Let’s Get It Together Holiday Guide
This Year’s Toys Selected by Ellen Metrick, AblePlay/National Lekotek Center; Fun and Function; Parenting Special Needs
Holidays are a time to get together with friends and family and gift giving is sometimes a part of the party. This year there are some play products that serve both purposes. Giving gifts that encourage inclusive, collective play experiences can do so much more than please a child—they can be crowd pleasers, too. Holidays are also a time of high emotions and we’ve discovered a tool to help children both express and understand their personal moods. Let’s take a look at gifts that deliver more than just fun to children with special needs.
Magic Moves
[1]Ice Breaker, Music Maker, Mover Shaker. Magic Moves by Educational Insights looks like a microphone but acts like an activity director leading the band, choreography and light show. Great way to get friends or cousins your child hasn’t seen in a while moving, grooving and giggling together. Offering 90 commands like ‘wiggle like a worm’ or ‘scamper like a squirrel,’ Magic Moves will get things hopping for the holidays and make any gathering a party.
Price $23.99
www.educationalinsights.com [2]
Find it at Amazon.com [3]
Kiwi Crate
Fun Art & Craft Kits for Kids. This sparks creativity and curiosity in kids and saves time for busy parents. Crates are designed around fun themes and filled with 2-3 carefully designed and kid-tested projects. All of the materials, mini-book, and 
[4]inspiration are included for hands-on projects. The crates cover a range of developmental areas and subjects including art, science, and imaginative play. They also include a Messiness Meter, Grownup Involvement Meter and icons indicating the development areas covered in the activity. Kiwi crates are a subscription service and each month they deliver a crate/box addressed to the child. An added bonus is that kids love getting mail!
www.kiwico.com [5]
Kimochis
Gentle Way to Teach Emotions.
[6]Many products teach cognitive skills, now there’s one for emotional skills as well. Kimochis by Plushy Feely Corp. has developed a comfortable way to teach children about their personal emotions and assist them in communicating their feelings. These adorable fluffy stuffies come in a series of shapes from a cloud-like creature to friendly animals. Accompanying the comfy companions are small characters with a facial expression on one side and an emotion (happy, sad, silly, brave, etc.) printed on the other. These “pillow-people” are prompts for children to identify their feelings, communicate them and begin the important steps to process them appropriately. Also, these facial expressions help kids begin to read and relate to others’ emotions as well. Sets come with stuffed toy, small pillow people and a ‘feel guide’ to help parents jumpstart the process. A smart tool to start building emotional I.Q.
www.kimochis.com [7]
[8]Laser Pegs
Brilliant Way to Build. Laser Pegs by Laser Pegs Ventures, LLC are a bright idea for a building set that combines lights and construction. Little builders can follow instructions and create suggested models or use their imaginations to create their own. Light up as you build or wait for the grand unveiling and switch it on at the end. Either way, Laser Pegs lights up kids faces with smiles!
Find it at Amazon.com [10]
This holiday give great gifts and help kids ‘get it together.’ Learn more about how these toys benefit children with special needs and other products at www.lekotek.org [11]. The nonprofit National Lekotek Center is an authority on products appropriate for children with disabilities.
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Heavy Herbert Weighted
Animal Lap Pad
He’s a bit different, but that’s why kids love him! Heavy Herbert™ Weighted Animal Lap Pad is a soft and weighted companion that children adore. Our 5 pound Herbert can be hugged, lifted and 
[13]carried for heavy work. Use Herbert as a lap pad to improve concentration during circle time and homework time. A calming companion, Herbert listens well when children read or talk to him in bed. Heavy Herbert supports sensory integration, speech and language, fine and gross motor skills and helps kids socialize too! He loves to travel with your child to school or the clinic, to visit friends and relatives and back home again. Spot clean with a damp cloth.
18”L and weighs 5 lbs. Age 3+. Adult Supervision Recommended. $63.99
Find it at Amazon.com [14]
Selections available at www.funandfunction.com [15]
Aromatherapy Putty
[16]Kids and adults love the benefits of this Scented Putty that combines hand exercise, fine motor strengthening, sensory processing and aromatherapy into one great product. Scented Putty hand exercise material awakens the senses and makes hand therapy more pleasant for children. Perfect as a hand strengthener and for pre-writing skills or fidgeting needs. Keep some in their backpack, at a desk, with their teacher, in the car and just about anywhere they need to de-stress or awaken their fingers, hands and arms. Using scented putty is a fun way for children to develop grip strength and stay attentive. 2 ounce set with four scents (vanilla, cherry, banana and apple) in varying strengths from extra light to medium resistance. Age 3+. Use with adult supervision.
Find it at www.funandfunction.com [17]
Ergo-Rite Book Stand Holder
Place a book on the Ergo-Rite Book Stand Holder, and quickly improve concentration and body posture. Made of wood, the holder features an adjustable angle to tilt the book as it rests on the 
[18]wide lip. An optional bungee string holds the pages in place. Ideal for children with sensory processing challenges, low tone, postural weakness and low reading endurance. Supports good organization skills as well. Portable for use in classrooms, clinics and at home — especially during homework time. Children can personalize their boards with photos, notes or drawings (sealant adhesive not included). Handcrafted and designed in Woodstock, GA to meet special needs!
Measures 12”H x 15”W x 4”L. Age 3+. $74.99
Find it at www.funandfunction.com [19]
Senseez Pillow
Did you know that vibration can provide a filter for overstimulation? These colorful, lightweight, fun-shaped vinyl Senseez Pillows offer gentle vibration when they are squeezed or sat on. Kids that have trouble sitting for meals, stories, car rides, shopping trips, school work, movies, or anything else will be comforted by the vibrations of the Senseez. Perfect for falling fast asleep too! Easy-to-clean vinyl with pillows that are small enough to take anywhere. The pillows vibrate for a minimum of 30 continuous hours, with the use of premium D batteries.
Find it at www.senseez.com [20]
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Do you have a product you would like to share with our readers?
Please send us an email describing your product. We are happy to review your product. https://www.parentingspecialneeds.org/submit/product/ [22].
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Toy Ideas
- 100 + “Mom Approved” Gifts for Kids with Special Needs [24]
- 9 Great Toddler & Preschooler Toys for Kids with Special Needs [25]
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- The Taming of the Toys [29]
- Language and Literacy Learning: Success With Technology [30]
- Interactive Technology May Be a Double-Edge Sword for Children [31]
- Digital Safety: An Ongoing Conversation [32]
- Life-Changing Apps for People with Disabilities [33]
This post originally appeared on our November/December 2012 Magazine [34]