s development because they help strengthen the small muscles in the hands and fingers, improve hand-eye and bilateral coordination skills, improve dexterity and increase grasp strength and improve grasping and manipulation skills. Good fine motor skills are needed for independence for self-care skills, such as feeding yourself, getting dressed and manipulating a variety of fasteners. Good fine motor skills are also essential for school-related activities such as drawing, coloring, writing, cutting and so much more. When children have good fine motor skills, they can be more successful with things which leads to increased confidence and self-esteem. Today, I share some of my favorite fine motor and fidget toys which all have some kind of fine motor component. These are not only my favorite, but I have carefully chosen toys that the kids gravitate towards. I have found that there are so many great toys out there that mask the “work” so kids are more motivated to engage with even the more challenging fine motor toys. What you see below is just a small sampling of the fine motor and fidget toys that I recommend to families. If you are looking for something more specific for a child on your list this year, please do not hesitate to email me at otmeghan@gmail.com. I love helping people find the perfect gifts for their little ones.
1.Squigz-I love a multi-purpose toy and Squigz definitely fit the bill. I have been including these on my gift guides since discovering them ages ago and recommending them to family and friends for years. Squigz are made of high quality silicone rubber and stick to smooth surfaces such as glass, mirrors, tabletops, can be used in the bath, stick to each other and so much more. Kids love the satisfying sound they make as they are pulled off of a surface or from each other. Squigz are a great toy to work on increasing grasp strength, improve fine motor, grasping and manipulation skills, work on improving hand-eye and bilateral coordination skills and encourage creativity, imagination and play skills. They are also a great toy to take on the go as they don’t take up much room in a travel bag.
2. Swedish Fish Squishi Toy-this is another of my squishee toys that I couldn’t get enough of when it arrived in my Sensory TheraPlay box a couple of years ago. It not only looked like a giant Swedish fish, it felt and smelled just like it too! The kids fell in love with it and I have spent the last couple of years trying to find it after it had to be tossed. I was so happy to see that it was available from Beyond The Blackboard, an amazing Denver area toy store. This squishee toy is made of super tough rubber so can withstand all kinds of pulling and squishing from little hands.
3. Secret Pixx Message In a Bracelet Making Kit-kids can work on developing fine motor, grasping and manipulation skills while making these special hidden-message bracelets. To the naked eye, they look like colorful and fun bracelets, but when they are unclasped and stacked flat, a secret message is revealed. This kit comes with over 800 beads in various colors, bracelet cord, clasps, a design tray, bracelet patterns, bracelet design pad, tweezers and an instruction booklet and idea guide and will make 7 bracelets. In addition to improving fine motor skills, this is great for working on improving hand-eye and bilateral coordination skills, works on improving visual motor and visual perceptual skills and is great for working on executive functioning skills such as focus, attention, planning and organizational skills.
4. Fat Brain Toys PlayTab Sensory Activity Board-this might be one of my favorite finds of the year and it’s the first thing I have recommended to anyone who is looking for a good toddler gift. PlayTab lets you build a unique experience packed with fine motor challenges, visual fascination, cause-and-effect discoveries, and more. The magnetic wooden tablet has space for 6 unique tiles that you can mix and match into the board. There are 12 different tiles to choose from each of them offering some kind of fine motor, visual motor or visual perceptual task. For example, there is one that is like a phone dial, another that has different switches to manipulate, gears to turn and so much more. One of my favorite things about this is that it can be used with or without the wooden tablet board because they are magnetic and can work on any magnetic surface such a refrigerator
5. Orb Stretcheez Foodz-these are among the top 5 squishee toys at the gym. We have all 6 of them and the kids have so much fun making their own food creations. Or Stretcheez Foodz is a line of soft, stretchy, and mix-and-matchable play food toys that were created with the intention of relieving stress and anxiety. As of right now, we have 6 different ones to choose from including all three of the burgers, a taco, a sushi roll and a slice of pizza. There are a variety of textures which is great for sensory and tactile exploration. One of the things I love about these is that each of them comes with a secret menu so you can use ingredients from all of the different foods which is great for working on improving visual motor and visual perceptual skills. We love having the kids create the craziest thing they can using the ingredients which encourages creativity, imagination and play skills and makes kids think outside of the box and work on being flexible thinkers. All of the foods are made out of the highest quality, safe materials and can be easily washed in warm, soapy water.
