Every December, we like to gather up all the best toys we’ve come across throughout the year and share them with you. This year, we’ve got three top picks that are all deceptively simple, but will deliver hours of fun. Best of all, these toys will help your children with their speech, occupational, and physical therapy goals.
Without further ado, here are the developmental toys that we recommend this holiday season:
Helping Hands Fine Motor Tool Set
This toy is a great choice for a stocking stuffer. The four different tools that come in the pack all help build fine motor skills while working different muscles. They’re also great for developing those all-important skills of concentration and patience. Use these tools outside in the sand, as part of your child’s imaginary restaurant, or use them to play doctor – the creative possibilities are endless! In addition to this set, you could also invest in some children’s scissors or eye droppers for color mixing games and art projects. This toy is ideal for ages three and up.
You may have already discovered water beads or Kinetic Sand – but you have tried combining the two?
Kinetic Sand is an ingenious material that’s wonderful to touch, manipulate, and build with. It lets children (and parents) explore their creativity while enjoying the calming sensation of the sand and working on those fine motor skills.
Water beads are an ingenious toy that come as tiny little beads (this pack has 50,000 of them) and when you place them in water, they grow to the size of marbles. Filling a sensory bin with these is a great way to have some fun, and you can even combine these beads with Kinetic Sand. Use them to add some color, variety, or finishing touches to the things you build, or break out the tool set you purchased above and search for water beads hidden in the sand like buried treasure. This toy is great for ages three and up.
Alphabet Nesting and Stacking Blocks
This toy is a classic, and one that frequently gets overlooked. But stacking blocks is always a favorite activity of young children. We particularly like this set from Melissa & Doug, but you can find nesting and stacking toys basically anywhere. These ones come in a nice little carrying case, have a sturdy cardboard construction, include the alphabet printed on the sides, and stack up to three feet high. They’re a great toy for working on gross motor skills such as balance, coordination, standing, and squatting while also practicing letters and sounds. This toy is great for ages zero and up.
This is just the beginning of our recommendations this season. Make sure to sign up for our newsletter this month for another toy tip, and also follow us on social media (Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest) – we’ll be sharing five more suggestions throughout the month!
