Some favorite occupational therapy toys aka popular Christmas gifts :)

I know there are a lot of toy posts floating around out there, and I’m sure they are all way better than mine. But I did want to share three of my favorite things – play visions, safari, and zinkies. I use all of these quite a lot in occupational therapy with my kids and I am a big fan and my kids always want to keep them too.

Nobody is (unfortunately) paying me to say any of that either. 🙂 I can probably put together a more thorough post with more favorites soon, but this is just a quickie. As always use with caution, remember choking hazards, blah blah blah insert common sense disclaimer here. 🙂

NOTE: All these toys are intended for children who do NOT put things in their mouth anymore!! I’m thinking at least preschool age, I use it for elementary school aged kids.

I LOOOVE my play visions stretchy mice and cheese, although all my kids only know it as “Monster cheese” 🙂 I don’t use the mice that come with it, I just use tiny creatures (Zinkies, Safari figurines, etc) and the cheese eats it all up then “throws it up”. 🙂 This is a great toy that works on bilateral coordination, motor planning, fine motor skills, etc. I attached an Amazon affiliate link but if you want to go straight to the original source, here it is:
http://www.playvisions.com/product/142635/563/_/Stretchy_Mice_and_Cheese

If you just check out playvisions.com in general they have some pretty neat stuff. I’m the biggest fan of their stretchy hyperflex stuff, but they have a lot of cool products.

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“Goodluck Mini Fun Pack” by Safari LTD
This is another one of my favorite things. I attached a convenient Amazon affiliates link where you can get a little pack, but if you want to go straight to the source:

http://safariltd.shptron.com/p/good-luck-minis-fun-pack/replicas_bags-bins-sets_good-luck-minis?pp=48&sort_selection=recommended&pp=48&sort_selection=recommended

My kids beg me to get these as prizes all the time (but I say no because they are a tiny bit expensive to give away one by one!) They are beautifully made and while they seem a little expensive considering how tiny they are, they are high quality and cherished. It’s surprisingly hard to find high quality tiny items. I use them all the time in games whether its to work on lefts, rights, centers, or following directions, or manipulating, putting into “bed” (ice cube trays), putting them into monster cheese etc.

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Zinkies! These are baby squinkies. They are super cute and tiny. Kids love these too.

https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/gp/associates/network/build-links/individual/get-html.html?ie=UTF8&asin=B0085M4UK6&marketplace=amazon

This is an Amazon affiliate link (one for girls one, one for boys one, but there are lots of other ones if you just search for Zinkies on Amazon.com) because frankly I don’t know about the original source, I just found them at a Michael’s. 🙂 I looove my Zinkies. Great for in-hand manipulation skills, imagination, etc etc. 

Nov 30, 2012 | Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: 3