Sensory & Motor Development Gift Guide 2-4 Years Old

At this age, your little one is really mastering and exploring movement with their body! They still love big, gross motor movements, but are starting to develop and refine their fine motor skills too! Many of these recommendations support important skills your child needs, like using two hands together in a coordinated movement, strengthening their shoulders, arms, hands and fingers and maneuvering and controlling a tool to get a job done (like in drawing, cutting, eating, etc.)

Lest we forget…kids of this age continue to need LOTS of quality sensory input. Many of the toys encourage those big gross motor movements, because movement sensory input is strong and can be really helpful in regulating your child’s big feelings.

In that same vein, I included some toys that can double up as tools to help manage big feelings.

2-3 Year Olds

Wooden Lacing Beads: A classic activity that sets the scene for lots of other skills as your child gets older. Lacing beads helps your child use two hands together, work on muscle grading [aka how much force do I need to maneuver this object] and visual motor skills. These beads are extra cool because they come with a variety of textures, which is pleasing to the touch and visual systems. You can also experiment with stacking/building with these beads due to the flat surfaces.
Felt Busy Book: These are just too fun and whimsical to me. These felt busy books are often chock full of super intriguing fine motor activities that are oftentimes very calming for your little one’s sensory system as well. A high interest, screen-free way to regulate those big feelings.
Play Dough: Maybe one of the original “sensory” play items. Play dough is awesome because you get lots of tactile input from the texture of playdough plus a bonus of some calming heavy work as your child uses their fingers and hands to push, smoosh and pull. Use the code CLARE10 to get 10% off when you support fellow mompreneur Teresa’s Etsy shop.
Ride on Toy/Scooter: I think it’s important to include gross motor toys when considering your child’s sensory development. Sensory has strong foundations in our movement systems, so feeding those is great for sensory development. Your child will strengthen and coordinate their arms and legs while getting lots of calming input to their joints and muscles. This ride on toy is cool because it converts to a scooter when your child is ready! Score for some 2 in 1 toy efficiency.
Sand and Gel Timers: These are a little less “toy” but I wanted to include them because as those 2 year old feelings ramp up…it’s a good time to slowly introduce some toys that can be used to help process feelings. The sand timer kit here has different colors for different times.
Teepee Tent: I had a little tent as a child and I truly treasured that thing. It was very simple, but felt so fun and like I had my own little space. I think that’s important for kids as they start to get older, especially as a means to process their sensory needs.
Chef’s Apron: I am also plugging how cooking is the best sensory and motor experience. Engaging with food provides touch, smell, sights, sounds and taste as well as heavy work when your child is getting involved in smooshing, tearing, pulling etc. This also develops their motor skills of using two hands and improving finger strength and coordination. And the best of all? Exposure to foods is a helpful tool to prevent and address picky eating.
Massager : Another item you can introduce in a low key way that can eventually serve as a self calming tool. These massagers are fun and provide buzzing input. I usually recommend showing it to your child and then handing it to them while turned off to give them control over trying it out.

