Stocking Stuffer Ideas for Toddlers - Sensory Friendly
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Christmas time is here! While Fall is my favorite time of year and I go absolutely nuts over Halloween, Christmas is my husband’s time to shine. This will be Eli’s seconds Christmas, and even though we realize that he may not remember this year, we wanted to make sure to celebrate our favorite traditions and create new holiday traditions as a family. Every year I have to fight to maintain my fall decorations until the day after Thanksgiving, and then it’s game over! Black Friday we skip the lines and the craziness of the stores and head out to cut down a live Christmas Tree. Once the tree is home, we spend all day listening to Christmas music and watching A Charlie Brown Christmas. The rest of December is jam-packed with other holiday activities. We love to go to the Portage tree lighting ceremony, visiting Candy Cane Lane in downtown Kalamazoo, baking cookies, driving around to see Christmas lights, and visiting family and friends.
Believe it or not, shopping is my least favorite part of Christmas! I hate the traffic and waiting in line truly tests my patience. I personally would much rather give and receive the gift of time spent with someone than spend money on an item that will only be used occasionally or fill up the house with clutter. For this reason, my husband and I make an effort to purchase experiences or activities that we can do with our friends and family. With that said there is nothing like the smiling faces of your child opening gifts on Christmas morning, so I make a concerted effort to buy things for Eli that he will enjoy while also being durable and educational.
Here is our list of sensory friendly toddler stocking stuffer ideas that we think your kid(s) will love!
Poke-a-Dot Book
Books are always a go-to gift in our family, and the Melissa & Doug Poke a Dot books are a new find that we love! These board books are durable for my little chewer, but also offer the unique Poke a Dot feature. Each page has small plastic bubbles built into the page that you have to “pop” into place. E loves the sound and the feeling that the plastic makes as it pops, and I love that he is improving his fine motor skills using one finger to manipulate each dot. Older kiddos can count along with each page as they pop the bubbles. There are currently over 15 Poke a Dot books so you can choose whatever theme most interest your child or fill their stocking with a Holiday themed option like The Night Before Christmas or Poke a Dot Christmas.
Dimpl from Fat Brain Toys
Pop bubble fidget toys are incredibly popular right now with kids of all ages and make a great toddler stocking stuffer! These toys aren’t just fun, they help develop fine motor skills, sensory exploration and cause-effect learning. We both have the Dimpl from Fat Brain Toys for our boys. We like ordering from this brand since we are familiar with the quality and durability of their products and knew it would hold up to being chew on and tossed around. E loves the bright color of the bubbles! This has become one of our go to toys for car rides because it’s quiet, it’s big enough that it doesn’t get lost under the seat and it does a great job keeping him entertained for extended periods of time.
Soft Freezer Packs
Katie and I both have new walkers and with any new walker comes a lot of bumps and bruises. No amount of baby proofing has been able to stop my son from bumping his head at least three times a day. These Pottery Barn Freezer Packs are the perfect solution for soothing any boo-boo. I grabbed the construction set for E because he loves trucks and cars (and they glow in the dark!) but they offer a variety of shapes and patterns from ballerinas to superheroes. These ice packs are durable and are sure to last for years, once E grows out of the bumps and bruises phase these will work perfectly for packing lunches and keeping snacks cold. While I love these Pottery Barn ones, if you are in a time crunch to get these before the holiday, Amazon has plenty of options - like these Animal Boo Boo Buddies - that will arrive in time for Christmas!
Teething Tubes
Teethers are a dime a dozen. You can find any number of them practically anywhere! The reason we love these flexible teether tubes so much is because they are designed for kids to be able to use them for all the teeth they get - including molars! Regular teethers typically only help the front teeth and can’t quite provide the same comfort further back. These tubes are a great solution for that! The tubes themselves are also sensory textured on both ends so kids love playing with them too. Katie has these for R and he particularly enjoys using them as drumsticks!
