Every year parents of children wrestle with what would be appropriate gifts to get their children which will enhance their development.  Once the “toy of the season” or the special gift that every child wants is secured, parents often want to choose something to put under the tree that will help their child’s motor skills, imagination, or cognitive skills.  I also find that parents often ask if their child with special needs would benefit from some specialized toy or material.  The answer to this depends on the child, but quite often children with Down syndrome would benefit from the same type of toys as children without the syndrome.  That said, there are a plethora of toys out there which are not as high quality or preferable as other toys for ALL children.  Below is a list of gift ideas that would be beneficial and the areas that the materials target.

Gross Motor Toys

These toys address movement skills: transitioning, balance, righting reactions, mobility, etc.  You need to think about where you would place and use such items as they often require more room requirements as other toys.  Make sure that you have thought this through and any safety plans you may want to put in place.  Some items are more appropriate than others for the stage your child is in and thus advise from a physical therapist would be useful (i.e., sometimes your therapist might advise to wait before weight bearing.)  Some useful toys in this category include:

• •    Large inflatable for bouncing on (great for balancing and core strength for younger children)                         
• •    Tricycle/   Push and pull toys (weighted with sand where possible)                                 
• •    Swing / Climbing frame / Slide                      
• •    Balls (with sounds, textures, lights, etc. for extra sensory input)
• •    Sit and Ride toys (weight them down with sand)
• •    Sit-n-Spin                                 
• •    Rocking horse
• •    Trampoline (needs close supervision)

Fine Motor Toys

These toys address small muscles in the hands and how the hands are used.  Before the child is ready to pick up a pencil there are plenty of playful activities you can do to help build up strength and dexterity.  Note: Children need to have good core strength to be able to use their hands well so be sure that your child is positioned well before engaging in materials requiring exploration and manipulation with hands.  This means that their trunks are stabilized so that the hands are free.  If sitting, your child should have feet flat on a surface (floor or phone book) and the hips might need stabilizing with rolled towels if s/he is not sitting well.  Some useful toys include:

• •    Finger paint (also a good sensory material )
• •    Peg board   (chunky pegs for young child)                                                           
• •    Large shallow plastic box for indoor sand/ rice play (bury different items in there along with cups and bowls for pouring)  
• •    Chalk and chalkboard (vertical surfaces better for young child)
• •    Write on wipe off board (vertical surfaces better for young child)
• •    Finger and hand puppets
• •    Lacing toys (3 years+)
• •    Water guns for bath time target shooting (not for the feint hearted)
• •    Toys with small buttons to press
• •    Toys with items to pull or turn
• •    Inset puzzles (go for categories rather than character themes)
• •    Jigsaws (again, go for educational rather than fashionable themes)
• •    Toys that require squeezing- bubble blower/ plant mister
• •    Blocks
• •    Pens/ crayons/ paint (go for chunky items)
• •    MegaBloks/ Duplo
• •    Playdough

Cognitive/ Language/ Speech

These items are self explanatory.  I like toys that are not what I term “fussy”, that is they do not target a mixture of concepts like colors, shapes, numerals, etc in the same toy.  Less is more and toys that clearly target one concept at a time is easier to process.  I have seen many young children not engage with a toy that had too much sensory information going on at the same time. 

• •    Lotto games
• •    Books
• •    Music cassettes (baroque, classical, children’s, etc.) 
• •    Musical instruments
• •    Dolls (you should have at least one for pretend play practice- very important
•     for language skills)  Dolls that talk can help hold attention.
• •    Doll’s high chair, bath, bed and simple accessories
• •    Unfussy doll’s house (3 years+)
• •    More advanced home play for older children (e.g. vacuum, etc.)
• •    Marble run toy
• •    Farm/ wild animals
• •    Simple, clear posters (i.e. don’t get poster combining colors and shapes)
• •    Cassette player with microphone
• •    Simple kitchen set with play food
• •    Simple tea set
• •    Simple vehicles and possibly a car play mat
• •    Cause and effect toys (always fun even with older kids)
• •    Sorting and stacking toys
• •    Simple graduated size toys
• •    Toys featuring opposites (e.g. cold, hot)
• •    Toys featuring sequences of events (3 years+)
• •    Toys featuring things that go together (e.g. hand and glove)
• •    Soundtracks games (matching sounds to photos)
• •    Cassette player with microphone
• •    Echo microphone
• •    Voice modulating microphone

