Holiday Gift Guide: Our top picks of therapeutic toys to support the growth and development of babies and toddlers
Tiny Transformations is excited to introduce our Holiday Gift Guide; Our top picks of therapeutic toys to support the growth and development of babies and toddlers.
Newborn - 3 months: The first months are a blur! Our goal as therapists and parents is to help a newborn build tummy time tolerance, track objects within visual field and engage in simple tactile play with light textures and rattles. Ensuring your baby can actively rotate their head to both sides is key in preventing any future asymmetries. Tummy time starts right away. Using some of these engaging toys with lights and music will help to improve tolerance. We remind you that in the 4th trimester you too are recovering so take a deep breath and use this time to provide baby with lots of skin-to-skin and caregiver smiles as baby is learning how to use their eyes <3
Floor mat
Magic ball wand
O-ball
3-6 Months: Your baby is now more visually engaged and is starring to follow objects side to side while on their backs. Babies are learning how to grasp objects to bring to mouth and play at midline with two hands. They are reflexively wired to bring objects to mouth. Toys that encourage holding with two hands is great to work on midline orientation. Bringing hands to knees and hands to feet is another great strengthening activity. Wrist and ankle rattles are great toys to entice that movement. Reaching up for hanging toys and rattles while laying on their backs in also a fine motor developmental milestone within this age range. Maintaining grasp of lightweight rattles and toys is helping your babies’ little hands build strength and manipulation skills. By 6 months have your baby imitate you in banging cubes and cups at midline. At this age your baby will start to roll back to belly and belly to back. Continuing to increase tummy time tolerance will help to build that strength. Use of the water mat, bubbles, or the “prop a pillar” under your child’s chest are both great toys to help improve tolerance.
Textured Multi-Sensory Massage Balls
Rain stick
Bubbles
Smart Noggin Developmental Light-Up Rattle
6-9 Months: Our babies are now more and more on the move. Sitting unsupported and playing with Velcro toys or toys that involve use of two hands is a great way to challenge their core muscles. As babies begin to pull to stand and stand with support these same toys are a great way to have your little ones start to stand without support (and not realize it.) As your little ones start to crawl either on hands and knees or even commando crawl (on their bellies) crawling through tunnels and over ramps are great ways to strengthen their muscles and make it fun! They can now work with both hands or maintain a crawling position, while reaching for something placed out of reach. Working with both hands to stack cups, play instruments and place toys in slots such as the piggy bank, are all working on their grasping skills, in-hand manipulation skills and bilateral integration. An activity table is also a great toy for this age group because not only can it be used with four legs but if you take two of the legs off it can be used as a table that your baby can play with while in a crawling position or transitioning from sitting to kneeling.
Soft Indoor Tunnel
Velcro toys
Stack rings
Musical Instruments
One-Two Squeeze Baby Blocks
9-12 Months: Movers & Shakers! Our babies are exploring their environment and grading their motor control to improve their quality of movement. Soft stairs and ramps, crawling over couch cushions and in tunnels allows your baby to explore safely! Pull your little one inside a laundry basket or on a blanket for simple vestibular experiences and opportunities to actively engage their bellies and maintain sitting balance as they move through the home! Walking with support from a push cart is a great way to give your little one more independence to explore their environments in an upright position. By adding some weight to a push cart, such as filling the shopping cart with books or other toys is a great way to improve core muscle activation and will make it easier for your baby to control. Using the cookie jar to squat and grab a cookie to put into the cookie in another excellent way to work on hip and core strengthening.
12- 18 Months: Our babies are standing, cruising along surfaces, and taking their first steps! This stage is all about exploring, climbing, and walking. Challenging your little one by walking on uneven surfaces and climbing up and down steps for a slide are all ways to encourage exploration. Using tunnels that are placed on an incline is another way to work on core strengthening. From a fine motor perspective, they are placing toys with greater precision, ripping paper and making first marks on paper! Use puffs to work on that refined pincer grasp and pop tubes to work bilaterally to build strength!
Prettex My First Fine and Match Matching Eggs
Spray Bottles
Soft Bouncy Balls- 9 Inch Spikey Sensory Balls
Honey Sticks * early scribbling
Sidewalk Chalk
Pop Tubes
Babys First Shape Sorter