2020 Gift List for Kids 6 and Under (from your Occupational Therapist)

Whether it is a birthday, Chritsmas, milestone, special event, or any other time/holiday, shopping for your kids can be both fun and stressful. There are so many games and activities available to us at a variety of costs – but which is the best? Well we can’t answer that for your family, but as pediatric OTs and STs we do love to play games! Below we have compiled some of our favorite games to help steer you in the right direction. We have included a variety of engaging activities, games and books that encourage the development of specific skills.  Many items can be purchased at toy stores, websites, or through catalogs. Happy Shopping!

OCCUPATIONAL GAMES & ACTIVITIES LIST

Games to Develop Coordination, Problem Solving and Visual Perception:

• Acorn Soup
• Ants in the Pants
• Avalanche Fruit Stand
• Barbecue Party
• Busytown (by Richard Scarry)
• Cat in the Hat I Can Do That!
• Charades for Kids
• Cootie
• Crazy Cereal
• Crocodile Hop
• Don’t Break the Ice
• Don’t Spill the Beans
• Dream Cakes
• Elefun
• Elephant Balancing Game
• Feed the Woozle
• Frankie’s Food Truck Fiasco
• Gobblet Gobblers
• Gumball Grab (Lakeshore)
• Hit the Hat
• Honey Bee Tree
• Hungry Hungry Hippos
• I Spy Bingo and Memory Games
• Journey Through Time Eye Found it! Game
• Loopin’ Chewie/Loopin’ Louie
• Monkeying Around
• Mr. Mouth
• Pancake Pile-Up
• Pick a Brick
• Pop the Pig
• Pop up Pirate
• Q-Bitz Jr
• Shelby’s Snack Shack
• Silly Street
• Skippity
• Sneaky Snacky Squirrel
• Sorting Shapes Cupcakes
• Spot It Jr
• Sturdy Birdy
• Thin Ice
• Very Hungry Caterpillar Game
• Zimbbos

Activities that Develop Eye-Hand Coordination and Visual-Spatial Planning: 

Visual Control/ Eye-Hand Coordination: 

• Air Puck Hockey 
• Bathtime Fishing Fun 
• Beamo Flying Disc  
• Bounce-Off 
• Bucket Blast Game Set 
• Deluxe Archery Set with Target  
• Dilly Dally Turtle Target Game 
• Flip Flop Faces (Discovery Toys)  
• Giant Bowling Game  
• Glow-in-the-Dark Air Target Game (HearthSong)  
• Hopscotch Mat 
• Kids Croquet 
• Ladder Toss/ Ladder Golf 
• Nerf Basketball  
• Ogosport/ Mini Ogodisks 
• Remote Control Cars and Toys 
• Ring Toss Game/ Rubber Horseshoes  
• Safety Dart Board  
• Shufflezone
• Sky Spin/ Whistling Whirler (Discovery Toys) 
• Snap-Bots
• Spikeball
• Super Swingball 
• Suspend Game
• Toss Across
• Trapp Ball
• Zoom Ball

Constructional Creating and Building Activities: 

• Block Buddies  
• Design & Drill Activity Center  
• E-Z Build & Play  
• Gearjits (Mindware) 
• Georello  
• Gravity Maze  
• I Can Build It! Vehicle Set (Lakeshore Learning)  
• K’nex/ Legos/ Duplos/ Quatro Bucket 
• Light Stax  
• Lincoln Logs 
• Magz Construction Set 
• Magnatiles 
• Magnetic Mosaics 
• Make N‘ Break Challenge/ Make N‘ Break Junior 
• Potholder Loom Kit  
• Rainbow Loom 
• Remote Control Gear-Bot (Lakeshore Learning) 
• Playmobil 
• Pop Goes the Jewelry Party 
• Snap Circuits
• Squigz 
• Take Apart Dino Toys 
• Zip Track (Discovery Toys) 
• Zoob 

Activities to Support Fine Motor Development and Writing:

Pre-Writing Skills (Ages 3-5)

