10 Classic Toys You Need On Your Holiday Gift Lists

An Early Intervention Therapist's Favorite Toys To Encourage Speech & Language Development

“What should I get my kid for Christmas?” “What toys do you recommend for speech/language development?” “Do you think my kid needs.....?” Early Intervention therapists get these questions every year during the holiday season. You can promote speech and language with just about any toy (watch for an upcoming blog), but most of my favorites are the “classics"... These are toys I keep coming back to time after time. Make sure you have these in your toy box! Keep this list in mind as you shop this year or share it with family members who may need some guidance!

You can find these and many more gifts at Brainstorm, a local store to get gifts, specialty toys and teach supplies. Families often come into the store and ask for recommendations for toys that will promote their child’s development. Pediatric Interactions has partnered with Brainstorm to share suggestions at the store (more information and discounts available)

Mr. (and Mrs.) Potato Head

Can you believe that this guy has been around since 1952?!? He is still popular for a reason! You can go with the simple 1 potato and accessories, get the more deluxe version with several options for body parts and accessories, or even find a potato for some of your favorite characters. I just ran across an adorable “Optimash Prime” Transformers Potato Head. This classic is a staple during my therapy sessions. Besides labeling body parts and having your kid point to their own body parts as dress him up, you can work on all sorts of goals:

-Try giving your kid a choice from two objects to have them request an item. “Do you want eyes or nose?” “Do you want blue shoes or black shoes?” You can have them tell you verbally, point, or you may even be working on getting your kiddo to grab just one of the items.

-Turn taking

-Put Mr.Potato Head in a bag or box that he cannot open and give it to him. See if he will put the bag in your lap, imitate the sign for open or verbally request “help” or “open.”

-Action words. After your Potato is all dressed up—have him go out on the town. Have your potato walk, sing, jump, sleep, or wave.  

-Have them help you clean up. Sing the classic cleanup song, take turns throwing items into the bag, or say “bye xxx” and wave every time you put a piece away. “Bye eyes! Bye glasses! Bye tongue!” 

Wooden Blocks

BLOCKS! No toy collection is complete without a block set. My favorite blocks are wooden. So may toys today are made of plastic and require batteries, I try to make sure that I include other textures of toys to give my kiddo's a variety of sensory experiences (wood, cloth, felt, metal, rubber, etc.). Things you can think about while you build with your child:

-Colors (if the set is colorful)

-Counting 

-Shapes

-A beginner might just be working on stacking 2-3 blocks at first. 

-Model simple and repetitive language and lots of for the activity “up, up, UP!” as you build and “CRASH!” As you knock them all down (THE BEST PART!)

-Pretend play. Let your imagination soar! Towers are a great start, but what about a pirate ship, a castle, a boat, or airport?

-Use the blocks as pretend play items. That “bridge” block looks a lot like a phone. Why not pick it up and give Santa a call? That long rectangle block is the perfect couch for your barbies and people figurines

Baby Dolls

Baby dolls are a great for all kids! Did you know there are lots of baby boy dolls out there too? Kids like to pretend play by imitating what they see every day. They love feeding, burping, hugging, kissing, bathing, putting to sleep and waking up their dolls because this is what you do with them!  Work on:

-Labeling body parts

-Action words: sleep, jump, cry, tickle, kiss, hug, pat

-Early emotions vocabulary: happy, hungry, tired/sleepy, mad, sad

-Using “quiet voices” and making the “shhhh” sound with your finger to your lips

-Problem solving. “Oh no baby is hungry/cold! What should we give her?” 

-Feed your baby doll with a spoon for practice using utensils

-Have baby “sneeze” or “cough.” Kids love to make silly body sounds.

Reusable Sticker Pad

I'm a sticker girl, but things can escalate quickly with our little ones! One minute your having fun placing them on paper or your hand and then next thing you know they are all over the walls and floors...That's why I love using reusable sticker pads. They only stick to the background of their scene and you can play with them over and over again. I also love stickers to work on fine motor skills. Help your kiddo pick at the sticker and pinch the sticker to take it off of the sheet. There are all sorts of themes you can choose from ( e.g., farm, ocean, hospital, fire station, school). These pads are great to work on:

-Story telling and describing the scene you've created

-”Mommy” and “baby” animals big/small

-Places (where does the cow live?)

-Location words (on, under, behind, in)

-Animal/environmental sounds

-Requesting specific stickers

Farm Set

Who doesn't love farm animals? Kids LOVE animals and making all of the animal sounds. Whether it is farm, pet, or jungle animals, they are almost always a hit! You can also do some great pretend play to “take care of” the animals. What you can do while playing with your farm set:

-Animal sounds!

-Sing Old MacDonald and pause to see if your kid will fill in the blank “OldMacDonald had a _______. E-I-E-I_______. And on that farm he had a __________” ….and so on

-Labeling parts of the animal (legs, tail, beak, ears, udders)

-Count how many animals you have

-Actions: Have your animals eat, sleep, jump, kiss, etc.

-Maybe your animals get “sick” or “hurt” and you need to take them to the vet!

