Looking for gifts that spark joy while supporting development? Our curated guide features top recommendations from therapists, designed to encourage growth in fine motor, gross motor, sensory, and communication skills. From interactive games and sensory tools to gross motor equipment and language-building toys, these picks combine fun and function to help kids thrive through play!
Tetris – Strategic Puzzle Game
This classic puzzle game encourages visual-spatial skills, problem-solving, and fine motor planning. Moving and rotating pieces to fit together helps children improve hand-eye coordination and cognitive flexibility.
Carrot Fidgets
The motion and sound of the carrots provide a calming sensory experience that can help with focus and self-regulation. It’s also great for fine motor practice, as children strengthen their grip and hand muscles by repeatedly pulling and pushing the carrots back into the base.
Emotions Thinking Putty
This putty has an added twist with emotion icons, which can help children identify and talk about emotions. Squeezing and stretching the putty also aids in developing hand strength and is a calming sensory activity for regulation.
Wiggle Car
The Wiggle Car promotes gross motor development, balance, and coordination as children propel it forward by twisting the steering wheel. It’s a fun way to build core strength and can also help with body awareness.
Story Pod
This interactive storytelling device helps develop listening skills, vocabulary, and language comprehension. It encourages children to engage in imaginative play and narrative skills, essential for storytelling and social communication.
Fluffy Slime Kit
Slime offers a satisfying sensory experience that’s great for tactile exploration and fine motor strengthening. Kneading and stretching the slime can calm sensory seekers while helping with hand strengthening and dexterity.
Nee-doh
This squishy, stretchy toy provides sensory input that can be calming and help with focus. It’s an ideal tool for hand strengthening and fine motor skills, promoting grip strength and aiding children in sensory self-regulation.
Balance Beam
A balance beam is perfect for gross motor skill development, as it requires balance, coordination, and core stability. Walking along the beam helps kids with body awareness, which is essential for daily activities and navigating spaces.
Big Feelings Nesting Fruit Friends
These nesting friends encourage language development through interactive play, teaching positional words and descriptive skills like “bigger” and “smaller.” They also promote social engagement and emotional awareness, making them a fun tool for building vocabulary and communication.
Trampoline
Jumping on a trampoline is a fantastic way for kids to build strength, improve balance, and burn off extra energy. The bouncing motion helps kids develop coordination and is also a great way for them to release stress and reset, making it easier to focus afterward.
Air Toobz
These tubes offer a unique sensory experience that can be both calming and exciting. The auditory and tactile feedback helps with sensory processing while manipulating the tubes promotes fine motor control and creativity.