• Aquadoodle Mats and Pens 
• Art Kits (crayons, crayon rocks, paints, etc.)/ Easels 
• Basic Skills Puzzle Board (Melissa & Doug) 
• Block Sets 
• Button Art (Alex Toys) 
• Colorforms Big Wall Playset 
• Cool Tool Activity Set 
• Create and Design Drill Kit (Lakeshore Learning) 
• Crayola Beginnings Color Me a Song 
• Crayola Color Explosion Glow Board 
• Crazy Car Maze Puzzle 
• Dot Art/ Dot Markers 
• Dressing Dolls/ Woodkins 
• Froggy Feeding Fun 
• Lacing Cards 
• Learn to Print Practice Books (Lakeshore Learning) 
• Lite Brite 
• Magnetic Pattern Block Set 
• Matching Eggs  
• Pig Popper  
• Playdoh/ Silly Putty/ Theraputty  
• Playful Patterns (Discovery Toys) 
• Squeeze and Brush Painters 
• Squiggle Writer Pen  
• Squigz 
• Velcro Cutting Foods 
• Water Wow 
• Willy’s Wiggly Web  
• Wipe Clean Pen Control Books 
• Zoo Sticks / Fish Sticks/ Farm Sticks

For Sensory Motor Development and Coordination: 

Provides Organizing Sensory Input 

• Ball Pit 
• Blo-pens  
• Body Sox  
• Bop/Kick Bag 
• Chewy Tubes and Chewelry 
• Crash Pads/ Hot Dog Cuddler (Fun & Function/ Southpaw) 
• Cuddle Loop 
• Delta Sand/Moon Sand/Kinetic Sand/Floof 
• Foof Chair/Large Beanbag/ Yogibo  
• Gorilla Gym 
• Gymnic Rody Horse  
• Horse Tire Swing  
• Huggle Pod (Hearthsong) 
• Inside Out Balls  
• Jigglers (Abilitations) 
• Jump-o-lene  
• Kablooey Blocks (Young Explorers) 
• Massagers for Kids  
• My First Trampoline  
• Play Tents  
• Rock & Bounce Pony/ Rocking Horse 
• Sand Digger  
• Scooter Boards 
• Sensory Stepperz 
• Socker Boppers 
• Spring Horse 
• Ultimate Fort Builder (Lakeshore Learning) 
• Water Beads   
• Weighted Wearables/Blankets (Grandpa’s Garden, Fun & Function) 
• Whistles  
• Yoga Dice Game/ Yoga Spinner Game

More Skilled Coordination Needed 

• Air Kicks Boots  
• Air Pogo/Pogo Stick 
• Air Kicks Jumparoo
• Balance Board/Monkey Balance Board 
• Balance Stilts  
• Bilibo Seat 
• Bungee Jumper  
• Disc Swing  
• Door Pong 
• EZ Steppers 
• Flying Turtle/ Roller Racer  
• Fun Ride/Night Riderz Zipline 
• Hippity Hop ball 
• Inflatable Hop ‘n Go Horses/Unicorns (HearthSong) 
• Jump Ropes 
• Krazy Car/ Radio Flyer Cyclone 
• Lightning Pedal Go-Kart/ Sirocco Pedal Go-Kart 
• Moon Bounce Shoes/ Bouncy Shoes (HearthSong) 
• Plasma Car  
• Razor Scooters 
• Rope Ladder 
• Sit & Spin  
• Skip It  
• Slackline (Beginners is suggested for most of our kids)  
• Sleds & Snow Tubes/ Fold and Stow Snow Scooter 
• Sports Boxing Child Punching Bag 
• Sumo Bumper Bopper 
• Super Skipper 
• Teeter Popper 
• Twister 
• Wheel Walker (HearthSong) 

We know this list is long, but we just couldn’t cut it down any more. Don’t be afroad to ask your therapist which games are most appropriate for your child. And check back in soon for some of our featured favorites highlighted in upcoming posts!

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