Sensory & Motor Development Toys, 2 to 3 Years

Sensory and Motor Toys: 2 to 3 Years

December 29, 2018Tri-County Therapy Blog 2 years 24 months 3 years 36 months fine motor gift ideas occupational therapy OT pediatric therapy physical therapy sensory processing therapy toys toys

Best Toys for Sensory and Motor Development

2 to 3 Years

Are you wondering what toys to get your child for the holidays that she will love AND promotes sensory and motor development?! We have the perfect ideas for you!

Typically, 2 and 3 year old children are becoming more independent and want to do many tasks on their own! They like to experiment with all their emerging skills. In order to complete many self-help and school-related tasks, fine motor development is very important at this age. My top toy pick? Fine Motor Tool Set!

Sensory and Motor Tasks:

Hand muscle development/strengthening needed for handwriting

Grasp development for writing utensils

Grasp development for self-care tasks, such as buttons, zippers, and snaps

Separation of sides of the hand and sides of the body

Bilateral coordination for manipulation of tools with one hand and stabilization with the other

Scissor skill development

Force modulation skills

Upper extremity coordination

Crossing midline skills/integration of both sides of the brain by transferring objects across midline

Tactile processing by transferring objects in various textures such as shaving cream, rice/bean bins, or water

Visual perceptual skills: visual discrimination, sequential memory, figure ground, form constancy

Bonus Ideas!

Spatial Concepts: on, off, in, up, down, over, under, next to, behind, in front, top, bottom

Social: requesting, protesting, eye contact, turn taking

Colors: twisty dropper to mix food coloring for color identification

Quantitative Concepts: one, some, all, many, few

Qualitative Concepts/Attributes: big, little, colors, bumpy, smooth, sticky

Simple Directions: put on, get the pink one and give to me

Counting

Written By: Carleigh Brawley, MS, OTR/L

Pediatric Occupational Therapist

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Sensory and Motor Toys: 18 to 24 Months

December 22, 2018Tri-County Therapy Blog 18 months 2 years 24 months gift ideas language occupational therapy OT pediatric therapy physical therapy sensory processing therapy toys therapy tunnel toys

Best Toys for Sensory and Motor Development

18 to 24 Months

Are you wondering what toys to get your child for the holidays that she will love AND promotes sensory and motor development?! We have the perfect ideas for you!

Toddlers are on the move and their hand and finger control is getting better by the day! Toddlers enjoy problem-solving and like to do things with small objects. They are becoming more independent, but of course still need close supervision during play. My top toy pick for this age? Fill it up! Fine Motor Jars

Although Lakeshore recommends this toy for 3 to 5-year-olds, we think it is most developmentally appropriate and beneficial for our 18-24 month olds with adult supervision and guidance. See recommended activity ideas for this age range below!

Sensory and Motor Tasks:

Grasping development for pencil grasp and buttoning

Problem solving: grade the task by switching the tops- first use the big hole with the pegs and then grade the task up by presenting all objects and containers at once

Visual motor integration skills

Mobility, coordination, and transitioning by placing pieces on raised surfaces, like couch or play set, to encourage child to climb

General strengthening by placing pieces on raised surfaces to encourage squat-to-stand

Trunk control and proximal stability by having child place objects in containers while maintaining various positions, such as quadruped, tall-kneel, or half-kneel

Vestibular processing by placing pieces on raised surfaces to encourage squat-to-stand and therefore, increased vestibular input

Oculomotor skills by encouraging visual fixation and saccadic eye skills (tracking) to locate desired pieces

Vestibular processing by having child sit in long sitting position with pieces positioned between legs and container positioned between feet to encourage calming linear vestibular input during reaching

Crossing midline/rotational skills by transferring objects across midline or rotating trunk to place into containers

Bilateral coordination skills by manipulation of pieces with one hand and stabilization with the other hand

Tactile processing by placing objects in various textures, such as shaving cream, water tables, or rice/bean bins

Proprioceptive and vestibular processing by incorporating pieces into simple obstacle course

Bilateral coordination by adding a string to string buttons around 24-months

Bonus Ideas!

Social: requesting, protesting, eye contact, turn-taking

Quantitative Concepts: one, some, all, many, few

Qualitative Concepts/Attributes: big, little, colors, bumpy, smooth, sticky

Simple Directions: put on, get the red one and give to me

Written By: Carleigh Brawley, MS, OTR/L

Pediatric Occupational Therapist

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Sensory and Motor Toys: 12 to 18 months

December 15, 2018Tri-County Therapy Blog 12 months 18 months gift ideas language occupational therapy OT pediatric therapy physical therapy sensory processing therapy toys therapy tunnel toys

Best Toys for Sensory and Motor Development

12 to 18 Months

Are you wondering what toys to get your child for the holidays that she will love AND promotes sensory and motor development?! We have the perfect ideas for you!

