Toys for fine motor development, sensory input, and motor planning

Today I wanted to introduce you to another toy manufacturer that I think makes wonderful products for children with and without disabilities. You can find Pencil Grip toys at both Fat Brain Toys and Pocket Full of Therapy.

Pencil Grips is a family owned company that started with just one item, a "Pencil Grip". They have now expanded their line to include many products that help with fine motor development, sensory input, motor planning, and more. Be

sides they are just plain fun.

The original pencil grip now comes in a variety of colors and shapes. According to The Pencil Grip's website "The Pencil Grip is a revolutionary applied technology that works with the body’s natural physiology to gently place fingers in the proper position for gripping. Allowing over a 90% surface contact with its soft comfortable gripping surface. It works for both right and left handed users." The Jumbo Grip is about 40% larger than The Pencil Grip providing extended comfort and support up to the second knuckle. It also can come in metallic--which makes it look great.

Snap Bags are 6 linking beanbags which offer a wide variety of play and positioning options. Throwing and catching are made easy with two Snap Bags linked together. When all six are snapped together they can be used as a shoulder or lap weight to provide calming proprioceptive input or stability. Children can work on fine motor control as they snap and unsnap the bags in different number, shape and color sequences With Snap Bags, you can work on sorting and matching with colors, numbers and shapes. It comes with a booklet of easy, medium and challenging play options. It also comes with a drawstring bag for easy storage.

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Make your own rubber band ball with The One Pounder Rubber Band Ball Kit. This unique toy enhances child development and improves motor skills. It is ideal for party favors, travel toys, stocking stuffers or children's craft activities. Just place rubber bands around the 1 1/2 inch starter ball and twist and double wrap the bands so they are tight. Continue to add bands until a desired size is accomplished. When it is done, it will bounce 40 feet in the air.

Haki balls look and feel like what it is - large pom pom ball made out of cut heavy duty rubber bands. Multicolored and spiky, it is great for providing tactile stimulation to the hands. Use for throw and catch, paddle games, juggling, pulling, as a hacki sack or a fidget. It's many rubber band edges also make a cool texture for painting and craft projects.

There are many other The Pencil Grip products that you may want to check out. On other days we have already discussed Bumpity Blocks and Gripables, both made by The Pencil Grip.

Fat Brain Toys and Pocket Full of Therapy carry some of the same products (the price is almost identical) and then each of them carries additional products.

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Finger Fidget Kits for children with Sensory Processing Disorders

You can start to determine what type of fidget you (and maybe you) really like by purchasing one of Pocket Full of Therapy's Finger Fidget kits. They have two different ones.

Why a finger fidget kit? According to the therapists that run Pocket Full of Therapy these finger fidgets can influence a child's level of energy and arousal. Many children have not found what works for them or what they have found is making their teachers crazy! Using these kits can help you and child discover which works best to increase alertness or decrease and channel excess energy.

The first kit contains 2 sets of 8 different small items, each providing a different sensory input. It costs $21. The second kit is collection of 6 small manipulative objects and costs $19.95. To find the two kits on their site, use the term "fidget" in their search box and both kits will come up.

You can also buy the kits and use different parts as stocking stuffers or small gifts for other people.

50 Toys for 50 Days week 5--Fidget and Tactile Toys

Next time you are at an adult training, conference or even a meeting, look around and observe your peers. You will find someone clicking their pen cap; someone doodling; someone tapping their foot; someone whispering a question to a colleague; someone chewing gum or ice. Most likely they are not bored, but actually very interested in what is going on. What is happening is that through their life they have figured on coping skills to help them concentrate. This why you can find so many fidget toys in office catalogs. Many people find it very helpful to keep their hands busy so that they can listen or think.

Now the next time you are in your child's classroom and see the same behavior, wiggling, doodling, chewing gum, you will know that the children are learning a coping mechanism that helps them learn. Unfortunately, a majority of teachers do not know this and stop this behavior. For most children, the teacher stopping the behavior is not going to greatly effect their schooling. But for others, children with ADHD or sensory processing disorders or other issues, they may absolutely need these tools in order to be successful at school.

That is why you are finding more and more innovative teachers providing fidgets to their students. They bring in a basket of fidgets and let the children try them out. What happens is that for awhile everyone is playing with them and distracting each other. But as time goes on the students who do not need fidgets forget about them and the students who need them, keep using them and no one really notices.

However, there are also non-innovative teachers, and if your child truly needs a fidget toy to be successful in school, you may want to get it written into their IEP to ensure they have the tools they need. This week I will be introducing you to a variety of fidget and tactile toys, that may help a child concentrate, may be a good gift for someone in your office, or just maybe plain fun for your family.

Great Deals at Amazon for Cyber Monday

The deals continue at Amazon

Great family owned toy stores

As you can see from the side of the blog, I am promoting some specific toy stores. I thought I would take today's blog and let you know why I like these companies.