6. Krumples Plungy and Pully-it’s never too early to start introducing kids to fine motor and sensory/fidget toys and it’s even better when they are made of the safest materials. The Krumple Plungy and Pully are made from food-grade silicone which makes it safe for your teething little one if they put them in their mouths. The Krumple Pully is similar to a pop tube but has a handle on either side and as it is pulled apart and squished together it makes a satisfying sound while working on improving fine motor and grasping skills, encourages hand-eye and bilateral coordination skills and works on improving motor planning and organizational skills. The Krumples Plungy is very similar to the Pully, but it has one handle and a suction cup on the other side so it can stick to a variety of surfaces (think Squigz or other suction cup toys).
7. Light Up Animal Pop Tubes-these light up animal poptubes are one of the things I use almost every single day in my sessions. Kids love that they are animals and the fact that they light up makes them even more exciting for them. This size poptube is great for little ones because it’s easier for them to figure out how to pull them apart and push them back together which can be really tricky for kids who have motor planning or coordination challenges. Manipulating these animal pop tubes is great for improving grasp strengthening, improves hand-eye and bilateral coordination skills and works on motor planning and fine motor coordination skills.
8. Nockles-this is new to me and only learned about them recently when they came in my Sensory Theraplay subscription last month. I love to discover new fidget toys, especially ones that are geared more towards the older kids on my caseload. Nockles are a fun collection of soft, bendable and connectable fidget toys that snap together and can be turned into all kinds of amazing shapes. They can be expanded, collapsed, snapped together, popped apart, bent in all directions and provide satisfying sensory input to the user. There are 5 different sets of Nockles that can be used together. In addition to being a great sensory experience, they also help develop fine motor, grasping and manipulation skills, improves hand-eye and bilateral coordination skills, encourages motor planning, critical thinking and organizational skills.
9. Morf Rainbow Fidget Worm-this might be one of my favorite fidget toys and it’s not uncommon to see me playing with it during the workday, especially if I am feeling anxious or overwhelmed about things. The Morf worm provides a unique sensory experience due to it’s accordion-like design. The Morf can stretch, collapses, accordions, bends and flexes in all direction and can be extended as well. It’s provides sensory input while also working on improving grasping and manipulation skills and encourages hand-eye and bilateral coordination skills.
10. Hape Caterpillar Fruit Feast Set-a good quality bead set for toddlers should be a staple item. There are so many to choose from but I tend to recommend ones that have more than just colored beads. I love this adorable set from Hape because not only is it made from high quality materials, it can teach kids about fruits, colors, sizes and so much more. This set includes two caterpillars on strings with a leaf at the end to stop the fruit from falling off and 13 pieces of fruits. I like that the holes in the fruit are bigger making it easier for little hands to string the beads. Stringing beads works on fine motor planning and coordination skills, encourages hand-eye and bilateral coordination skills, works on developing fine motor, grasping and manipulation skills and works on focus, attention and organizational skills.
11. Jelly Blox-if you have a little one who is interested in building toys but isn’t quite old enough for Duplos and Legos, you can start by introducing them to these squishy, stretchy and stackable building blocks. Some of the blocks are filled with sensory materials such as sand, foam balls, mini bricks and stars making this a great toy for encouraging sensory exploration. With these open-ended building toys, kids can work on improving fine motor, grasping and manipulation skills, work on hand-eye and bilateral coordination skills while working on improving play, language and imagination skills. As with other open-ended building materials, kids work on motor planning, critical thinking and problem solving skills.
