Target $1 bin find

[rafiki]

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[merry gardens]

Fun!

 

We recently bought bubbles, pinwheels, shaving cream and sidewalk chalk at the dollar store. (Bubbles and pinwheels can help muscles needed for speech. Sidewalk chalk and shaving cream use large motor movements and provide multi-sensory experiences that can be used for learning letters, spelling words, numbers, etc.) I also found a used flour sifter recently for cheap.

 

I no longer see simple children's toys and household materials as just toys and household devices. They have therapeutic value too. One dollar seems like a bargain! (But...my shopping carts at the dollar store or in the dollar bins at Target always seem to add up to costing a lot more than just a dollar. :D)

[rafiki]

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[merry gardens]

Cool, so what other suggestions along these lines do you have for "stocking stuffers", "baskets", etc?

....

I also bought some gift bags that had a school theme at the dollar store. (probably left-overs from end of the school year teacher's gift bags) I'm going to put some back-to-school items, (like new tri-angle pencils, erasers, etc.) in a gift bag, hoping to get them in a back to school mood. We've "sort-of schooled" for summer, but with visitors, vacations, etc. it's not anywhere close to what we do during the school year.We don't need all new stuff, but we'll eventually need them and there are some good bargains now. It always seems to feel like Christmas in September when we open the new supplies, so I decided to go ahead and put it gift bags. Plus I have one starting kindergarten and I want to make it seem special.

 

Back to school gift bag ideas: triangle pencils, erasers, (maybe end of pencil fidget toys if I find them cheap), jet pens, triangle crayons, pencil grips, graph paper, (use for math columns or handwriting calirobics exercise).

 

Last year we focussed on handwriting, so I really noted some of the toys and tools that help with that. Wind up toys are great for hands&fingers. They went in the stockings last Christmas. (And if they break, that sad experience also provides feedback.) I personally have received kitchen tools in my stockings from Santa. There are lots of kitchen gadgets that spin, like those old-fashioned egg beaters and flour sifters. I've really made an effort to let my children "help" more in the kitchen and plan to do that on a regular basis the upcoming school year. Experiences like cracking an egg give them feedback teach them to use just the right amount of pressure to crack but not too much so that it splatters everywhere. While play dough and clay are lots of fun, cookie dough tastes better. :)

[wapiti]

In the dollar bins, I recently got dotted number stamps (even though none of my kids needs them right now LOL) and dry erase boards that are lined for handwriting practice.

[LittleIzumi]

In the dollar bins, I recently got dotted number stamps (even though none of my kids needs them right now LOL) and dry erase boards that are lined for handwriting practice.[/QUOTE]

 

YES, this. I need to get another one or two, actually, as both of the girls love to use this one and they use it so often it stays on the table 24/7 and now it got wet, lol.

[peacefully]

i have always had some great luck finding cool "fidgety," sensory toys at import stores too. Bird calls, that pipe thingy that blows a ball in the air, train whistles, and various bubble blowers have all been great toys for breath work and oral tone. Foam swords and noodles have been wonderful to get some proprioceptive stimulation in for ds.

 

Not stocking stuffers, but more like possible Christmas toys:

a Twizzler (this thing gets daily use - highly recommend!)

a zipline

a disc swing (I can attest that this thing works core muscles! There's even a bouncy spring version of this somewhere.)

gym mats (not that this would be an exciting thing to open at Christmas, but ours get a lot of use!)

a balance board

[Guest]

"There are lots of kitchen gadgets that spin, like those old-fashioned egg beaters and flour sifters. I've really made an effort to let my children "help" more in the kitchen and plan to do that on a regular basis the upcoming school year. Experiences like cracking an egg give them feedback teach them to use just the right amount of pressure to crack but not too much so that it splatters everywhere. While play dough and clay are lots of fun, cookie dough tastes better."

 

--sorry I messed up the quote here, but :iagree: with this wholeheartedly.

 

I found silly salt and pepper shakers made like rabbit heads, with the ears actually being things you squeeze to get grind/get the salt and pepper out. I put them on the table with every meal.

 

I also bought a bunch of different kinds of colorful animal and regular chopsticks for dd, and am cooking a lot of Japanese-style meals so she gets a real workout with them. She only recently -- when she was 14 -- learned to manipulate regular adult chopsticks well, and she's so proud!

 

We also have a rotary cheese grater, and it's dd's job to grate cheese if that's in a recipe, as well as to grate the cheese for the top of her pasta dishes. It actually takes quite a lot of muscle to work it.

 

We once had a cooking class where there was a kind of silly relay race that had kids do things like crack and separate eggs, squeeze lemons using three different types of squeezers, put garlic in a press and squeeze it, stuff like that. After the class, I picked up a few of these things although I don't need or use them much myself, and have dd help me out when I need small kitchen tasks done.

 

I'm terrified of her trying to use a kitchen knife to chop things, so I also splurged on a vegetable chopper thingie; it's got a disc with the cutting pattern you want that you slide in, a handle that you push the food with down a chute, and a container at the bottom to catch the chopped pieces. Edited to add: you work this by hand; it's not a food processor.

 

A window squeegee is also a great toy/therapy item/work item. I used to give dd squirt bottles filled with water with sometimes a drop of dishwashing soap in it, an old rag, and a squeegee, and turn her loose to clean the windows (on the outside!).

Edited August 7, 2011 by Guest

[peacefully]

I used to give dd squirt bottles filled with water with sometimes a drop of dishwashing soap in it, an old rag, and a squeegee, and turn her loose to clean the windows (on the outside!).

 

Oh yes, squirt bottles! I had to buy them by the six pack one summer. We even gave them out as party favors for his 2yo birthday - lol. They totally helped ds with hand strength. Now I'm thinking that I have to get them back out and reintroduce them as a "practical life" activity. Clean windows aren't a bad a bonus either! :D