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Therapist-Approved Christmas Gift Guide
This is the Ultimate Guide to help you find the best gift for your child that will help them grow and learn new skills while guaranteeing that they will have fun! These toys, books, and development tools are used in our clinics every day, so we know they are kid-approved.
Toys from an Occupational Therapist
1. Spin again from Fat Brain Toys (1+): This toy targets colors, counting, cause/ effect, turn-taking, hand-eye coordination, intentional grasp and release, visual and spatial perception, and tactile and visual exploration.
2. Ulanik balls and cups (1+): Targets color recognition, shape, size, comparison, bilateral coordination, counting, turn taking, pretend play, memory, stacking, visual focusing,
3.Galt pop up toy (12 months +): Targets grasp and release, finger isolation and pointing, motor planning and control, hand eye coordination, color identification, counting, making choices, following directions (“press, pop, put in, roll”),
4.Squigz (3+): This Toy targets bi-manual hand use or bilateral coordination, hand strengthening, visual perceptual skills, color identification, counting, sorting, cause/ effect, and turn-taking. It can be used on windows, refrigerators, and bathtubs in a variety of environments.
5. Brain Spark magnetic digit cubes (3+): Targets constructional praxis with building, imagination, counting, color identification, copying patterns, turn taking, problem solving, cause and effect play, sensory tool to help with concentration, attention and focus
Gifts that promote Self Feeding
1. Spoons:
NumNum Pre-Spoons : These spoons are great to promote self-feeding skills. Their flat shape allows purees and other textures to stick easily, allowing your baby to practice holding the spoon and placing it in their mouth without losing food in the process.
Munchkin Trainer Spoons : These spoons have a shallow spoon bowl, allowing your baby to easily clear foods from the spoon using their lips. They also include a guard to help prevent gagging by sticking the spoon too far back in their mouth.
2. Cups:
Honey Bear Straw Cup : This cup is great for teaching straw drinking! This cup allows you to squeeze liquid through straw to help teach the concept of straw drinking. These supports can slowly be faded to only squeezing liquid halfway up the straw until your baby is sucking independently. The straw is also silicone, which can be cut down to make it shorter in addition to helping prevent mouth injuries.
Cuddle Campus Training Cup : This silicone cup is great for transitioning from straw cup to open cup. It also has handles that can make it easier for your baby to hold independently. The silicone is also great to help prevent mouth injuries. Great price!
3. Plates & Bowls:
WeeSprout Suction Plates : This suction plate is perfect to encourage self-feeding without the mess. The dividers help your baby with scooping while also giving parents a visual reminder to serve 1 fruit/veggie, 1 carbohydrate, and 1 protein at each meal. These are also available to purchase with lids, which are great for leftovers!
WeeSprout Suction Bowls : These bowls are nice because they have suction, come with lids for easy storage, and also have measuring lines so you can easily know how much your baby ate.
4. Feeders:
ChooKaChoo Feeder : These are great when transitioning from smooth purees to soft solids. You can place fresh, soft pieces of fruits or vegetables inside to teach your baby to chew, and it will come out of the small holes as purees into your baby's mouth. You can also place frozen fruits, vegetables, or even breastmilk inside to help ease teething pain. This comes with different size pouches and a freezer tray mold with spill-resistant cover.
Munchkin Baby Feeder : These are similar to the silicone feeders, but offer a different texture. The mesh makes it easier to control the bite size and shape to ensure your baby is able to chew, rather than just suck. Mesh is more difficult to clean, however dishwasher safe!
5. Teethers:
Ark Therapeutic Baby Grabber : This teether is designed by an SLP and perfectly shaped for your baby to hold onto and place in their mouth. This promotes jaw strengthening, munching, and tongue lateralization (side-to-side tongue movement needed to move food in the mouth).
Ark Therapeutic Y Chew : This oral motor tool, designed by an SLP, has 3 different branches to chew, each providing different sensory input and helping your baby to tolerate different textures. These are also frequently used to support jaw strengthening, jaw stability, chewing, and decreasing oral sensitivities.
Toy recommendations from a Physical Therapist
Balance Buckets- This toy targets balance and coordination.
Floor Mirror with Colorful Cards & Toys: Make tummy time fun and enjoyable for your little one. The colorful cards are easier for baby to see and help develop their vision.
Tunnel- Target crawling and gross motor skills!
Sensory Friendly Stocking Stuffers
Best Book Recommendations
The best gift you can get for your child is a book. Books are ALWAYS a great way to use language and teach new vocabulary while also fostering a connection with your child. So get all snuggled up with your little one and enjoy these speech therapist recommended books.
"All Better" books They even come with little boo-boo bandages!
Usborne Books has some great language-filled books! Find books with durable pages, bright and colorful pictures, and that are in your child’s interests!
The Sound We See- Learning simple sounds that your child can mimic!