One-year-olds are on the go! They enjoy exploring and cruising around the house. They like to experiment and get into everything so of course they still need us adults to keep them safe! My top toy pick for this age? Tunnels! This toy grows with your child! As he gets older you can add more play components to the tunnel to encourage praxis skills and sequencing. You can even pair it with visual motor or school related tasks as they grow.

Sensory, Motor, and Coordination Tasks:

Reciprocal crawling

Bilateral coordination for integration of both sides of the brain

Proximal stability development through crawling

Hand-arch development influencing fine motor skills

General strengthening and mobility through transitioning in and out of standing

Reflex integration through reciprocal crawling

Development of viusal skills as child looks ahead to crawl from one place to another

Sequencing paired with a viusal motor task like stacking rings or stacking blocks

Environmental exploration

Vestibular and proprioceptive input through crawling and transitioning through various positions

Bonus Ideas!

Turn taking skills: take turns crawling through tunnel with another child

Language development: place farm animals at one side of the tunnel and have child go get an animal. When she returns say the animal name and make animal sounds together

Creative play: pretending to be an animal crawling through the tunnel (puppy dog or cat)

Written By: Carleigh , MS, OTR/L

Pediatric Occupational Therapist

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Top Toy Picks: 3-4 Years

December 2, 2018Tri-County Therapy Blog 3 years old 4 years old fine motor toys first words gift ideas language language development occupational therapy OT pediatric therapy physical therapy speech therapy speech therapy toys therapy toys toys

Are you looking for toy ideas to foster language, fine motor, sensory, and gross motor development? Look no further! Here are our Top Ten toys for children ages 3 to 4 years old, along with a direct purchase link to make shopping easier!

1. AquaDoodle

AquaDoodles are so much fun! Best of all, they are mess free! Simply fill up the marker with water, and your child can practice handwriting and drawing on this fun mat. Different colors will appear as the wet marker hits the AquaDoodle mat. This is also a great way to encourage a child who struggles with handwriting to practice by making it fun!

2. Melissa & Doug Wooden Fishing Puzzle

This magnetic fishing puzzle allows a child the opportunity to learn hand-eye coordination and fine motor development within play. You can also teach descriptive concepts, vocabulary, colors, counting, turn-taking, and more!

3. Do A Dot Art Markers

These Do A Dot markers are washable and a great way for a child to paint and complete crafts without the mess. You can find dot printables online and help your child work on visual spacing and hand eye coordination skills as well. This is a great stocking stuffer!

4. Candy Land Board Game

Candy Land is one of the top board games in our offices. This is a great way to teach turn-taking, counting, colors, and more. Children can be rewarded after ‘work turns’ by taking a turn at this board game!

5. Learning Resources Deluxe Food Market Set

Pretend food can be used to teach role playing, work on concepts and descriptive words (hot/cold), model mealtime routines, turn-taking, vocabulary, colors, actions, and more.

6. Melissa & Doug Bead Sequencing Set

This Melissa & Doug sequencing set promotes matching, sequencing, and fine motor skills. The card combinations become more complex as you go!

7. Kinetic Sand & Folding Sand Box

Kinetic Sand is a great sensory gift that can be incorporated into many activities! The sand oozes, moves and melts right before your eyes. It flows through your fingers like a slow-moving liquid, but leaves them completely dry. We often put objects, letters, and other therapy targets in the sand to make it a fun game!

8. Learning Resources Alphabet Acorns

Alphabet acorns help children learn letter identification and much more. Bottoms of acorns feature written letters—tops have matching colors. Kids will learn as they match them together! Each acorn has a color counter inside that corresponds to the letter.

9. Learning Resources Muffin Matchup

This game is one of our favorites! Develop math skills with these mini muffin counters, along with color recognition, matching, sorting, counting, and early math skills. The Squeezy Tweezers increase fine motor skills and hone skills needed for writing

10. Play-doh Play Sets

Plah-doh sets are great to encourage creativity while building fine motor, language, and social skills. This play-doh set teaches shapes, colors, grasp, and other skills!

We hope you enjoyed these Top Toy Picks!

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Top Toy Picks: 2-3 Years

November 30, 2018Tri-County Therapy Blog 2 years old 24 months old 3 years old fine motor toys first words gift ideas language language development occupational therapy OT pediatric therapy physical therapy speech therapy speech therapy toys therapy toys toys

Are you looking for toy ideas to foster language, fine motor, sensory, and gross motor development? Look no further! Here are our Top Ten toys for children ages 2 to 3 years old, along with a direct purchase link to make shopping easier!

1. Jumbo Nuts & Bolts

This nuts and bolts set is for children 1-4 years old! It allows children to focus their attention on the movement and placement of objects as they become aware of balance, coordination and gravity. The jumbo rainbow nuts and bolts help promote the following: matching, sorting, colors, counting, shapes, and more!