3-4 Year Olds

Water Wow Books: When I discovered these, it felt like a jackpot find. These are great way to slow down kids who are typically interested in fast paced activities. The magical cause/effect of colors showing up when you color the page with water is very enticing. This is a great way to also work on pencil grasp as your child has to hold a developmentally appropriate chunky water marker to color.
Sneaky Snacky Squirrel: These games are great first “group” games for your little one. I think having to pass the cute squirrel tong back and forth is very helpful to learning to take turns. Your child gets great hand strengthening by squeezing the tongs to pick up and place fun, colorful acorns in the corresponding spot on the tree.
Rubber Ink Stampers: This is another throwback to my childhood. Rubber ink stampers are a great way to strengthen up the arches of your little one’s hands while also getting some satisfying feedback to their hands with every push to ink the stamper and stamp on the page.
Wooden Magnetic Fishing Game: I LOVE this game. haha Capslock always comes across so strong. But I do really love this game! Super fun and helps to develop hand eye coordination and muscle grading.
Sit and Spin: Vestibular input (the sense that is activated when our head moves) is a powerhouse of sensory input. The first system to develop in utero as baby is floating around in the amniotic fluid, this system can be very calming, but also of course…very alerting. A sit and spin is a great toy to get strong vestibular input for kiddos who seek that out. It also addresses crossing midline and using two hands together, both of which are very important skills.
Bowling: Bowling is a great way to get your little one up and moving to develop motor skills and get the sensory input they need. Simply walking, bending and throwing the ball and setting up pins will get lots of that vestibular input kids often crave and need. Bowling also develops hand eye coordination in a very fun way.
Hippity Hop Ball: This bouncing ball equipped with a handle to hold onto challenges your child’s balance, core strength and coordination, while getting that movement input they’re seeking.

Time to get your little one on the move and start refining those movements that will help them to continue to grow in the independence they so desperately want 😉

If you have other big kids or babies (0-24 months and 4-8 years old!) don’t forget to check out my suggestions for them too! You can find each post broken down by age here.

November 15, 2021November 15, 2021

Toddler Sensory & Motor Gift Guide 12-24 Months

Your baby may be feeling much less like the snuggly newborn from days of yore and looking much more like a little “big kid.” As baby continues to grow, he or she will love to explore and maybe sometimes get into trouble with all of the new motor skills they’re learning.

The toys I included for your 12-24 month old focus on the fact that baby is learning to refine the control and coordination of his or her limbs and body. These toys offer opportunities for important developmental skills such as using two hands together, learning how much force to use to maneuver items and using their joints and muscles to push, pull and smoosh as they develop their body awareness (aka where is my body is space).

12-18 Months

Knob puzzles: These are a great starting point for your baby who is learning how to use more and more precise movements with their arm and wrist. Also develops sensory skills as baby learns how much force to use to place pieces inside the frame.
Finger paints: I know mess can be triggering…but letting kids get messy really is great for them!! And painting is a fun way for them to start to express themselves. If your child is hesitant, you can start by rolling a toy car or a ball through the paint and always having a cloth nearby to wipe hands when they feel overstimulated. This also helps your little one develop the muscles or their hands and using two hands together.
Poke a Dot Book: These books by Melissa & Doug are a great way to get that pointer finger poking. They also provide some satisfactory sound input as well as heavy work for fingers for your little ones who are getting used to being gentle with how much force they use.
Musical Instruments: This age is an awesome time to encourage your little one to make some music. Instruments help to develop and strengthen shoulder, arm and wrist muscles as well as provide opportunities for two hands working together. Obviously sensory input is sound, but it’s also good for them to use their muscles and joints to get some input there as they shake, rattle and bang away.
Wooden Blocks: Simple cube wooden blocks are a classic for a reason. Your little one will continue to strengthen shoulder, arm, and hands with picking up, dropping and stacking. This also helps develop muscle grading, which is our ability to know how much force to use to maneuver items. This particular set is dyed using vegetable and spice food dyes!! Super cool.

18-24 Months

Height Adjustable Easel: An easel is an awesome way to increase your child’s shoulder and wrist stability. Scribbling and painting on a slanted surface encourages lots of strengthening that will come in handy when it’s time for drawing and writing down the road. I picked this one because it looks like the height can be adjusted for little ones.
Bingo Dot Markers: These are great first tools for drawing and “writing” for your little guy or gal. Your child will have fun learning the cause and effect of making dots and drawing. These also provide some satisfying heavy work feed back as you have to push a little harder to get the ink moving.
Velcro Fruits & Veggies: This is a toy that packs a punch because you get hand strengthening, two hand coordination, imaginative play and some heavy work as your kiddo has to pull velcro fruit apart.
Suiggs: Have you seen these guys yet? I feel like they’ve gotten fairly mainstream. But, they are super awesome. Pulling and pushing these whimsical looking suction cup/alien antennae looking suction cups works on hand and arm strength, two hand coordination and gives lots of heavy work for your little one who likes to roughhouse, asks for tight hugs or has lots of energy.
Shopping Cart: I was between this and a ride on toy. Both are great for getting big movement (especially when you need to move play indoors.) Your child gets heavy work as they get lots of input to their joints and muscles with pushing, pulling and loading up the cart. For some extra oomph add some bags of rice, beans, ankle weights etc. to the lower compartment to really tire them out 😉

