Favorite Sensory Toys In Our House!
Most of my kids go or have gone to Occupational, Physical and Speech therapy. Usually these therapists have amazingly cool toys and equipment to help improve a child's gross and fine motor skills as well as decrease their sensory processing issues. Obviously, we all can't run out and buy every piece of equipment the therapists own because they are so expensive. So, over the years, we've bought some toys that we felt were necessary for our kids and within our price range. Most are toys the kids can use on their own especially as they get older. The youngest four still need help with the Airwalker swing because they are too short to get in it and they also need us to push and/or spin them.
Airwalker swing: We bought this swing years ago for Reagan & Kaelan. It is a 360° spinning & swinging toy. You can cocoon yourself in it's dark spandex and spin to your hearts content or lay down like the picture shows and have your head and feet out while swinging and spinning too. When you use a swing that can go in multiple directions instead of the standard swing of back and front, a child with sensory issues gets a lot more sensory input and it is much more effective. The brain can't predict the direction the swing is going to go and that is very beneficial for a child with sensory processing issues. If you enlarge the picture, you can see how we installed it in our basement ceiling's studs. They also sell free standing frames to hold these swings too, but they can take up a lot of floor space. You do need a decent amount of room to really get a big swing going.
Bilbo spin toy: Great simple spinning toy or just a great seat to sit in.
Rody horse: Leo loves to bounce bounce and bounce some more on this toy
Tactile tiger hand fidget: My kids love to rub or touch brushes and this is a great one because it also has the raised tiger to rub also. Very calming toy.
Chewy Tubes: Lily loves these, Leo will ptooey this in lieu of his pacifier. He prefers to chew on the pacifier (and destroy them) over any other chew toy.
Mini Trampoline: We have the Reboundair and a handle can be purchased, but we don't use one. My kids live on this thing. Great deep input and very calming.
Reboundair
Safe Bounce Trampoline: I included this trampoline because it is less expensive than the Reboundair & it got good reviews.
Bean Bags: We use these for sitting (my kids prefer softer seating to hard wood/plastic. You can also have your child sit in one and take another one (or a pillow) and squish them for deep pressure input. Leo loves this.
Airwalker swing: We bought this swing years ago for Reagan & Kaelan. It is a 360° spinning & swinging toy. You can cocoon yourself in it's dark spandex and spin to your hearts content or lay down like the picture shows and have your head and feet out while swinging and spinning too. When you use a swing that can go in multiple directions instead of the standard swing of back and front, a child with sensory issues gets a lot more sensory input and it is much more effective. The brain can't predict the direction the swing is going to go and that is very beneficial for a child with sensory processing issues. If you enlarge the picture, you can see how we installed it in our basement ceiling's studs. They also sell free standing frames to hold these swings too, but they can take up a lot of floor space. You do need a decent amount of room to really get a big swing going.
Bilbo spin toy: Great simple spinning toy or just a great seat to sit in.
Rody horse: Leo loves to bounce bounce and bounce some more on this toy
Tactile tiger hand fidget: My kids love to rub or touch brushes and this is a great one because it also has the raised tiger to rub also. Very calming toy.
Chewy Tubes: Lily loves these, Leo will ptooey this in lieu of his pacifier. He prefers to chew on the pacifier (and destroy them) over any other chew toy.
Mini Trampoline: We have the Reboundair and a handle can be purchased, but we don't use one. My kids live on this thing. Great deep input and very calming.
Reboundair
Safe Bounce Trampoline: I included this trampoline because it is less expensive than the Reboundair & it got good reviews.
Spin Disc: A therapist gave us a version of this and all of my kids sit or lie on it and spin spin spin. It has an uneven slope so the spin is extra fun and another great vestibular toy
Dizzy Disc: We don't have this (yet!), but I think it would be similar to the spin disc. I included it because it's a bit lower in price.
Plasma Car: I LOVE these next two ride on toys. The Plasma is very easy for little kids to sit on and foot power their way around in the house. The wide seat is great and it moves easily over wood or hard floors. It's great outside too. The best part is that it has a 220 lb weight limit. All three of my teenagers have been seen zooming around on them. A feature my younger set hasn't fully mastered yet is you can put your feet up and only turn the steering wheel back and forth and this will make the car move too.
Wheely Bugs: The wheely bugs come in two sizes. We've have both and both work really well for the little kids. Bigger kids (4+) should only use the bigger size. They also move great over hard floors and swivel on their casters to add to the fun. These are great for coordination and sensory input.
Finally, I'm including Lily and Leo's ultimate soothers during bedtime. They can't tolerate regular blankets or quilts yet and these work like a charm. There are several different versions of Little Giraffe blankets, but I've found the one with chenille on one side and satin on the other is their favorite. They love them and I usually find them wrapped up in the larger blanket. They have 2 of each size just in case any accidents occur (you know how that goes with little ones).
Little Giraffe Blankets
2 sizes: Blanky (14"x14") and Blanket (35"x45")
Comments
adaptive educational products
Thanks!!
Blessings for you and your family!