Emotional/ Social

 

 

• •    Large inflatable for bouncing on (great for balancing and core strength for younger children)                         
• •    Tricycle/   Push and pull toys (weighted with sand where possible)                                 
• •    Swing / Climbing frame / Slide                      
• •    Balls (with sounds, textures, lights, etc. for extra sensory input)
• •    Sit and Ride toys (weight them down with sand)
• •    Sit-n-Spin                                 
• •    Rocking horse
• •    Trampoline (needs close supervision)

Fine Motor Toys

These toys address small muscles in the hands and how the hands are used.  Before the child is ready to pick up a pencil there are plenty of playful activities you can do to help build up strength and dexterity.  Note: Children need to have good core strength to be able to use their hands well so be sure that your child is positioned well before engaging in materials requiring exploration and manipulation with hands.  This means that their trunks are stabilized so that the hands are free.  If sitting, your child should have feet flat on a surface (floor or phone book) and the hips might need stabilizing with rolled towels if s/he is not sitting well.  Some useful toys include:

• •    Finger paint (also a good sensory material )
• •    Peg board   (chunky pegs for young child)                                                           
• •    Large shallow plastic box for indoor sand/ rice play (bury different items in there along with cups and bowls for pouring)  
• •    Chalk and chalkboard (vertical surfaces better for young child)
• •    Write on wipe off board (vertical surfaces better for young child)
• •    Finger and hand puppets
• •    Lacing toys (3 years+)
• •    Water guns for bath time target shooting (not for the feint hearted)
• •    Toys with small buttons to press
• •    Toys with items to pull or turn
• •    Inset puzzles (go for categories rather than character themes)
• •    Jigsaws (again, go for educational rather than fashionable themes)
• •    Toys that require squeezing- bubble blower/ plant mister
• •    Blocks
• •    Pens/ crayons/ paint (go for chunky items)
• •    MegaBloks/ Duplo
• •    Playdough

Cognitive/ Language/ Speech

These items are self explanatory.  I like toys that are not what I term “fussy”, that is they do not target a mixture of concepts like colors, shapes, numerals, etc in the same toy.  Less is more and toys that clearly target one concept at a time is easier to process.  I have seen many young children not engage with a toy that had too much sensory information going on at the same time. 

• •    Lotto games
• •    Books
• •    Music cassettes (baroque, classical, children’s, etc.) 
• •    Musical instruments
• •    Dolls (you should have at least one for pretend play practice- very important
•     for language skills)  Dolls that talk can help hold attention.
• •    Doll’s high chair, bath, bed and simple accessories
• •    Unfussy doll’s house (3 years+)
• •    More advanced home play for older children (e.g. vacuum, etc.)
• •    Marble run toy
• •    Farm/ wild animals
• •    Simple, clear posters (i.e. don’t get poster combining colors and shapes)
• •    Cassette player with microphone
• •    Simple kitchen set with play food
• •    Simple tea set
• •    Simple vehicles and possibly a car play mat
• •    Cause and effect toys (always fun even with older kids)
• •    Sorting and stacking toys
• •    Simple graduated size toys
• •    Toys featuring opposites (e.g. cold, hot)
• •    Toys featuring sequences of events (3 years+)
• •    Toys featuring things that go together (e.g. hand and glove)
• •    Soundtracks games (matching sounds to photos)
• •    Cassette player with microphone
• •    Echo microphone
• •    Voice modulating microphone

Emotional/ Social
These materials are good for promoting turn taking and self awareness.

• •    Mirrors
• •    Toys featuring faces with clear basic emotions (e.g. happy, sad, mad)
• •    Gift voucher for group play experiences
• •    Dress-up clothes
• •    Board games and other toys that promote turn taking

 

Self help

Everyone knows how important it is for young children to do things on their own.  Whether they are able to or not, toddlers and preschoolers want to do things on their own.  The time to promote independence is from birth! 

• •    Unfussy toy for teaching dressing skills
• •    Small table and chair
• •    Silverware/ feeding set featuring a character that will motivate your child to eat or drink
• •    Small, light graspable toys that can be added to zips for easy opening
• •    Clothes that are easy for the child to put on/ take off
• •    Low-level coat peg for hall or bedroom

© Ann Haig Wheeler, DSC 2009

All rights reserved. No part of this work can be reproduced in any form, or by any means without the express permission of the author or by Down Syndrome Centre info@downsyndromecentre.ie

 

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