So now you’re ready to select the toys that you think look the most fun for your baby, knowing what sensory and motor benefits they’ll be getting as a bonus as they play.

Which toy do you think your baby will be most excited to break in?

Got big kids too? Check out the main page of the gift guide for my recommendations for kids 0-12 months and 2-8 years old!

November 15, 2021November 15, 2021

Baby Sensory & Motor Gift Guide Birth Through 12 Months

For young babies, their whole life is an abundant sensory and motor experience! They’ve exited the womb and entered the world, and often times they’re super excited for all of things that have become mundane to us.

So as far as toys go, I keep it very simple. I look for toys that are not over-stimulating, and that promote babies’ interest in moving, cause and effect, engagement, joy and exploration.

0-4 Months

Yoga ball: When babies are not so mobile on their own, a yoga ball is a great way to introduce them to movement. You can sit and bounce while holding your baby, you can lay baby on his or her back and belly and do gentle rocking movements in all directions. Best part is this item can grow with your child. You can roll it, bounce it, etc. as they get older and bigger.
Tiny Love Black and White Activity Mat: I thought I didn’t want an activity mat, but I’m super grateful we have this one. The black and white is great for when that’s about all baby notices. This mat comes with a nice little accordion set of black and white pictures which was great for our early tummy time days. The items that hang off of the hooks are simple and not overstimulating, and most importantly, I enjoy the little songs the hedgehog plays. That’s important for a toy that makes noise.
Usborne Tummy Time Book: I am VERY excited for my mom and dad to bring this for my baby! I love it because it has a mirror, which is an awesome and perfect tummy time tool. It “grows” with your child as there are multiple sides to the book, which evolve into a cloth book with pages to flip, etc.
Wooden Rattle with Bell: A friend bought this for my baby and it’s awesome. I like using wood/more natural and simple toys when possible. I like this one because baby can grasp it in the holes of the rattle, which encourages development of the muscles of the arch of the hand. And the bell is a more charming noise than plastic beads. Though, we have one of those rattles too. 😉

4-6 months

Colorful scarves: I was with a mom friend the other day, and she brought these out for her 4 month old son, and I thought–brilliant. Colorful so baby’s interested, and scarves are a lovely form/texture for babies who are just learning how to grasp things. Basically they are pretty likely to be successful as opposed to when they are trying to grasp a more formed toy. Bonus is you can throw these in the dress up bin someday.
O-ball teether: If you don’t know by now, OT’s love the O-ball. 2 for one. Teether and a ball. Also, the open web-like design allows for a little bit of help for little hands that are learning to grasp and use their fingers.
Suction Cup Zebra Activity Toy: This guy is awesome. It’s one part teether, one part rattle, one part something to swat at. Bonus is that it has a suction cup, so you can attach it to a high chair, grandma’s table, the table at the restaurant etc. And there is a little rotating compartment with mini plastic beads that gives lots of cool visual sensory input.
Touch and Feel & Crinkle Books: These books are lovely. I always have to touch every texture myself, lol. As baby starts swatting at things, they’ll be (hopefully) delightfully surprised to explore interesting textures. Bonus is that baby can help turn the pages with chunky board books.

