2025 Therapists- Approved Gift Guide
- beelievepediatric
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
Finding the perfect gift for your kiddo can be tough, but we’re here to make it easier! Our therapists hand-picked their favorite toys, tools, and sensory-friendly goodies that support play, learning, motor skills, and confidence. Thoughtful, fun, and development-boosting… the best kind of gifts!
Ready to shop smarter this season? Let’s dive in! Each item name is clickable so you can shop with ease!
Physical Therapist Approved- For Babies Under 12 Months
Supporting your little one’s earliest milestones starts with the right kind of play! Each item below is PT-approved to encourage tummy time, rolling, reaching, and building strong foundational skills.
Great to begin working on grasp and reaching toward midline!
Great seat that encourages upright posture and healthy hip development!
Great for promotion of tummy time while encouraging fine motor development and exposure to different textures!
Great to promote hands to feet play and to encourage awareness of hands!
Great for promoting tummy time and standing! Also provides sensory exploration and cause and effect play!
Physical Therapist Approved- For Toddlers 12+ Months
Busy toddlers need toys that challenge balance, coordination, and confidence. These PT-recommended favorites are perfect for active play and big developmental leaps.
Great to work on balance, coordination, motor planning, and body awareness!
Great to implement single leg balance and coordination as well as introducting ball skills.
Perfect to work on dynamic sitting balance and core strengthening.
Great to start working on pulling to stand and walking independently while allowing toddlers hip muscles to develop.
Physical Therapist Approved- For School Age 4+
These choices help growing kiddos build strength, motor skills, and body awareness, all while having fun!
Great for jumping practice to promote coordination and leg strength!
A fun way to work on bilateral coordination and leg strength!
Great to work on balance, coordination, motor planning, and body awareness!
Great to work on coordination and leg strengthening.
Perfect to work on dynamic standing balance and single leg strengthening to assist in climbing stairs and navigating community.
Occupational Therapist Approved
OTs love toys that boost fine motor skills, sensory processing, and independence. This curated list is full of therapist-loved tools your child will enjoy.
Great for working on fine motor skills, precision/strength, turn taking, sequencing, and visual scanning.
Love this game for upper extremity coordination, visual scanning, sequencing, and working memory.
A fun way to work on grasp, bilateral coordination, upper extremity strengthening, proprioceptive input.
Great for sensory integration, core strength, body awareness, and sitting balance.
Great for color identification, visual motor skills, and 1 step directions.
Perfect for finger isolation, hand-eye coordination, visual scanning, and fine motor/visual motor skills.
Speech Therapist Approved
Spark language, imitation, and communication with these SLP-approved picks! Each toy encourages connection, play, and expressive skills.
Books designed for children are full of repetition and vibrant pictures! Help your child learn to follow directions by having them turn the pages when directed. Target receptive and expressive language by having your child identify certain pictures and either try to name the pictures or use a sound that correlates to the picture.
These barnyard friends help with early speech and language development! Sound types modeled from this toy includes: animal sounds (ex: baa, moo) and exclamatory sounds (ex: wow, uh oh). Also helps model simple words, like open, in/out, on/off.
The Baby Spinning Stacking Toys for Toddlers make a great Christmas gift and a helpful speech-therapy tool because they encourage language through play. Parents can easily model words like “more,” “go,” and color names while their child stacks and watches the pieces move. Its bright, engaging design keeps toddlers interested, making it a fun way to build early communication skills at home.
Bubbles are fantastic for integrating exclamation and action words. Use words such as “woah”, “up”, “pop”, “catch”, “stomp” to help facilitate language development.
Feeding Therapist Approved
Make mealtimes fun, stress-free, and skill-building! These Feeding Therapist approved items support oral motor development, sensory exploration, and positive feeding experiences.
These help encourage your child to try new foods! The cutters provide a small amount of the new food and a fun shape. You can even have your child help in the process!
Do you have a picky eater? These plates are fun to look at, but also have many different sections for foods. Place a new or non-preferred food in the small sections and preferred foods in the larger sections.
You can work on reading and comprehension skills, planning, organization, sequencing, and following directions while following the recipe. Let your child look through the pictures and decide what they want to help cook.
Allow your older child to help with the process of cooking and meal prep. Having them help cut and engage with food helps peak interest in tasting and eating new foods.
For our youngest little foodies, Long stick shaped teethers are great to build oral skills and hand to mouth. You can even fill them with yummy flavors!
Perfect for cooking, baking, and imaginative role-playing. It's a fun and educational way for kids to learn while they play.
We hope this guide helps you choose gifts that are not only fun, but also support your child’s development in meaningful ways. Every item has been hand-selected by our therapy team with your family in mind.
Happy shopping, and happy holidays from all of us at Beelieve! 🐝
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