Thriving Littles Holiday Gift List
This season can bring a wide range of emotion: from joy or anticipation, loss to longing.
In the midst of all, many humans are busier than usual. Everyday consumerism and a drive to do more, have more, be more tends to magnify and disrupt intentions behind the holiday season if we aren’t consciously checking in with ourselves and adapting moment to moment. Our hope this year is that your growth process to this point enables you to slow down, take in more of the moments and enjoy versus get swept up in the old programming and patterns. Here’s to doing less and “being” more, questioning the root of our intentions in scheduling or purchasing and sticking to what cultivates the more helpful emotions.
Some of the most enjoyable “toys” you likely already have - the boxes, kitchen bowls, water, packing material, standard everyday home items that kids tend to be drawn to and love. However if you want to invest or gift others, here is a curated list of tried and true gifts that you can use to take some of that Googling off your plate. All are Thriving Littles approved to not only be fun but also stimulating and engaging for your littles ones’ pleasure and development.
Thriving Babies: Gifts for 0-1 year olds
Quick video and a couple of previously shared ideas here
Wall Mirror:
Babies love looking at faces, especially their own.
The wall mirror promotes movement. It keeps tummy time engaging, allows visual tracking and promotes sustained attention and concentration.
This can be in your play room for years to come. This shatterproof mirror is fun to incorporate in toddler and preschool play making funny faces and playing dress up!
Black and White Cloth Books
Babies’ vision is blurry for the first few months of life; black and white images are engaging but not overstimulating for them.
Black-and-white images stimulate the development of the optic nerves and encourage young babies’ cognitive development.
These are easy to pack in a diaper bag and travel with.
Wooden Rattle and Baby Beads
So much sensory rich experience and information about the world is gained through oral exploration. These toys double as teethers/mouthing objects.
Multi-sensory clutching rattle encourages grasping and reaching, valuable for both gross and fine motor skills
100% non-toxic paints, dyes, and sealers to create an aesthetically appealing, safe toy for your little one
Thriving Toddlers: Gifts for 1-2 year olds
Rainbow Stacker
This is a beautiful gift that will be used for years to come. The quality is incomparable and not only be passed down from child to child but generation to generation.
This PASSIVE toy encourages ACTIVE children. There is so much that can be created and built with this stacker you can enjoy all that your child comes up with. Attune to the specific, small ways they use it throughout, noticing their individual way of exploring and discovering along the journey.
Some of the things littles are experiencing throughout: bilateral integration, fine and gross motor object manipulation depending on size of the building items, visual perceptual skills, and visual motor skills.
Suction Cups
I love the versatility of these cups. You can bring them in the bath, in the car, outside at a water table or even drink juice for from them.
Encourages fine motor skills, spatial reasoning, creativity, exploration, and experimentation.
Can be used in many open play activities inside or out and are helpful to keep kids entertained if they need to be more confined such as in a car or at a restaurant.
Learning Tower
Toddlers love to be involved in all that we are doing. Bring this right up to the kitchen counter and get them involved in cooking, watching, observing, any hands-on activities you can. This will make cooking time easier but also encourages kids to be more engaged, interested, involved, and adventurous around mealtimes.
The height allows different vantage point to explore the world, encouraging that independence they so crave at these ages.
Ideal age may be 18 months from 3.5 years of age, yet as always - this totally varies.
Magna Tiles
A fun alternative to traditional building blocks. Kids can get creative with these for many years to come with their structures growing in sophistication. The magnetic pull between the tiles encourages use of both hands (bilateral coordination), and colors bring a fun visual component.
Great for open ended, imaginative play with some structure and repetitive movement to guide.
Easy to store and keep organized.
Tunnel
The simple, pop-up tunnel: easy to store, easy to travel.
All of the activity options: toss a ball through to the other side, lay in it and roll side to side, crawl through, hide during hide and seek, use as part of an obstacle course, the list goes on.
Great prop in imaginative play.
Thriving Littles: Gifts for 3 and Up
Finger Paints:
Finger paint stimulates your child’s senses. (Touch/feel, sight, and smell). Kids learn so much when using their bodies and getting physically involved with what they are doing.
It is an excellent tactile experience and allows them to use their imagination and create. The more integrated a child’s senses, the more emotionally secure we can be.
Many kids love to get messy- give them the space to make a mess and avoid our “no"/stop/don’t”s. For kids that do not like mess, it is opportunity to grade the activity to their comfort level or just outside of it. E.g. Instead of using fingers to start, try a brush or sponge.
Costumes
Allows your child to get creative and try on different roles.
Doctor specific costume allows kids to get used to familiarize self with doctors and increase security around this often triggering theme.
When a child is engaged in role-play, it helps them see the world through another’s eyes which increases perspective-taking and ultimately empathy – whether pretending to be a parent nurturing a baby, a doctor taking care of an injured patient, or a firefighter putting out a fire.
Climbing Gym
Climbing is rich in proprioceptive input: input to the joints and muscles that is organizing and integrating to the nervous system. Read: calming, regulating, all of the good stuff.
Structures create vestibular opportunity via ability to hang upside down, sideways, move head in different positions
Navigating space enables kids to learn their body and interaction with the environment, planning, coordination, and motor planning required for all daily life skills that allow development of sense of self, competency, and integration of mind/body that tends to make life easier to take on for everyone.
Balance Board
Created to help children develop a sense of balance, stimulate their vestibular system, and gain a deep sense of awareness of their body and body parts.
Stimulates child development—both physical and mental—and offers open-ended play opportunities for toddlers, children, teens, and even adults.
Increases cores strength that helps prevent injuries and increase attention span.
Thriving Parents: For the Adults
Book (full list here)
Overall Tips for choosing toys for our littles:
Go for PASSIVE toys to encourage ACTIVE children. Think about skipping the electronic, light up, talking toys and go for the passive, simple toys that help little ones engage with the world and others
Interaction and connection sets the stage for little ones feeling secure enough to ultimately explore and play on their own. Engage, involve them, find ways to follow their lead and expand to bring the joy and “sparkly eyes”!
Choose toys that can be used in a variety of ways spark imagination, utilize their unique gifts, develop problem solving - and ultimately cognition
Until next time,
Thriving Littles Community