Best Therapy Toys

Ask any special needs parent, and every Christmas/ birthday revolves around the question, "What is the best toy I can get for my child that can also double as therapy helps?"

Here are the toys that I have loved most of all that help lots with Chelsea's progress:

1. SENSORY/ GROSS MOTOR TOYS

Usually I take Chelsea to the park almost every day, but on days when I am feeling sick, or when there is inclement weather, we pull out gross motor toys! Indoor trampoline, squeaky hopper, hoppy ball, teeter popper, and sensory tunnel.

Her favorite is the sensory tunnel! I got instructions for that here. I'm no seamstress, so I swapped my friend making it for a carrot cake, which I am good at making! Barter is the best!

2. CHARACTERS

Whatever your kid is into- get some little action figures of! Dinosaurs, ninja turtles, sesame street, whatever! Chelsea LOVES her princess castle and plays with it just about every single day! Super good for imagination and role playing (Have the princesses bake cookies/ go to the park/ get on the bus)

When we do therapy, we use the princesses very often (for speech, say "Tiana go potty" or "Belle go up"), and their names were the first words she learned how to read!

3. BOOKS!

All sorts of books here- easy picture books (Gerald and Piggie, Dr. Seuss, etc), lengthier fairy tales, early readers, anything! Just read, read, read 30+ minutes a day!

4. SENSORY BINS

We have several sensory bins, but the favorite is the kinetic sand! We use little digging tools, shovels, pails, and I make the kids use it on the porch, because it gets EVERYWHERE!!!

We have also used dry rice, beans, and water. I really want to make a water beads one, but it is still a work in progress. Word of warning though- DO NOT use sticky foam beads!!! They are the devil and will make you want to die after one use! They get EVERYWHERE and are impossible to clean! 

But it is so fun to mix in things- toys, sight words, magnetic things, items for a theme... And then use those things to do speech "Wow, a ____" or "Look at this!"  

5. BUILDING MATERIALS

Cardboard blocks, magnetic tiles, Legos, Lincoln logs, generic wooden blocks, railroad tracks... The big-time winner at our house is the magnetic tiles. Pricey, but WOW I have never seen Chelsea so engaged in building things before!

Since the tiles are magnetic, they snap together pretty easily, and that makes Chelsea feel VERY successful and then she is willing to continue! She and her brother share them, which is another huge bonus!

Cardboard blocks!

6. BUSY BAGS

When we go out, it is always nice to have an activity/ toy that is easily transportable and educational, so I made a bunch of busy bags! I made my first batch over the summer, and the second batch in the fall. I keep them in a box and just grab a few to toss in the kids' backpacks on the way out the door.