The 2021 Holiday Gift Guide: Hand Picked By Our Therapists

November 22, 2021
For Parents, Games/Toys/Fun, Uncategorized

Is it Santa’s Workshop, or an LLA clinic? You would be hard pressed to know the difference if you visited one of our locations. That is because we have toys, and lots of them! Think of toys as our tools. Not only do we use them to motivate our clients, but we use toys each and every day for therapeutic intent whether it is to increase communication and vocabulary, or to strengthen and increase finger dexterity.

Below you will find our therapists’ hand-picked favorites from this past year with descriptions for how they can be used, and why they made our list. We also provided clickable pictures with links to make your shopping a breeze. We hope you enjoy– and as always, Happy HoLLAdays!

Wikki Stix

Why we love it: This toy is awesome! The wax strings are used to create all sorts of designs. We love the fine motor aspect of bending and molding the strings but it also holds kids attention for a long time! The best part is the wikki stix don’t dry out and are mess-free and easy to store!

Five Little Fish

Why we love it: This game is a fan favorite for my little ones! It is a great game to work on turn taking, following directions, colors, counting, requesting, basic vocabulary, and more! I also love to use it as a reinforcer when working on articulation.

Scribble Scrubbies

Why we love it: Kids love playing with water, it is a great sensory experience! To target speech, we talk about the colors of the markers and it’s great to target vocabulary (wash, clean, dry, scrub, brush, water). This toy is always a huge hit!

Kinetic Sand

Why we love it: Sand is a sensory experience and kids enjoy sculpting and playing with it. In speech therapy we stick articulation cards or objects in the sand and practice saying the words. For occupational therapy we love the sensory experience of the feel of the sand as well as the fine motor aspect of packing the sand into objects like castles and pyramids. The sand can be reused over and over again and kids enjoy it every time!

Cubeez

Why we love it: From a therapy perspective, this game has it all! It incorporates fine motor skills, teaching emotions, visual perception skills and requires logic/problem solving skills! Kids love that it is a quick game that is easy to learn and play.

Magna-Tiles

Why we love it: These are great for kids of all ages! The younger kids (12 months) enjoy making the tiles stick together, stacking them and knocking them down. Older kids (3-4) enjoy making creative masterpieces! They are also great for teaching colors and shapes. This is a toy I reach for over and over again because the possibilities are endless!

Pop The Pig

Why we love it: Kids love feeding this pig burgers and watching his belly grow until his shirt pops! We use this toy in therapy by incorporating therapy tasks in between turns (saying target articulation words or doing gross motor tasks like balancing on one leg)

Pitching Machine

Why we love it: For any child, regardless of athletic ability, this toy is a hit (pun intended)! For younger children, we don’t even use a bat; we just put the ball in and watch it pop out! Older kids like to catch or hit the ball with a bat. It works on coordination and balance and great for anyone ranging from the young child to budding athlete!

Pop Tubes

Why we love it: Sensory/Fidget toys are popular with kids and these poppin’ tubes are no exception! They are the ultimate sensory toy; they pop, snap, stretch, connect, and keep those little fingers busy for hours!

Aquabeads

Why we love it: This is great for your kiddo who loves to create! It promotes hand strength and dexterity while making a craft. You can also work on color identification and sorting. PLUS there are TONS of expansion packs available. The creations are endless!

Looking for more gift ideas?

Check out our gift guides from past years! Here is 2020, 2019, and 2018

Crystal Scheibe

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Great place, glad we found them. Been going to Medina over 2 months now and he loves Lauryn and Kyler. Wish they had more ABA therapy places available... live in Wooster and long drive everyday.

Karrie Swan LaRock

My 11 year old son has dyslexia and has made noticeable gains in working At LLA THERAPY. Katie is strong in her approach toward him and also keeps him comfortable enough to perform well. We will continue visiting both the Fairlawn and Hudson offices and recommend them highly.

Ron Monroe

My 9 year old just completed about 9 months of weekly speech sessions (due to his stuttering) with Matt Hagge at LLA and we are thrilled with the experience and results. What I thought might be a negative (what kid really wants to go to speech class?) was made very positive by Matt, and my son never hesitated or complained when we talked about class. He really enjoyed it and really took what Matt taught him to heart. His speech has been greatly improved and we definitely recommend LLA. Thank you so much!

Heather Dougherty-Pantoja

My son’s Occupational Therapist, Jess, is an amazing OT! She gives practical tips on working with my son at home and school!

Terri Apgar

I cannot say enough good things about LLA Therapy. My daughter was a client of Teal Simmons’ for approximately 2 years and was just released from speech therapy! She was diagnosed with Apraxia in 2015 and worked with Teal twice a week. Through Teal’s application of PROMPT therapy, my daughter had age-appropriate speech after one year. All of the staff we interacted with at LLA were absolutely wonderful. They really care about what they do and making sure your child achieves their goals.

Kelli Geisler Davisson

LLA Therapy has been an excellent experience for my son as well as my family! My son always asks, "When can I go see Ms. Jeannine again, is it Monday??" He has also made huge gains in only 5 months! I would highly recommend LLA and have already shared my experience with friends looking for services!

Victoria Hansford-Price

We are so grateful for our Speech Therapist Ms.Teal. We have seen a great improvement with our sons confidence and communication abilities since we have started "Prompt" therapy. What we love the most about LLA and Ms. Teal is that Kohl feels comfortable and relaxed which has played a critical role in his progress. Thank you Ms. Teal for all you have done.

Laura Lee Hogsett

They have helped in numerous ways. Speech, OT and behavioral. I've had numerous compliments on my son's progress thanks in very large part to LLA. I would recommend LLA before I recommend our local children's hospitals, though they are good, they don't have the staff that LLA does.

Amy Furukawa

We had a great experience with Matt Hagge at LLA! Our Middle School age son was becoming very conscious of his voice, which is nasal due to a cleft palate. Matt helped him to better form his sounds and project his voice in a way that makes the unavoidable nasality less noticeable.Our son is more confident and outgoing & even took on a speaking role in the church play. Matt has the perfect personality to relate with our son, and we would recommend him to anyone needing speech therapy services!

Jessica Havalotti

LLA Therapy has been an excellent experience for our daughter. I would highly recommend LLA. Miss Grace was so amazing and I can't believe how quickly our daughter showed improvement. Thank you!