Spill Proof Bubbles

These Fubbles are the holy grail of bubbles! You can flip these upside down and nothing comes out! This is GREAT for our little grabbers who want to have their turn and rip the bubbles from your hands! Bubbles are one of my “show stoppers.” Even the most unengaged kid will most likely interact with me if there are bubbles involved. They are super fun to watch and pop! Try them outside in the winter and see what happens! Here are some of my favorite ways to work with bubbles:

-Simple language/sounds: pop!, up up up!, more, uh oh!, ooooh, wow, yay

-Asking for “more.” Bring that bottle right up to your face so she can see how you are forming the words. You can also show her the sign for “more” and bring her little hands together to help her

-See if they can blow the bubble. Show them how to make an “ooo” shape with their mouth and then blow!

-Catch a bubble on the wand and ask them where you should pop it. “On your head or hand?” Kiddos love this one!

-Action words: stomp, poke, blow, pop, float, fall

-Wave “bye bye” to the bubbles as they float away

-Practice turn taking and saying “my turn” while putting your hand on your chest

Play Doh

Therapists love play doh! It's such a fun and creative activity for all ages. Along with all the language you can target, it has the added benefit of being a great sensory activity (squishing the dough in their hands)! If you're on a budget, look up a recipe to make at home... It's actually super easy. Last year, I made gingerbread play doh with my clients so we got to smell the delicious spices while creating our “gingerbread men and cookies.” Work on:

-Environmental sounds: oooo, yum, mmmm, yuck or eww (if you're making some sort of “food”)

-Action words like squish, roll, pat, cut, push, pull, 

-Labeling colors and shapes

-Asking or signing for “help” or to “open” (hand the unopened container to your kiddo so that he HAS to communicate to you in some way to help him open it)

-Practice using utensils in a non-food environment: scoop small balls up with a spoon or poke with a fork

-Big and little containers 

-Pretend play! Make up your own ideas, or find a fun set that gives you the play scheme! There are TONS of themed play doh sets out there (hair cut, dentist, ice cream shop, dinosaurs, baking cookies)

Pound and Roll

This toy is so much fun! Surprisingly, a lot of my older clients also love this toy. Who doesn't love to pound a hammer and then watch a ball race to the ground? It's so simple, but they keep coming back to it again and again. I saw this great recommendation to put electrical tape around the balls once they have been hit too many times and start to just fall through. Ideas for speech and language include:

-Sound effects: bang bang bang!, weee, ouch, shhh

-Colors

-Making choices for which ball to hit first

-Counting to 4

-Say “Ready. Set. _________________” and pause before saying go and hitting the ball! See if your kid fills in with “go!,” a vocalization, a gesture, or just looks at you like “ummn let's do this thing lady!”

-Work on adding final consonants by emphasizing the “t” sound in “hiT” Pound the ball on the “t”

Cars/Transportation Toys

Kids love things that go and so do early intervention therapists! They come in all sizes and types and you can find them cheap at the dollar store. We work on:

-Labeling the types of transportation (fire truck, train, police car, bus, plane, dump truck, digger (although some of my smarty-pants kids say, excavator).

-Colors

-Parts of the vehicle (wheels, steering wheel, door, windows, wings, lights)

-Sing the “Wheels on the Bus”  while playing with a bus toy! Add those hand motions!

- Expectant pausing for “Ready, set,______________”

-Roll your cars through some play-doh to talk the tracks it makes (ooooh wow! Bumpy!)

-Push the cars back and forth to each other for turn-taking

-Practice driving your cars “up up up!” and “down down down!” a wall

-Roll your cars down a ramp. Give your kid a choice from two vehicles and model the word for the one they reach for

-Location concepts. “Hide” your cars in different places & then find them “under, in, behind, or on”

-Environmental sounds: vroom, beep, wee, crash!

Kitchen Set & Food

Okay, so this one is the most expensive on the list. If you're on a budget I would keep an eye out on craigslist or Facebook marketplace for one of these. I've seen them as low as $10! And if you're not wanting a full kitchen set, there are plenty of food and utensil sets that also do the job! Keep your play food in one box and your kitchen supplies in the other.  You'll be using this play food for quite some time—pretend play cooking is a favorite for all ages. Some of my favorite concepts to work on are:

-Hot and cold. If it's “too hot, say “ouch!” and practice blowing off the food to cool it down.

-Action words: eat, drink, pour, mix, cook, wash

-Sound effects: mmm, yumm!, eww, yuck, icky, ouch, 

-In/out by putting the food items in and out of the oven/microwave/cabinet

-Sorting the food by type (fruit, veggie, meat, etc.) or color

-Labeling the food items and parts of the kitchen

-Pretend play: kids LOVE to “cook” for you! Pretend you're at a restaurant and order from them. React to how the food tastes or feels. They want to see your reaction to what they “made.” You can also set up stuffed animals or dolls at the table to serve different people. Set the table and make sure everyone gets a drink!

And there you have it! You can find language opportunities everywhere and with so many toys. These are just a few that I use on a regular basis. Hopefully, this gives you some fun, new toys to add to your kid's wish list or gives you fresh ideas to play with toys you already have!

Written by: Anne Chapman, MA, CCC-SLP/L