Within our team at Chatterbox, we always have a bit of a competition about who has THE BEST game or toy for therapy sessions. It always becomes a favourite conversation topic whenever we are together. Of course we all think our particular game/toy is the best one! So, for our blog today, I have asked our Speechie and OT team to tell me about their favourite item. The toy or game that is a must have in their therapy tool kit! Have a vote and tell us which one you think is best! Regards, Mel x
Gem (Speech Pathologist)
The toy that is must have for my tool kit is the Fisher Price Ball Popper. The kids get the biggest surprise when the balls start popping out! It is so much fun! I love the expression of their face when they are anticipating when the balls will start popping out! This toy is great for little kids 18months - 4years. Joint attention, eye contact, taking turns, expanding language, vocabulary building, colours, counting just to name a few! This definitely is the BEST toy in the clinic!!!! In fact, this is the second ball popper I have used. It is so popular I have had to replace it!
Kayla (Speech Pathologist)
I have two favourites! My Bright Starts Fire Truck is such a great fun toy. It has popping balls that come out of the top and some other buttons that are great for cause and effect. It is fantastic for younger children and works on skills such as joint attention, early concepts, expanding language, turn taking. The next toy is the Baby Einstein Treasure chest! Now, I know this is a winner because Mel steals if from my toy shelf all of the time! It has big bright coins that the kids can put into a slot at the top. It then lights up and plays some music. This toy can help work on shapes, colours, numbers, matching, prepositions (in, on) and turn taking. Hands down the two best toys!
Talia (Speech Pathologist)
The toy I bring to every therapy session is my trusty Fisher Price Talking Picnic Basket. There are so many things to love about this toy and it can be used for teaching lots of different skills. Including; teaching concepts such as shape, colour and numbers, following instructions, requesting, taking turns, working on prepositions such as in and on, encouraging symbolic play skills (pretending to eat the food). This toy is great for kids from the age of 2 years old. I would definitely recommend this for parents to buy to use at home. In my opinion, this is totally the best toy at Chatterbox!!
Mel (Speech Pathologist)
It has to be water play for me! What child does not love water? It is easy to set up and a really good activity for parents to copy at home. Just a big plastic container with some plastic toys, containers, cups etc and you are set for some fun. This activity is fantastic for joint attention and turn taking. It gives lots of opportunities for children to imitate sounds and words as well as giving the adult opportunities to model language and expand on what the child is saying. We have a piece of pipe at Chatterbox that we use as a 'slide' for the toys to go down and land in the water, it is a highlight! Surely this one wins!!
Georgie (Occupational Therapist)
My favourite thing to use during a therapy session is my animal shape sorter. It looks like a Noah's Ark boat and has little 3D animals that you need to pick up and place in the right hole. This toy is perfect for teaching joint attention, fine motor skills, eye/hand coordination, visual perception and turn taking skills. It is really cute and always a top pick for any of my therapy kids! Definitely a contender for best toy in the clinic!