FUNdamentals 2020 Holiday Gift Guide
Happy Holidays! I hope this list helps cut through some of the confusion and head scratching that sometimes goes into buying toys for your kids (or family and friends). These are some of our favorite toys or brands that promote fine motor, visual motor, or problem-solving skills in children across all ages. We’ve also added a few of my favorite sensory strategies/toys. While many of these can be stretched across several age groups, we’ve grouped them where we think they would be the best utilized!
Birth-12 months
For this age, I’m a big fan of the Lamaze, Taggies (for babies who love tags), Fisher Price, Melissa and Doug, The First Years, Rainbow Toyfrog Store, Fat Brain Toys, Sassy Store and Baby Einstein
Here are a few of my favorite items. These work on early fine motor and visual motor skills in addition to engaging your little one.
1. Rattles (Fisher Price makes some good ones!)
2. Manhattan Toy Winkel Rattle and Sensory Teether Toy
3. Sassy Whimsical Wheel Suction Cup STEM Learning Toy (6 months and up)
4. Sassy Fishy Fascination (my son had this one!)
5. Black and white books (Usborne Children’s books is a great starter)
6. Anything with a mirror (Baby Einstein has a fun one!)
7. Anything they can put in their mouth (Lamaze toys-Capt. Calamari is a personal favorite)
8. Battat Activity Box
9. Stacking cups (The First Years has a great set)
10. Fisher-Price Rock a Stack and Baby’s First Blocks bundle
11. Tummy Time Water Mat (my son loved! -by YiCutte)
1-2 years old
For this age, it depends on the budding interests of your child, but here are some of my favorites! These will continue to build your child’s fine motor, visual motor, and gross motor development
Brands I love: Melissa and Doug, B. Toys, Fat Brain Toys, Learning Resources, Rainbow Toyfrog, Fisher-Price
Toys I love:
1. A good shape sorter (Melissa and Doug and B. Toys have some good ones)
2. Latch Board (Melissa and Doug have a fun one)
3. Scarves (for music and movement)
4. Large legos (Mega Bloks)
5. Pop up tunnels (like the one from Hide and Side)
6. Books that have flaps or things to feel (the “Never Touch” series is a personal favorite)
7. Cars
8. Trains
**when it comes to trains and cars, find something that is either a “pullback” toy or one they can push on their own to allow for their own creativity
9. Dolls
10. Animals (farm, zoo, dinosaurs)
11. Finn the Fine Motor Fish (Learning Resources)
12. Max the Fine Motor Moose (Learning Resources)
13. Pedro the Fine Motor Peacock (Learning Resources)
14. Rainbow ToyFrog Spinning Toy (a personal favorite)
15. Montessori Baby Rainbow stacking toys (Rainbow ToyFrog)
16. Musical Instruments (Fisher Price Classic Xylophone)
17. Squigz (Fat Brain Store)
18. Skoolzy Peg Board Set (great for hand-eye coordination)
19. Botton Art (Alex Discover, a game often in rotation in the clinic-18+)
Bath Toys (because I know good ones can be hard to find!):
1. Boon Building Bath Pipes (Boon Store, something I will be buying for my son!)
2. Nuby Floating Purple Octopus (Nuby Store, bath toy)
3. Lovely Monkey Caterpillar (G-Wack, another toy I will be getting for my son)
Craft/Sensory ideas:
1. Foam stickers
2. Dot markers
3. Kinetic sand (as long as the child has stopped putting things in their mouth, also a great sensory activity!)
4. Water Beads (again, make sure to watch the mouth!)
2-4 years old
Again, a lot of it depends on the budding interests of your child, but here are a few of my favorites! These are great for continued fine motor, visual motor, and sensory motor development. These are also great for that budding imagination and free play!
Brands I love: Learning Resources, Skoolzy, Mega Bloks, Melissa and Doug, Discover with Dr. Cool, LeapFrog, Top Bright, Fat Brain Toys, Peaceable Kingdom (a personal favorite brand for cooperative play)
Toys I love:
1. Spike the Fine Motor Hedgehog (Learning Resources)
2. Magfire Matching Eggs
3. J-Hong Matching Eggs
4. Froggy Feeding Fun (Learning Resources)
5. Skoolzy Rainbow Counting Bears
6. Mega Bloks building sets/tables
7. Melissa and Doug Wood Blocks
8. Blockaroo Magnetic Foam Builders
9. Cars and trains (Top Bright Car Ramp Toy is a favorite! Also, Battat Mini Monster Trucks)
10. Dolls and tea sets (Leapfrog Musical Rainbow Tea Party is a personal favorite as is Melissa and Doug Lucy and Luke Twins)
11. Animals (farm, zoo, dinosaurs-great for imaginative play)
12. Find and Seek Scavenger Hunt Card Game, Hapinest Store (great for 3 and up- and great during this time of social distancing!)
