SUNRISE Therapies Last Minute Gift Guide: Gifts For All Ages & Stages
By The SUNRISE Therapies Team
Age & Developmentally Appropriate Gifts from an Occupational Therapists Perspective
During the holiday season we often get asked, what are the best gifts for building and/or developing fine motor skills, gifts that target imagination, individuality, and more! Here at SUNRISE Therapies we have created a list of some of our favorite items.
Gifts that Focus On Fine & Visual Motor Skills
Fine motor skills refer to the use of the small muscles of the hand for grasping, prehension, and manipulating objects for play, exploration, functional tool use, and activities of daily living. On the other hand, visual motor skills refer to the coordination of visual, perceptual, and motor abilities for task performance. Both come together playing a vital role in the function of daily activities in a variety of contexts (i.e. school, home, the community, etc). Here are a few of our favorite items that target fine & visual motor skills.
Gifts that Focus On Gross Motor & Praxis Skills
Gross motor skills refer to the use of the large body muscles (limbs and torso) for positioning (sitting, standing), locomotion (walking, running), balance, and coordination activities. Praxis is the ability to spontaneously sequence, time, and organize movements in a coordinated fashion to complete unfamiliar or novel tasks. Here are a few of our favorite items that challenge gross motor and praxis skills. For an added bonus, so many of these recommendations also offer proprioceptive and vestibular input!
Gifts that Ignite Imagination & Creativity
Imagination, as we know it, refers to the idea of visualizing or forming a picture in the mind’s eye of something that may not exist, has not yet happened or that one has not yet experienced. Creativity helps to develop a child’s social, emotional, physical, and cognitive development and we are here for that!
Gifts that Focus On Promoting Emotional Intelligence
Emotional intelligence refers to the ability to perceive, interpret, demonstrate, control, evaluate, and use emotions to communicate with and relate to others effectively and constructively. Emotional intelligence is something that all human beings can work on throughout their lifespan. Here are a few of our favorite items/ways to target that!
Gifts that Develop on Regulation Skills
Self-regulation is the ability to monitor, reflect, and manage your energy states, emotions, thoughts, and actions in ways that are safe and produce positive results such as well-being, loving relationships, and learning. Regulations skills are a combination of emotional intelligence and praxis skills. For those who are neurodivergent, specifically austistic, initiating the action to engage in regulation tools can be challenging. Some gifts below are more active (yoga), while others are more passive (weighted blankets). Please consult with an occupational therapist that really understands the mind-body connection and how regulation and co-regulation can be achieved for all brains and bodies!!
Weighted blanket (should be ~20% of individuals body weight)
Lycra swing (2 point connection is important!)
You can also check out our “Shop” page on our website for even more suggestions!!
Did we miss some of YOUR favorite items?
Please let us know below if we missed some of your favorite gifts that we can add to our gift guide. If not, we hoped these items helped to ignite a spark in your mind for finding a holiday gift, birthday gift, or a “just because” gift in the coming year. Leave us some feedback below, we’d love to hear from you!