Wow- great resources! As a Special Education Teacher, I’m responsible for providing services for my kiddos in the area of gross motor skills weather my students receive DAPE or OT or not. I could really use some tried and true resources! I am always trying to find or make things- this would be great to have!! This list of toys for gross motor skills pairs well with our recent list of Fine Motor Toys. Today however, you’ll find toys that develop a few areas that are essential to areas of child development: Toys that challenge movement changes, stepping from high to low and low to high, and movement with vestibular input offer opportunities to challenge and develop balance and coordination skills. Wow! What a wonderful giveaway! I’d love ALL of these items to use with my students. The stilts are something that we don’t have access to and are wonderful for balance and coordination. Many of my kinders could benefit from using these to strengthen their skills!

Bucket Stilts 2 Pack (Pair) Blue Stepper Get Out! Walking Bucket Stilts 2 Pack (Pair) Blue Stepper

And, given that kids are on screens more than ever before with all of the virtual learning and hybrid learning models being incorporated all over the world, therapists are seeing more need for active, physical play. The carpet markers would be a super versatile tool for school based therapy and to send home for student use for virtual therapy. I have used them for visual targets for jumping, hopping, line walking, one foot balance, stop/start, and more! I love all these products , they are so amazing and versatile. I am a parent to two special needs kids, and these would be so helpful with their sensory diet, especially movement breaks, remote learning, etc. Thank you for all that you do. I have so many memories using rainbow parachutes from my own childhood to using it with kids today in schools. Works on so many qualities not just gross motor but also visual, social, and teamwork too. I often incorporate gross motor movement into sessions prior to table top activities. This helps to get the ‘wiggles’ out and works on skills that support fine motor development. The Pop and Catch and carpet markers would be great additions.I love the zoom ball! Its a great upper body workout while working on convergence at the same time. I like to make my clients stand on stepping stones or a balance beam to work on balance at the same time as well. All of the above equipment are great tools! Love them all! Balance, agility, and coordination all connect with these steppers. Specially made as toys/activity accessories, this product provides fun while helping children focus. These modernized versions of classics are lighter in weight. Kids can just pull on the soft ropes and hop around. Pop and catch would be such a lovely toy to use to help work on eye hand coordination, bilateral skills, motor planning with kids in groups! I work in a school for kids with special needs, and many of them enjoy playing catch as warm up in beginning of sessions. This is a way to make the experience more dynamic. As far as the best natural walking cup stilts go, my choice was the Champion Sports Platform Kids Stilts for their strength and durability. These stilts can hold up to 175 lbs, so even most teens can enjoy standing a bit taller for a while. The quality and structure of this product just seemed to stand out above the rest. Go ahead and let your little one stomp all over the yard on these 5-inch plastic cups. They can do the same in the house on the wood or linoleum floor.

Indy - Bucket Stilts - Oddballs

I see so many OT toys that would work for my students. I’d be happy to receive any of them. I love everything you offer to people out there. You are such a wonderful source of pulling vendors and the community together. Thank you for your great service to all of us. I would love the carpet markers or Zoom ball to use with my students in the Tuscaloosa, AL area! I am an occupational therapist and learning new things everyday. Would love the carpet markers to use for gross motor skills and for sensory paths and movement breaks! The zoom ball is great for strengthening and coordination! I love the agility cones because theyare bright and colourful and they are always used during our PMP gross motor sessions. They are also an excellent way for little ones to learn their colours as well. Awesome! I would love to try the Zoom ball with kiddos. We practiced using them and learned about all the skills it can help a kiddo work on in grad school, but I never actually had the opportunity to use one with any of my kiddos. I love using tunnels and cones for gross motor activities to get them in the quadruped positioning that is so good for proximal and distal strengthening and using the cones adds that visual motor and motor planning piece! I would love the zoom ball or pop and catch! (all of these items are awesome, really). My students would LOVE these two items! The zoom ball is a nice fun way to work on bilateral coordination, shoulder strength, timing, grading force, turn taking and so much more!These are gross motor toys that you will find in therapy clinics. There is a reason why…because they are gross motor powerhouses! So, if you are looking for toy recommendations that build whole body motor skills, this is it! The cups are manufactured from plastic with thin rope hand grips. They are larger than some stilts, as these can be used by teens as well. These walking stilts will not scratch floors, and they are easy to store away until next use. These are quality stilts with a simplistic form. With this product, your child can enjoy a pair of walking cups with a high platform. I co-treat with our speech therapist we would love to use all of these in our sessions. We have had amazing sessions using gross motor/sensory to facilitate communication device use. I would love the ZOOM ball. It is a toy from my childhood and I didn’t consider the endless possibilities for coordination, timing and strength. It would also be a great activity for my older ‘tweens’ that are difficult to motivate.

Stilts - Wikipedia Stilts - Wikipedia

Carpet markers would be soooo useful! Just reading a series of articles on crossing midline and can see how carpet markers can help with trunk rotation. I can imagine using them for visual perception activities as well. In the classroom, they could be fun for practicing HFW relays. Highly useful tool! I’ve always loved zoom ball for kids and adults. It takes a lot more coordination and control than the kids realize and my older students love it. I currently have a room with a small ramped hallway outside, so any of these items would be amazing. Id love to set up a temporary sensory path out there and the floor shapes would be perfect! The pop and catch looks like a great idea to work on visual and gross motor skills. I could imagine it working for students at different levels depending on whether you try to catch and throw the ball as part of the activity or keep it stable and aim and shoot the ball across the room. Another sensory motor toy that would be fun to have is a bilibo chair! I would love any of these! I like to use gross motor play in my sessions to work on motor planning, sequencing, core strength, eye-hand and eye-foot coordination. I get so much more out of my kids when we add this type of play. They don’t even know they’re working!Hi there. I work with students in an elementary school and I love to use to zoom ball with them, especially during Covid times! Gotta keep our distance! 😉 We love to use our “steam roller” for some good proprioceptive input!! Thank you so much!!!! There are several styles of walking cups, including simple cups with non-skid bottoms, cups with wide lips for stability, foam platforms, and even cups shaped like dinosaur feet. I love using the zoom balls in practice with many different skills levels. I would love to use the pop and catch for some fun eye hand coordination with my clients, especially with my visual seekers.

Gross Motor Toys - The OT Toolbox Gross Motor Toys - The OT Toolbox

All of the gross motor toys listed above could be used in obstacle courses…and what a great way to encourage so many skills! These are perfect additions to your obstacle course ideas, and challenge balance, coordination, motor planning, and add sensory input. Use these obstacle course toys to vary movement and encourage the specific skills kids need:So many kiddos have decreased spatial awareness and a friendly carpet marker helps provide a visual reference! These are super cool! And encourage learning if shapes and colors! I try to include working on general coordination skills in my sessions because it helps prepare students for table top activities and supports foundational skills. I think many of my students would enjoy the pop and catch game. Your therapy caseload will love these GROSS MOTOR toy recommendations. (There’s space on this handout for you to write in your own toy suggestions, to meet the client’s individual needs, too!) I am a new therapist and do not have a lot of equipment as the school does not provide anything so I am responsible to get my own equipment. It would be great to win any of these gross motor tools, but one that I think the kids I am working with would love the zoom ball! PLUS, head to the bottom of this blog post for Day 2 of our therapy toy giveaway. We’re giving away a gross motor kit with agility cones, tossing loops, bean bags, and hula hoops, perfect for gross motor, balance, coordination, and even heavy sensory play through whole body movements.