By Easterseals DuPage & Fox Valley Clinicians
If you are looking for the perfect holiday gift for your child, here are some gift ideas that will be both enjoyable and helpful for development as recommended by our team of therapists!
Pictures/Personalized Gifts
Personalized gifts, including pictures of family, can be used in numerous ways and grow with children. Babies and toddlers love to look at pictures of people they know. Children can drop the images into a small slot or bucket for a simple game as they practice saying and remembering the person’s name.
As children get older, they can also use the pictures to work on language skills like describing who they see in the picture, what they are wearing, where they are, and what they are doing. You could also play a game where you describe the picture, and the child has to find the one you are talking about. Or you can use a collection of photographs and design any number of your own memory games! Shutterfly even offers customizable matching card sets to make this extremely easy!
Another option would be this photo album from Amazon, which holds up to 15 4×6 photos and is made durable for children. This is also a great product to help teach your child to recognize faces and learn family and friends’ names.
Another excellent option for an interactive gift is designing a custom book with personalized pictures for your child. PinholePress offers several different variations of custom books you can make based on it’s intended purpose and your child’s interests. Some of the custom book themes you can choose from include: Names & Faces, Healthy Habit’s, ABC’s, Colors, Emotions, and more!
https://pinholepress.com/c/board-books
Balance Toys
Balance toys are a great mix of both functional and fun and come highly recommended by our therapists. This particular toy is a favorite for kids aged 18 months up to 5 years. The 12-inch ball is the perfect size for little ones to sit on and can be used to address areas such as balance, core and leg strength, body awareness, and proprioception. It can be used during everyday activities such as playing with a toy or watching a favorite TV show, and it keeps the core much more active than sitting on the floor or sofa. For an extra challenge, children can try bouncing on the ball while keeping their feet on the floor (with pillows around them if you are afraid they might fall) or reaching forward toward their feet for toys and returning to upright sitting.
Clocks
This link below is an excellent visual clock to support understanding of time concepts. This analog clock helps children see the passage of time while using colorful graphics for those who cannot read traditional clocks yet. The minute hand has a bee on it because bees move fast, like minutes. The hour hand has a snail on it because snails move slow, like hours. When your child keeps asking when it will be time for dinner, you can tell them, “When the snail gets to the butterfly”. Setting the clock up on a stand or with magnets on the fridge can help children always have it available.
https://www.etsy.com/listing/650832335/bee-a-time-keeper-clock-childrens
Another option is the DIY Wondertime clock, which can be printed as a pdf and then added to a standard clock from staples or target. The instructional video can be viewed below if you want to follow along!
Click to access wondertime_clock.pdf
Books
Cooking with kids is so much fun (and maybe just a little messy)! Having children help select foods to make and participate in the cooking process frequently increases their willingness to try new foods. Cooking with kids is also an excellent opportunity to work on waiting, following directions, impulse control, math concepts, and turn-taking. Best of all, it’s sure to promote lots of smiling!
This cookbook offers some great healthy recipes for inspiring and introducing young chefs to cooking. Each recipe is easy to follow and includes pictures for every step to make the process fun and interactive.
This book all about vegetables is another great option for kids, as it introduces vegetables in a fun and approachable way with both activities and recipes. The author has over 15 years of experience as a feeding therapist and picky eating expert. Her book includes fun activities like making beet tattoos and jungles made of broccoli!
Just Ask is a WONDERFUL book to give kids and adults alike an overview of different disabilities. It teaches diversity, awareness, acceptance, and inclusion. The introduction to this essential topic will help your child become more aware and open-minded to all kinds of disabilities.
Adapted Toy Resources:
Adaptive Tech Solutions: Adaptive Tech Solutions is a therapist owned and operated company that provides adapted equipment for individuals with disabilities at affordable prices.
Beyond Play: Features switch toys which are wonderful way to teach cause and effect and can help children develop a sense of control over their environment and self-esteem.
Amazon Wishlists
While you complete your holiday shopping, don’t forget to checkout at smile.amazon.com with Easterseals DuPage & Fox Valley as your selected charity. You can also take a look at our wishlists for therapist and teacher requested items to send to our centers. Both efforts on Amazon can provide year-round support of our services and programs. The featured items make great developmental toys and gift ideas for children of all ages too. Thank you for supporting us this holiday!
- Villa Park Wishlist
- Features pretend play toys, art supplies, bubbles and baby and toddler toys
- Elgin Wishlist
- Features books, movement and baby toys for use in therapy
- Naperville Wishlist
- Features board games and sensory materials to use in therapy
- Lily Garden Wishlist
- Features kinetic sand, paint and playdoh supplies, fidget toys and more for our infant, toddler, preschool, and pre-k classrooms.
Gifts for Infants:
Play sets
Children who lack fine motor skills often have trouble doing things with their hands, like holding a crayon, so they might enjoy toys with large knobs or big levers that will enable them to grasp them more easily. Children with social learning difficulties or sensory processing difficulties might prefer toys that offer movement or heavy work.
Research has found that toys that do “too much” don’t encourage children to use their imaginations. Stuffed animals that talk and sing only prompt the child to press a specific button which takes charge of the play scheme. Instead, look for a toy like blocks. Blocks can be stacked up to build a tower, knocked down by a dragon, lined up to make a city, the list goes on and on. The more your child has to problem solve and use his or her imagination, the more your child will learn through play.
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