OT Related Gift Ideas at Costco… Ideas at Costco

So lately I take pictures of everything under the sun that captures my fancy so that I can remember it later and decide if I care. I’m also using it as a strategy to stop buying so much stuff. Sometimes I think I buy a toy for my kids because I don’t want to forget about it as an option. Pictures are better since I have enough toys to fill a freaking warehouse by now. ANYWAY, this is kind of a random post since most of these things I haven’t tried, but I took pictures of things that seemed interesting to me for whatever reason. Mostly stuff for kids, but a thing or two for older people.

These were called Superstructs and I know the picture sucks but that was actually a video that Picasa turned into a picture. Whoopsiedoodles. Anyway, I have not tried these so I recommend you read some reviews as they are relatively expensive, but they looked like really great toys in terms of fine motor, problem solving, etc.

I actually do NOT recommend this wooden responsibility chart in that I think it’s easier to do very simple dry erase ones or plain ones and not have a million elaborate little magnets. With that said, if your kid sees this and likes it, and doesn’t mind a lot of visual clutter, then go for it. Many kids do MUCH better when the expectations are laid out. (I was intrigued by the fact that “worship” with a picture of candles was included in responsibilities!)

I thought this counting elephant looked super cute although I have no experience with it. 🙂 Same for Lalaloopsy – I like that she is colorful, bright, large, silly, imaginative…

For the Tummy Play Pad…some kids are not huge fans of tummy time and this can help make it a little easier. Tummy time is REALLY REALLY REALLY important so if your kids don’t like it, you need to find ways to make it more acceptable (that may include a visit to the pediatrician and perhaps a referral to an OT, cough) and this is one way it may work by making it slightly less horizontal… Anne Zachry has some great tips on tummy time on one her posts on her OT blog. [Insert link here if I was not so lazy about searching]
 

These building blocks seemed like sturdy, high quality blocks that allow for a lot of imaginative play. You may need to role model this kind of play. Don’t get these if your kids like to throw things, lol.

Those alphabet puzzles look awesome, nice and huge. But interlocking is not that easy so be prepared to teach puzzle strategies!

I liked these monster art tubs. Good stuff in there. And wow, that’s a LOT of play doh. I actually prefer making it by hand (tons of recipes on Pinterest) or using theraputty, but playdoh has a lot of great components to it and if you DO use it already, Costco has a large quantity of it available.
   

So I took a picture of this kitchen set box because it made me laugh that the girl was cooking and the boy was on the phone….will the gender role stereotypes ever stop?!! 😉  Then Tana making herself some pretend coffee with a perfectly straight face using that kitchen set…that’s exactly the kind of stuff you need to do to make your kids (or friends) laugh. 🙂
 
I like all these little pod things…squinkies, zinkies, pods….I don’t really care about the actual circle thigns or maybe what it’s truly intended for, but I do love the tiny toys inside as they are great for fine motor skills. I like using them with tweezers or tongs and putting them into ice cube trays but the possibilities are endless. Choking hazards of course though so be careful.

I want that pillow chum rainbow unicorn super bad. It’s nice and heavy and very soft. Nice for kids who like a lot of weight as you could put it on top of them WITH SUPERVISION (not covering their faces of course)…they also had giant plush angry birds that I am sure will be very popular with many kids. You could play ball with them. 🙂
 

I liked these large print word searches…great for elderly people who love them but need bigger print, but also great to use as Hart charts or word charts with kids to do things like have them scan for certain letters, work on left-right top-bottom scanning, etc etc. So I wouldn’t use them as word searches necessarily but use the charts in other ways.

These number flash cards looked better than some of the other ones I’ve seen that are way too complicated. Didn’t get to see this in depth, but the cover looked promising.

Same for those alphabet, counting, and silly sentences boxes! Nice, sturdy, big, bright, simplistic….

So for much everything I just talked about….choose at your own risk…just my THOUGHTS as I was strolling through…you are still responsible for safety etc!! I just wanted to share that if you are a Costco member, they have some very nice high quality products at a relatively low cost, that would not only be a nice gift but a way to work on OT skills!