2. Seek A Boo Game

Seek-A-Boo is an awesome game for children ages 18 months to 4 years old! Hide the spots around the room, play a sorting game, or jump from spot to spot. You can work on receptive and expressive vocabulary, word phrases, turn-taking, gross motor, fine motor, and more!

3. Magna Doodle

This Magna Doodle is a great choice! It comes with legs to make it into a small table, as well as a handle to fold the legs and carry it with you. Practice fine motor, grasp, and handwriting skills in a more functional way by having the toy elevated, similar to a typical writing space.

4. Melissa & Doug Sounds Puzzles

These Melissa & Doug puzzles are great for increasing child engagement and reinforcing independent play! Depending on the puzzle, your child can learn a variety of vocabulary, animal/environmental sounds, new words, word imitations, and more! He/she will also be working on fine motor and visual-spatial skills.

5. Lego Duplo Blocks

Lego Duplo blocks are great for children ages 18 months to 5 years! Many sets are available, which mean you can work on new target vocabulary, new visual-spatial skills, and more!

6. Doll Sets

Baby doll sets offer children the opportunity to develop pretend play skills, learn actions, body parts and clothing, follow simple directions, improve joint attention, and more! We’ve also included some little boy dolls that may be better suited for your child than a baby doll.

7. Melissa & Doug Lace & Trace Activity Set

Melissa & Doug makes several different lace and trace activity sets! Your child can work on vocabulary, visual-spatial skills, fine motor, and early handwriting skills.

8. Fine Motor Beehives

Here are two beehive fine motor toys that will keep your child busy while learning new skills! These toys promote the following skills: hand and finger strengthening for preparation for handwriting, color identification, counting, matching, visual-spatial, motor control, and more!

9. Funny Faces Game

This game encourages fine motor skills, brain & critical thinking, memory, social skills, creativity and imagination. You can also work on following directions, turn taking, and body parts.

10. Pretend Play Vet Set

This pretend play puppy vet set is great! You can work on joint attention, pretend play skills, word imitations, empathy, actions, and more!

We hope you enjoyed these Top Toy Picks!

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Top Toy Picks: 18-24 Months

November 28, 2018Tri-County Therapy Blog 18 months old 2 year old toys 2 years old 24 months old fine motor toys first words gift ideas language language development occupational therapy OT pediatric therapy physical therapy speech therapy speech therapy toys therapy toys toys

Are you looking for toy ideas to foster language, fine motor, sensory, and gross motor development? Look no further! Here are our Top Ten toys for children ages 18 to 24 months old, along with a direct purchase link to make shopping easier!

1. Potato Head

This is a great toy to promote fine motor and bilateral coordination skills. You can also work on body parts, colors, counting, actions, word imitations, and more! Store the pieces inside and the plastic makes it an easy item to disinfect and clean.

2. Shape Sorter

Shape sorters are great for learning colors and shapes! Also teach visual motor skills by matching the shapes into the correct hole.

3. Farm Animal Play Set

Farm play sets are great for receptive and expressive language development! Teach your child animal sounds, vocabulary, actions, colors, describing words, and more!

4. Fat Brain Stacking Toy Tobbles

This toy is actually great for children over the age of 6 months! Children can play with this until they’re 3-4 years old, or longer. It’s great for sensory exploration, fine motor skills, coordination, and visual-spatial acuity. The unique, grippable texture and playful curves increase tactile exploration.

5. Laugh & Learn Toy Piggy Bank

This toy piggy bank can be used to work on so many skills! We target animal vocabulary, numbers, colors, counting, fine motor, body parts, and more!

6. Sensory Press & Stay Sensory Blocks

These blocks are soft and encourage your child’s imagination. Your child can stack then up or sideways! Teach directional concepts, colors, counting, all while providing sensory stimulation!

7. Melissa & Doug Chunky Puzzle

Melissa & Doug makes several different themed chunky puzzles. You can teach your child transportation, animals, shapes, colors, and more! These puzzles promote fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, matching, and problem solving.

8. Wooden Lacing Apple

This lacing apple is very durable and helps ease into teaching personal/self-help skills, such as tying shoes. Your child will develop bilateral coordination and visual-spatial skills as well!

9. Stacking Peg Board Set

This stacking peg board set comes with a handy bag to hold all the pegs and board. This toy can keep your toddler busy for a long time, all while developing and strengthening fine motor skills, teaching numbers, patterns and sorting, and teaching visual perception and motor coordination!

10. Color Matching Eggs

This toy is great for 18 months to 3 years and up! Your child will work on improving hand dexterity, color recognition, and fine motor skills. You can make a fun game out of this do an egg hunt and match activity!

We hope you enjoyed our top toy picks!

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