Toys

Bouncy balls. Gotta love em. They come in all sizes, and as their name suggests, boy are they bouncy. I love this activity because you can be so concrete with you directions. Hold the blue ball with your finger and thumb. Now put the blue ball back in your hand and hold the red ball… [Continue Reading]

This can be a wild bouncy ball activity. Be prepared to chase balls everywhere. You stand at one end of a table with the client at the other end. You then roll Bouncy Balls one at a time across the table, and the client has to catch them in a cup as they roll off… [Continue Reading]

No therapy gym should be complete without some legos and duplos. They are the quintessential fine motor activity. If you follow a pattern or design, they are good for developing visual perceptual skills as well. Even without making something specific, it is fun to see how tall you can build before it gets wobbly. As… [Continue Reading]

These cardboard bricks are a large motor building toy that creates fun during other activities by incorporating the building and knocking down element. The best part about these bricks is that they are so much fun to knock down. When building with these bricks, a young child has to use both hands because the bricks… [Continue Reading]

I love Crayola Model Magic as a type of modeling clay, but I love it more because it has many other uses. As a modeling clay, it has more resistance than play-doh, so it requires more strength to pinch and poke it. It air dries, and is very light once it has dried. I have made… [Continue Reading]

When playing dominos in therapy, we don’t usually play the game of dominos . Instead we line them up to knock them over. Lining the dominos up on end requires fine motor precision in getting them to stay in place. It also takes eye hand coordination and visual perceptual skills to get the dominos lined… [Continue Reading]

The Kid-O Bilibo is a toy that is the shape of a turtle shell. It reminds me of one of the large pieces of equipment that I use in therapy to balance on, but on a much smaller scale. It couldn’t be used exactly the same, but it has its own uses, and imagination can… [Continue Reading]

A lot of typical play activities can be considered therapy.  Lincoln Logs are a classic toy that incorporates all of the best parts of playing with toys.  They use imagination, and when building your house, you use visual perceptual skills.  You of course have to use fine motor skills in order to put everything together. … [Continue Reading]

Keep in mind that marbles are a choking hazard so you have to watch little ones around them. That said, little ones love watching the marbles go down the ramp. There are some ramps with larger balls that are safe for the younger set. There are multiple levels of therapeutic value with a Marble Maze. Starting… [Continue Reading]

I’m a married spud, I’m a married spud. Sorry, quote from Toy Story. Mr. Potato Head has many levels of therapy. It helps a child learn body parts. Visual Perception and motor control are worked on when trying to get the pieces into the holes. Strength in hands and arms are worked on when pulling his… [Continue Reading]

I was picking up some sidewalk chalk at the store the other day and just happened to look at this little Connect Four Fun On the Run Game.  It is connect 4, which is already a great fine motor game as I discussed in another post, but this new one is smaller, with smaller pieces… [Continue Reading]

A toy shopping cart is a very necessary piece of equipment when working with pediatrics. It can be used for many things during imaginative play, and makes the child forget that they are working. When you go shopping, you can work on walking with the cart assisting. You will have to squat to pick up… [Continue Reading]

A tea party is fun for both young and old.  It is even more fun when you use a nice china tea set and fancy linens.  More motivation is real food and real drink.  Preparation and clean-up is of course a big part of the activity.  You can work on cutting food, pouring, opening containers and packages,… [Continue Reading]

Tinkertoys are a construction toy that uses sticks and wheels. The wheels have holes in them for the sticks to go into. There are multiple holes for multiple sticks and positions. It is almost like doing pegs with a purpose, except that with tinkertoys you use both hands to put the pieces together rather than… [Continue Reading]