Fat Brain Toys

Fat Brain Toys is a small family owned business started by Mark and Karen Carson seven years ago. They decided to start the company when they could not find what the toys they wanted for their own children. Mark and Karen have the same philosophy that I do that toys should be of high quality, open-ended, playful and educational. You will not find licensed, violent, or cheaply made toys on their site. After I made my list of toys I wanted to highlight in this year's 50 Toys in 50 Days series, I found that almost all of toys I selected could be purchased at Fat Brain Toys.

Kazoo Toys

When I can't find a toy at Fat Brain, then there is a good chance that it is sold at Kazoo Toys. Kazoo is a specialized toy store that emphasizes quality educational toys, award-winning specialty toys, and challenging children's toys. You will often find the same toy at both stores. Kazoo started 29 years ago as a retail store in Colorado. The retail store is still in operation. Check their website for address and hours. Kazoo & Company Toy is one of the Top 5 Specialty Retail toy stores in North America for six years as awarded by the Toy Industry Association.

Barnes and Nobles

Although this isn't a family owned business, I wanted to include it. We all know what Barnes and Nobles is. However, here are some specific reasons that I have chosen to work with them. One, they have started a new toy and game division where I have found a nice collection of quality toys. Second, they have much better synopsis and annotations of books than other on-line book stores. I have found that this makes it much easier to determine whether a book is one that I think the child I am buying for would enjoy.

Pocket Full of Therapy

PFOT is a site full of educational materials and toys for children with disabilities. It was started by two occupational therapists, who are still working in the field. As therapists, they have over 35 years of combined experience in pediatrics & developmental disabilities. They are both Board Certified Pediatric OT's and are experienced in sensory integration. I have found that unlike other special needs stores their prices are not sky high. Their website isn't as slick as others, but the materials are high quality and there is a wide range of both toys and therapeutic materials.

Constructive Playthings

I have been ordering items from Constructive Playthings educational materials for years. The items that are good for early childhood education centers also make wonderful items for the home. They are also a family owned company who have been in operation for close to 60 years. Their third generation of family members are now working in the business.

Leaps and Bounds/One Step Ahead

I purchased many items from these two catalogs when my children were little. Like all the companies above they are also a family owned company. They were founded by Karen and Ian Scott. Frustrated by products that looked great in stores and catalogs and didn't live up to their promises convinced the Scotts to trade in their Fortune 500 careers and started One Step Ahead They subject all their products to tough, hands on testing, by both professional merchandisers, but more importantly by an independent parents panel.

Melissa and Doug

Believe it or not, but Melissa and Doug is also a family owned business. It was started 20 years ago in Doug’s parent's garage, before Melissa and Doug had even gotten married. I have always liked their wooden puzzles and their pretend play toys. As their line has expanded, I have continued to find toys that work well for children with and without disabilities.

Amazon is on the list because, if you can't find it anywhere else, there is a chance that you will find it on Amazon, often through third party suppliers.

I have already written about Nomie Baby and Spectrum Hope.

I hope that you support 50 Toys in 50 Days and Let Kids Play by purchasing your holiday gifts through one of these companies. When you click through to their sites from this site, it doesn't cost you anything additional, but provides me a small finders fee.

Happy Shopping. Next week, we will be talking about fidget and tactile toys.

Ways to keep toys on the wheelchair tray

Every parent has experienced of playing the wonderful game babies play. The one where they drop a toy or napkin or whatever and then dropping it and then expecting you to pick it up; just to have them drop it again. When they drop it again, they give you that little smile that says "Your Turn".

It is a great game that makes every parent smile, the first couple of times you play it. But after 16 years of Samuel dropping his toy on the floor and then looking at us to pick it up--it gets old. We went looking for solutions to having always having to pick his toy back up.

Velcro has become our friend. We have put two pieces of Velcro on his tray and then put it on the back of all his toys in the exact spot to match the tray. We use very heavy duty Velcro--Velcro Industrial Strength.

One of his favorite toys that we attach to his tray is Hasbro Playskool Busy Gears (seen above) It is easy for him to hit the main button. He gets great effect with a music, lights and the gears moving. The music is short so it isn't a toy that drives you crazy.

Another way to keep a toy on the tray is using a suction cup. The Whoozit Table Top Toy adds the suction cup for you and again provides a lot of sensory experience for your child. It includes bead rattle, mirror, peek-a-boo star, and ribbon tags.

Another product to use is Dycem which is is non-slip matting designed to hold objects in place without permanently adhering to the countertop, tray, table, or other surface. It comes in rolls that you can cut to a specific shape or in rectangle or circular mats. It comes in multiple colors. One of their new products I like is a hippo made out of Dycem.

I hope these products help you stop playing drop it, pick it up game. I also hope that enables your child to get more enjoyment with the toys.