6-9 Months

Roly Poly Musical Toy: This toy is great to encourage more controlled/directed swatting from baby during tummy time as well as crawling. Light bells or chimes is the old school way to teach baby cause and effect with auditory sensory input (pre push a button, toy plays music)
Melissa & Dough Stackable Animal Wooden Cars: Someone gifted us these, and I already use them with baby during tummy time. They’re fun because you can stack them. So I often will roll it across the mat to work on his visual tracking and then stack them up and knock them down to address his attention and cause/effect play. As he gets older, he’ll be able to roll them, knock down other things with them, etc.
Hand Drum: Another great way to introduce music for natural sensory input along with an opportunity for baby to play at midline while using both hands together to bang away as they improve their aim with their hands.
Activity Cube: I like this for (at least) two fold reasons. One is that as your baby is getting more sturdy during tummy time, they can use a cube like this to challenge their shoulder stability as they reach up off the floor. It’s also a great toy for your baby as they look for something to play with while sitting up. This particular cube allows you to take off the twisty-twirly maze, which makes this a great activity to practice dropping items into a container.

9-12 Months

Large Pop Beads: Being that baby is sitting or on their way to being a more sturdy sitter, using two hands to do something a little more challenging will work on their core, shoulder and hand strength.
Fisher Price Stack & Roll: This is seriously one of my all time favorite toys as a pediatric therapist. I use it with kids of so many different ages. It’s awesome because the “cups” that nest together also push together to form balls of varying sizes. So you can work on rolling the ball to each other, rolling to knock things over, etc. The stacking is nice because they “click” so they’re more sturdy than other stacking toys. They are a little challenging to push and pull apart to make the balls, so mom or dad will have to help with that for now.
Fisher Price Gumball Drop Toy: Dang, I really like Fisher Price’s toys for 9-12 month olds, lol. This one (though it has lights and music…you could choose to not put in batteries. Baby won’t know the difference) is super fun because baby will work on refining their ability to release items into a large opening as well as pushing down a lever to release the ball down the ramp. The balls are all very cute with captivating sound or visual input.

Phew!

There you have it. Those are my recommendations for toys that are unique/worth keeping around the house that will also bring baby joy as they develop their sensory and motor skills. Share this post with a new mama who is also looking for toys she won’t regret buying!

If you have other big kids (12 months to 8 years old!) don’t forget to check out my suggestions for them too! You can find each post broken down by age here.

November 15, 2021November 15, 2021

Toys for Sensory and Motor Development: The Ultimate Gift Guide Birth to 8 years old!

If you want ideas for toys that will support your child’s sensory and motor development and like to be intentional with your purchases, this guide is for you.

By and large I am ever striving for a minimalist lifestyle. I have anxiety and lots of extra stuff makes that worse. However, I also am a sucker for a great toy that I think will get a lot of mileage and/or uniquely suites a child’s needs or interests.

Overall, I stay far away from toys with lights and music because I truly believe kids need opportunities to create their own magic in play. (I have exceptions. Such as for kids with significant motor delays I think technology, lights and music [barring those susceptible to seizures!] give kids lots of bang for their buck when they have to work so hard to get their bodies moving!

Benefits to Being Intentional with Toys

Play is slowly making a comeback, and everyone will benefit from that! In play, children develop….

Attention skills
Self regulation and emotional regulation
Executive functioning
Language
Relationships
Imagination
Problem solving

You get it. Play is awesome. But being intentional about which toys you select helps you set the stage to promote your child’s sensory and motor development and lots of fun without tons of unused things gathering dust.

Below you’ll find my recommendations by age. For ease I created separate links for 0-12 months, 12 months through 2 years, 2-4 years old and 5-8 year olds. Click on the image for the list you want to be brought to that post. When possible, I included links for items that I recommended that I found on Etsy, in an effort to support small businesses. I cannot attest to the experience you’ll have with sellers or stores. I’m just showing you what toys I think will be awesome for your kids! There are also affiliate links from which I will receive a portion of sales.