The Best Fidgets and Sensory Toys for Occupational Therapy Month

Are you feeling stressed out, overwhelmed, or just in need of a little pick-me-up? Well, it's Occupational Therapy Month, and what better way to celebrate than by diving into the world of sensory and fidget toys! These little gadgets aren't just for kids - they can be a game-changer for adults too!

What are Sensory and Fidget Toys?

Imagine a world where stress melts away with the squeeze of a squishy ball, or where anxiety fades as you fidget with a spinner. That's the magic of sensory and fidget toys! These toys are designed to provide sensory input and promote relaxation, focus, and calmness.

Sensory and fidget toys play a crucial role in the toolkit of occupational therapists due to several key reasons:

Promoting Self-Regulation: Sensory and fidget toys provide a means for individuals to engage their senses and channel excess energy or anxiety in a controlled and constructive manner. By offering tactile, visual, or auditory stimulation, these toys help individuals regulate their emotions and behaviors more effectively.

Enhancing Focus and Attention: For individuals with ADHD or difficulties in maintaining focus, sensory and fidget toys serve as valuable tools to improve attention span and concentration. Engaging with fidget toys can provide a secondary sensory input that helps individuals filter out distractions and stay focused on the task at hand. This can be particularly beneficial in educational settings, where improved attention can lead to better learning outcomes.

Reducing Anxiety and Stress: Sensory and fidget toys are excellent stress relievers. The repetitive motions or tactile sensations provided by these toys have a calming effect on the nervous system, helping to alleviate feelings of anxiety and stress. Occupational therapists often incorporate these toys into therapy sessions to create a soothing environment and promote relaxation, which is essential for individuals to engage effectively in therapeutic activities.

Improving Fine Motor Skills: Many sensory and fidget toys require manipulation and fine motor control, making them ideal tools for improving hand strength, dexterity, and coordination. Activities such as squeezing, pinching, twisting, and grasping stimulate the muscles and joints of the hands, which is beneficial for individuals with developmental delays, motor coordination difficulties, or hand injuries. Through repetitive practice with these toys, occupational therapists can help individuals enhance their fine motor skills and achieve greater independence in daily tasks such as writing, dressing, and self-care.

Fostering Sensory Exploration: Sensory exploration is essential for individuals to understand and process the world around them. Sensory and fidget toys provide opportunities for individuals to engage with different textures, sounds, and movements, thereby stimulating their senses and promoting sensory integration. This is particularly valuable for children with sensory processing disorders, as it helps them develop a more organized sensory system and improves their ability to participate in various activities and environments.

Zen Strips

Zen Strips are sensory strips that help calm and focus! All you need to do is touch, swipe, scratch, or fidget with Zen Strips! They help to manage stress, boost concentration, and calm! Zen Strips come in two textures: bumpy and sandy!

Zen Strips seamlessly integrate into your daily surroundings, offering a discreet presence that goes unnoticed, whether you're studying, at the office, or navigating through your everyday activities.

Use Anywhere Zen Strips for various sizes!

Orrby Fidget Toy

The Orrby Fidget Toy is great for children, teens, and adults. It is sized for easy gripping and fine motor practice. The Orrby helps to reduce stress and improve memory. Practice spinning the colorful plastic rings with the touch of a finger. An Added plus is the Orrby is completely silent!

Loopeez Silent Fidget Toy

The Loopeez Silent Fidget Toy is a silent fidget designed to stimulate and reduce stress. Loopeez is the perfect mindless "fiddle" -- easy to manipulate without much physical or mental effort. Endlessly flip the colored plastic pieces around and around the dual axes of the rings. The colored curved pieces are molded to fit perfectly in one hand or two. You won't believe how satisfying this feels in your hand!

Also available in a mini size!

Round Gyrobi Fidget Toy

The Round Gyrobi Fidget Toy twists, spins, and rotates! Spin the colorful plastic rings in fascinating ways with the touch of a finger! Gyrobi is completely silent and feels great in your hands. This mindless fidget brings together the science of gyroscopes and the satisfaction of absent-minded fidgeting! The Gyrobi reduces stress and improves memory.

