Our Social Workers compiled a list of 8 gifts to help your child with social and emotional management that can be used at school, home, or in daily routine. These toys can help children who are anxious, cannot sit still, often present as jittery, and feel overwhelmed.
1. Fidget Tools: affordable and simple pop fidgets, fidget spinners, and stretchy strings. These fidget tools can help your child keep their hands busy in a classroom when trying to listen or at home. These fidgets can also increase your child’s focus when assigned to and completing tasks.
2. Stress balls: affordable and simple Nee Doh ball or water bead ball. These stress balls can help with fidgeting but also for emotional regulation. When your child is frustrated or upset, try a stress ball for them to squeeze and direct all their frustration to the ball.
3. Putty: affordable, simple silly putty or therapy putty. This is another way to help your child keep their hands busy when needing to focus. This can be used at school, at home, and in the car. The therapy putty can also help with emotional regulation. Therapy putty has a super cool feature where each putty has a different consistency level. When your child is feeling overwhelming emotions, they have a choice of consistency level such as soft, firm, medium, and extra soft.
4. Slime: easy to make. You can make your own creations of slime at home! It is a fun activity you can do with your child or you can also buy cool sensory slimes pre-made. Slime keeps your child’s hands busy when feeling jittery or fidgety. Slime can be used at school, home, in the car, or anywhere to help your child manage feeling jittery.
5. Coloring Books: These coloring books can help your child practice mindfulness. Coloring is an independent activity for your child to do. Mindful coloring helps your child return to regulation if they are feeling intense emotions such as stressed, overwhelmed, and frustrated. There are so many coloring books to choose from! Coloring books can also be used when your child needs quiet time or space.
6. Mad Dragon: This card game helps teach your child how to manage and express their anger. It gives tools and strategies to learn coping skills for controlling anger. This game can also help increase the development of communication skills and social interactions.
7. Kinetic Sand: Easy to clean up, helps with sensory sensation. Kinetic sand could be used as a fidget for your child to keep their hands busy.
8. Doll House: Imaginative play is so important for your child’s development. Imaginative play deepens children’s understanding of emotions and enables them to empathize with characters, fostering real-world empathy and compassion. A dollhouse can have the child practice skills such as problem-solving, mimicking reality, canvas for emotions, creativity, and expression.
Eyas Landing is a therapy clinic with a mission to provide evidence-based and family-centered therapy services for children, adolescents, and their families. The primary goal is to deliver relationship-based interventions within the most natural environments and to empower families to reach their full potential. To achieve this goal, our highly educated, compassionate staff dedicates time and expertise to create experiences that maximize therapeutic outcomes. The strength, determination, and perseverance of our clients are evident as they succeed in therapy, and ultimately in their daily lives.
Eyas Landing offers a wide range of comprehensive services including Speech Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, ABA Therapy, Social Work, Family Therapy, and Neuropsych testing. Services are provided throughout the Chicagoland area via Telehealth, In-Home, and in our state of the art clinic.
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