All right, we are on to part 3 of our therapist recommended toys for this holiday season! For those of you that miss Part 1 and Part 2 I have linked them! So here we go for a few more of our faves and why we like them!
- Toy Microwave and Food – This is another one that we liked so much we wrote a whole post about it! Here are some of the reasons our therapists pull it off the shelf:
- The food pieces are great for getting in repetitions whether it’s an obstacle course, or stairs, or running, or you name it, they love to bring the different pieces back to the microwave to cook
- The buttons help with pointing and using their hands functionally to progress fine motor skills
- For kids who are working on sitting balance or high kneeling or half kneeling where they are holding the position, the ‘cooking’ of the food sets up a time for them to hold it, as well as keep them engaged
- It also helps to facilitate imagination if you open a restaurant or cook food for the other people at the clinic while you are working on any of the above things
- Gumball Machine – So, the one we have is an older version of this but they look like they will work the same (as therapists we find that they love to change the design of toys and we often love the old version better, oh well). Here are some reasons why we use this toy:
- It provides such great immediate feedback when they press the lever with the ball coming out and the music playing, it really gets them engaged – and pushing the lever works on upper extremity strength and coordination
- Great motivator for crawling or walking if you move it across the room and the child has to move to it to be able to push the lever
- Works on sitting or standing balance by having to reach out to the side or across the body to press the lever
- Helps to get squats in if the toy is up on a surface and the balls are on the ground – because the balls have to be back in the machine to get the full effect when pushing the lever
- Musical/Sound Puzzles – Another toy that has its own blog post with links to lots of our favorite sound puzzles! As you may have noticed we love toys with lots of parts and puzzles have that built right in! Here are a few more reasons:
- It’s interactive and provides immediate feedback when they get the puzzle piece in the right spot
- Works on matching and visual skills as well as fine motor for holding the piece and knowing how to turn it to fit it in the right spot
- Great motivator for completing a task multiple times – we use it a lot of obstacle courses and they get another piece each time they go through the course but its also great for any skill you want a lot of repetitions on
- Upper extremity weight bearing and core strength especially if they are prone over your lap or a peanut or physio ball
- Activity Tables – There are so many of these out there that I have only linked to one but feel free to search for the one you like the best! And, for the full benefit get one that the legs come off so that you can use just the top, it creates so many more possibilities! Here are just a few:
- It’s great for working on kids pulling into standing as well as just standing (if you take the legs off you can put it on a taller surface as your child progresses)
- Because there are things to interact with on all sides it is great for encouraging cruising – make sure to practice to the left and the right!
- If you take the legs off you can use it to engage a child in tummy time and as they get stronger they can weight shift and reach to engage with the toy themselves
- Without the legs you can also put it at the other end of a tunnel to encourage crawling through the tunnel (if the tunnel is on a soft surface they have to work even harder!)
- If you are in sitting you can put it on their lap to give them something to engage with or put it on their stander or wheelchair tray so they can work on fine motor skills with the various parts of the toy
We are having so much fun sharing our favorite toys and we are loving learning about yours. Keep sharing your favorites!