12. NeeDoh Dream Drop-it can be overwhelming finding the right squishee toy but I feel comfortable saying that nobody does it better than NeeDoh. My favorite kinds of squishee toys are the ones that are really thick and gummy like. I find that they provide the most satisfying deep sensory input which helps to calm and soothe when feeling sad, anxious or any other big feelings. It’s also visually stimulating with a variety of different size and shaped glitter inside. An added bonus to the DreamDrop is that it works on improving grasp strength as a child squishes and squeezes it.
13. Pop-Arty Jewelry Making Kit-this is a great jewelry making kit for older preschoolers. This set comes with over 500 colorful beads in a variety of shapes and textures and rings and bracelets to add the beads to and comes in a storage jar. This jewelry making kit is great for working on increasing grasp strength, improves fine motor, grasping and manipulation skills and encourages hand-eye and bilateral coordination skills. Kids can make gifts for friends or make jewelry for themselves. The nice thing about this jewelry making kit is that the creations don’t have to be permanent so they can make something, take it apart and turn it into something else as often as they want.
14. GooToobz-I am obsessed with GooToobz from Sky Castle Toys and love to suggest them for at home sensory options. GooToobz are transparent, squeezable sensory tubes filled with a mix of glitter, beads and go that create a highly addictive multi-sensory experience. Not only does the goo going back and forth in the tubes provide a calming sensory experience, it makes a soothing sound because of the mixture of materials inside. I love these because they are also great for working on improving grasping and manipulation skills and improves motor planning and motor organizational skills as you coordinate squeezing one side and then the other to make the goo move. There are a lot of different options out there such as a soda bottle and straw, a gaming remote control and so much more.
15. Makemaki Sushi Game-I am sucker for games or toys that have chopsticks. This sushi fine motor game will test your chopstick skills by making maki rolls using wooden ingredients to match the cards. During this two-person game, players race to see who can copy the pictured recipe first using only the chopsticks. One of the things I love about this game is that you can also just have kids do it solo as a way to work on improving fine motor, grasping and manipulation skills, improves visual motor and visual perceptual skills, encourages hand-eye coordination skills and works on executive functioning skills such as focus, attention and planning skills. For kids who have a hard time using chopsticks, you might want to consider trying some of these child-friendly tongs: silicone mini-tongs or hand shaped tongs.
16. Lite Brite Mini-I have always loved Lite Brites but found that my kids at work would get frustrated by how long it took to complete a whole picture. So when I saw that they have these mini versions, I thought it was a perfect thing to add to this gift guide. The Lite Brite Mini comes with 4 design templates and 70 miniature sized colorful pegs. Because of the size, it is possible for kids to complete a picture much quicker. There is also so much more that can be done with the pegs including practicing letters, shapes and allows kids to create whatever comes to their minds. Lite Brite is a great way to work on improving fine motor, grasping and manipulation skills, works on hand-eye coordination, improves visual motor and visual perceptual skills and encourages creativity, focus and attentional skills.
17. Hatchimals Alive Egg Carton-I don’t use these in the traditional way. Hatchimals have evolved a lot over the last few years and were originally a fine motor activity where kids had to crack the small egg and then peel away the pieces in order to discover which adorable little creature was hidden inside. The newest ones can are put in water and the shells will crack and the animals will pop up but I don’t do that with the kids when I do these at work. Instead we work together to crack the egg and pull off all the little pieces because it is a great way to work on increasing grasp strength and developing fine motor, grasping and manipulation skills. It’s also great for working on improving hand-eye and bilateral coordination skills and once all the shells are cracked and the animals are out of their eggs, kids can work on improving language and play skills.
18. Scratch Art Kits-I always try and find ways to work on graphomotor skills in a way that doesn’t seem like work and these Scratch and Scribble kits from Ooly are one of favorite ways to do that. There are 13 different themes to choose from and each come with 4 illustrated guided scratch cards, 2 rainbow and 2 sparkle blank scratch cards which allows for kids to make their own designs, a sparkled sticker sheet and a wooden scratching tool to help you make your creations. Scratch art has a ton of therapeutic benefits such as working on improving grasping and manipulation skills, encourages hand-eye and bilateral coordination skills, works on improving visual motor and visual perceptual skills and encourages creativity and imagination skills.