Swingos Fidget Spinner

The Swingos Fidget Spinner is great for children, teens, and adults! With easy gripping and fine motor practice, the Swingos helps to reduce stress and improve concentration.

Hexle Fidget Toy

The Hexle Fidget Toy is the perfect way to keep your hands busy and your mind focused. With 3 colorful, rotating hexagon shapes, a center grip pad for easy handling and silent operation. The Hexle can help reduce stress, stimulate the brain, and improve memory in children, teens and adults. It's the ideal way to practice fine motor skills and keep yourself focused and relaxed.

Heavyweight Ball Pen with The Pencil Grip

The Heavyweight Pen is ideal for individuals with Tremors, Arthritis, Carpal Tunnel, and those with Parkinson's, and those who lack hand strength and other hand health issues.

The Heavyweight reduces tremors and fatigue, improves handwriting legibility, and increases muscle strength. It combines two features; added weight and a patented ergonomic grip.

The shape of The Pencil Grip gently positions fingers in the proper, ergonomic position for gripping which reduces stress on the fingers and helps the hand relax as it writes.

The weight of the pen (2.9 ounces) encourages support from larger muscles in the arm, and reduces the burden on smaller, more sensitive hand muscles.

The weight helps the pen effortlessly rest in the hand, and means there’s no need to provide downward pressure for it to write.

Heavyweight Silverware (set of Fork and Knife)

Our Heavyweight Tableware set includes a heavy fork and heavy knife that have the same look as standard stainless-steel utensils but with added weight! Ergonomic design helps reduce hand tremors and shaking to allow more control when eating Helpful for anyone who experience difficulties in feeding themselves because of certain conditions, such as age-related weakness, arthritis, tremors, Parkinson's and other disabilities. Heavy handles designed to steady a shaky hand.

Oral Motor and Sensory

Occupational therapists often use chewable pencil toppers as part of sensory integration therapy to address specific sensory needs, promote self-regulation, and improve focus and attention.

Oral sensory input can be calming and regulating for individuals who have a need for oral stimulation. Individuals receive proprioceptive and tactile feedback which can help with feeling more grounded and focused.

Individuals may also use chewable pencil toppers as a self-regulation tool to manage emotions, reduce stress, or increase attention during tasks. Chewing on a chewable pencil topper can regulate and provide a sense of calm for those who are feeling anxious.

For individuals who struggle with maintaining focus and attention, the chewable pencil topper can serve as a means of increasing engagement in tasks. By providing a secondary sensory input, such as chewing, the topper helps individuals filter out distractions and stay on task for longer periods.

Chewberz Pencil Toppers

Chewberz Pencil Toppers encourages oral motor stimulation. The Chewberz Pencil Topper Pack comes with three different textures; dotted, smooth, and ridged. Simply place onto your favorite writing utensils and chew for a concentration and calming affect.

Our chewable pencil toppers are also available in a robot, giant, chess king, and horse shapes.

Silicone Teething Necklace

The Silicone Teething Necklace is convenient for moms and perfect for babies! This teething accessory stimulates sensory development to keep young children engaged and calm. Teethers also come in a U Tube style and beaded necklace.

Fidget and oral sensory toys play a vital role in the toolkit of occupational therapists, offering a range of benefits for individuals with diverse sensory needs and challenges. From promoting self-regulation and enhancing attention to strengthening oral motor skills and increasing engagement in therapy activities, these simple yet powerful tools have the potential to make a significant impact on the lives of those they serve.

By recognizing the importance of fidget and oral sensory toys in occupational therapy practice, therapists can create sensory-rich environments that support individuals in achieving their goals and thriving in their daily lives. Whether it's a chewable pencil topper, a squishy stress ball, or a textured fidget spinner, these tools offer endless possibilities for exploration, empowerment, and growth.

As occupational therapists continue to harness the therapeutic potential of fidget and oral sensory toys, they pave the way for greater independence, confidence, and well-being for the individuals they work with. Let us celebrate the invaluable role of these toys in promoting holistic development and fostering a deeper understanding of sensory diversity in the journey towards empowerment and success.

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