As the holiday season approaches, we are often asked to recommend toys that bring joy and support a child's development. We're thrilled to introduce our holiday gift guide featuring our favorite items for toddlers & elementary-aged kids. There are so many ways to support learning and development, and the list below is a great resource when shopping for your child or for sharing with grandparents, relatives, and friends who are looking for extra special, fun, and developmentally focused gift ideas!
We believe in the power of open-ended play. Open-ended toys are extraordinary because they can be used in many ways, encouraging your child's imagination, creativity, and problem-solving skills. These toys ignite a world of endless possibilities, allowing your child to explore, create, and learn in their own unique way. In addition to open-ended toys, we've also included suggestions that encourage focus on particular skills.
Our gift guide is organized into Games, Fine Motor Development and Building Toys.
We do want you to know that this super awesome list contains Amazon affiliate links. By purchasing through these links, we receive a tiny commission that we put towards supporting our volunteer programs. Click on the image to go to the Amazon page for more details or to purchase. See our Sensory Gift Guide or Baby Gift Guide blog posts for more ideas.
Games
Fine Motor Development Toys
Wooden Ball Peg Puzzle
Use a tool or hands to recreate example cards. Great for fine motor development, and visual perceptual skills.
Pixo bits
Great for fine motor development, executive functioning, and visual perceptual skills.
Recommended for ages 6 and above.
Animal Lacing Cards
Great way to practice fine motor skills and eye-hand coordination
Lite-Brite
A fun way to strengthen Pincer Grasp, an important fine-motor milestone. Children use their pincer grasp to effectively pick things up and it lays the foundation for a good pencil grip.
Coloring water mat
A fun way to incorporate fine motor & pre-writing practice without a mess.
Lock and Keys
For ages 2+
Fun way to work on fine motor control, and visual perceptual skills.
Use them for a variety of play- hiding them around the house or imaginative play, pretending what they open.
Squigz
Encourages creativity, experimentation, and sensory stimulation.
Helps fine motor skills & problem-solving.
Great for bathtime or on any smooth surface, such as your kitchen countertop.
Play food Set with cutting boards
Fun way to work on bilateral coordination (cutting skills), play skills, turn-taking, social interactions, & hand-eye coordination
Chunkies- Paint sticks
Great for 2-6-year-olds, especially kids who do not push hard enough yet and are learning to love art
Building Toys
Develop bilateral motor coordination, fine motor development, and visual perceptual skills.
Listed in order of skill required from simplest to most complex.
LEGO DUPLO set
Great for bilateral coordination & visual perceptual skills
Easier to handle than small legos,
MAGNA-TILES
Ages 2+
Great building tool for a variety of ages as they don’t require refined fine motor skills.
They can also be used on magnetic surfaces- (fridges, doors, etc.)
This is the large starter kit. MAGNA-TILES offers many other kids, construction, farm, artic, forest that are wonderful for expanding your collection and imaginative play opportunities.
Note: there are many other brands of magnetic tiles, and they are not compatible with each other as the magnets are located at different spots on the tile. You’ll want to stick with one brand to reduce frustration.
Lincoln Logs
Children can use these easy-to-follow instructions as a guide to practice executive functioning skills, or play imaginatively and create their own structures.
Puzzie Creative - Building with Tools
Construction toy for children's imagination, creativity, hand-eye coordination, and logical thinking ability. Build with them to work on teamwork and social skills.
Knex - Budding Builders Building Set
Great for bilateral motor and fine motor skills
Less intricate fine motor skills required
Knex
Great for bilateral motor and fine motor skills
More advanced fine motor skills are required
Want more suggestions?
See our Sensory Holiday Gift Guide and Baby Gift Guide blog posts for more ideas.
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