13. Stack Up (Peaceable Kingdom- a game I absolutely love!)
14. Feed The Woozle (Peaceable Kingdom-another game frequently in the rotation for me)
15. Thinkfun Roll and Play Game (Award winning and a game we often play at our summer camp!)
16. Squigz (Fat Brain Store)
17. Skoolzy Peg Board Set (great for hand-eye coordination)
18. Botton Art (Alex Discover, a game often in rotation in the clinic)
19. Magnatiles (a favorite of just about every therapist)
20. I can Do That, A Cat in the Hat Game (a great gross motor, direction following game!)
Sensory Toys:
1. Water Beads (careful not to have a child eat one!)
2. Liquid Motion Bubbler (Super Z Outlet)
3. Monkey Noodles (Impresa Products)
Craft ideas:
1. Handy scoopers
2. Jumbo tweezers
3. Pom Poms
4. Stickers (sticker books)
5. Markers, crayons and age appropriate activity books (OT Tip: preferred markers would be Pipsqeaks and if you get regular crayons break them in half, both options will promote a tripod grasp!)
6. Finger paint/paint/paintbrushes (an easel would be a great idea as well, STEAM Life has a good one!)
5-7 years old
This is when I really love to start getting into the problem solving, sequencing, and the fine motor.
Brands I love: Rainbow Toyfrog, Discover with Dr. Cool, Peaceable Kingdom (a personal favorite brand for cooperative play), Blue Orange
Toys I love:
1. Straw Constructor STEM Building (Rainbow Toyfrog)
2. Viaheart Brain Flakes (STEM activity)
3. Emido Building blocks
4. Mine for Fossils Dig Kit (for the Dinosaur lovers)
5. Jasonwell Aqua Magic Doodle Mat (can be for children older than 7)
6. Hi Ho Cherrio (Hasbro)
7. Operation (great for 6 years and up and a great fine motor game!)
8. Jenga
9. Glow in the Dark rock painting set (Creativity for Kids Store-great for spreading joy in your neighborhood.
10. DIY Slime Kit (we like the one from Zen Laboratory Store, but there are a ton out there)
11. Dinosaur Escape Game (Peaceable Kingdom, great for cooperative play)
12. Go Go Gelato (Blue Orange Brand)
13. Ring It (Blue Orange-a great game for 6 and up!)
14. Thinkfun Balance Beam Math Game (award winning, pre-algebra game)
15. Thinkfun Zingo (a game in my OT room!)
16. Skillmatics Dots and Mazes (reusable activity mats-great for developing fine motor control!)
17. Marble Run (Marble Genius Store)
18. Lego sets (whatever your recipient would prefer)
19. ALEX Little Hands Paper Bag Monster Kit (a great fine motor activity)
20. Twister (a favorite from our therapist, Hilary)
21. Outfoxed (a great cooperative game, another favorite from Hilary)
22. Parachute Toys for Kids (search this on Amazon, a great outside toy that promotes hand-eye coordination)
23. Fat Brain Toys Joinks (a lot like squigz but for older kids!)
Sensory Toys:
1. Sensory Water Beads Toy for kids (by LESONG and come in several shapes!)
2. Water Beads
3. Liquid Motion Bubbler (Super Z Outlet)
4. Textured Stretchy Strings (BunMo Store)
5. Monkey Noodles (Impresa Products)
6. Sensory Fidget Toy Set (Small Fish Store-this is one I like!)
7. Silent Sensory Toys (Born2calm-I use these in each and every session, my favorite!)
8. Unicorn Stretchy String Toys (Small Fish Store-almost exactly like monkey noodles, only Unicorns)
Craft Ideas
1. Play doh and any play doh kit
2. Markers
3. Colored pencils
4. Crafty scissors (like the ones from UCEC)
7-10 years old
This is an age that I like to play a lot of problem-solving and sequencing games/activities.
Brands I love: Thinkfun, Hasbro, Skillmatics, Blue Orange
Toys I love:
1. Laser Maze Brain Game (Thinkfun)
2. Thinkfun Swish (Toy of the Year Nominee)
3. Rush Hour (Thinkfun-a personal favorite)
4. Thinkfun Code Master (teaches programming skills!)
5. Mind Challenge (Skillmatics-reusable activity mats!)
6. DIY Slime Kit (we like the one from Zen Laboratory Store, but there are a ton out there)
7. KIngdomino (Blue Orange-Game of the year!)
8. Dr. Eureka Speed Logic Game (Blue Orange)
9. Connect 4 (Hasbro)
10. Don’t Say It (Pressman-a game I often play with this age range)
11. Lego sets (whatever your recipient would prefer)
12. Marble Run (Marble Genius Store)
Sensory Toys:
1. Sensory Fidget Toy Set (Small Fish Store-this is one I like!)
2. Monkey Noodles (Impresa Products)
3. Silent Sensory Toys (Born2calm-I use these in each and every session, my favorite!)
4. Unicorn Stretchy String Toys (Small Fish Store-almost exactly like monkey noodles, only Unicorns)