Purchasing gifts for a child with a disability can be super challenging depending on their current skills, goals, and preferences. This gift guide should help when purchasing for a child with a disability.
If you have a child with a disability, you know first hand how hard it can be to purchase a Christmas gift for them. As parents we want to buy gifts that are fun and exciting, and that make it feel like Christmas, but on the other hand, you want practical things that have a therapeutic benefit to help them reach their goals as well. It's such a tricky balance to strike.
I also find it super difficult for me to suggest gifts for other parents of special needs children because what my child is currently working on, or likes, could be wildly different from your child's current goals and their preferences. While this gift guide is tailored to what Kinsley likes, loves, and is working on, I hope it sparks an idea for something you can purchase for your loved one too!
6-Year-Old Gift Guide for Girl with Cerebral Palsy
The Critter Club Collection: This is a set of four early chapter books for girls ages 5-9, about girls who work together in their town to make a rescue shelter and save animals. Kinsley LOVES animals and I've been wanting to start reading chapter books with her at night, so I think this is a series she'll love.
Cocomelon Baby JJ Plush Doll: Kinsley loves watching Cocomelon on Netflix, singing with all the songs, and asks to watch JJ practically every day. She will scream with pure delight when she sees this doll. And yes, sometimes we buy Kinsley gifts that might not be super practical, but we know they'll get a huge reaction on Christmas. If you need to see Kinsley's reaction to things she loves... watch this video.
Nickelodeon Slime: Kinsley loves slime, and while most parents don't like it, I'm not that bothered by it. I love these 3lb premade buckets that you can buy during the holidays, and it's only $10!
Melissa and Doug Fishing Game: Kinsley plays with this fishing game often in Physical Therapy, and there are a lot of different ways you can set it up for therapy games. With winter coming and possibly another round of therapy at home if clinics close for illness, I'm thinking of all the ways we can still be productive at home!
Button Art Game: Kinsley has been playing button art games like this in Occupational Therapy the last few months and it's something that is challenging for her, but she also really likes it. She has been using this version with larger pieces, but I think she is ready for something a little harder with smaller pieces like the one shown in the picture above.
Kinetic Sand: This is another great fine motor activity.You can hide small beads or toys in the sand and have your child dig them out, or just make sand castles, there are a lot of possibilities here!
Minnie Mouse Duplos: Kinsley sees Kyle playing with Legos all the time and has picked up on playing with them too. She has her own Frozen Duplo set, but could probably use another set too. She loves Minnie Mouse so I figured this would be a great pick for her! The Duplos are great for her because they're a little easier to build and take apart than the regular legos right now.
Macrame Swing: We had a swing for Kinsley in her bedroom in our last house and we got rid of it when we sold that house and rented last year. We're going to be updating Kinsley's bedroom soon, and this little swing will be the perfect addition for her space! I like that it's functional as a seat, looks cute, but also gives her some fun swinging and sensory input that she craves.
Physical Therapy Equipment: I am honestly planning for PT and OT clinics to close again for some portion of this winter season, so I'm thinking it might be time to invest in some equipment to have at home in case that happens. Some great items that you can incorporate into endless amounts of PT and OT are a gymnastics wedge, a tumbling mat, a bolster, and a peanut ball. We also purchased a cube chair about three years ago, and it's worth every penny. We've used it everyday, several times a day since we bought it!
Also it's not lost on me that all this therapy equipment is expensive, which is why we don't have any in our home except the cube chair right now. We did purchase our cube chair for $15 on Facebook Marketplace which felt like a miracle. Second hand is probably a great place to look for these other pieces too!
As always I like to disclaimer that we're not purchasing Kinsley everything on this list. This is simply inspiration for what we could purchase her, and what you could purchase your own child. We'll likely get her the books, 2-3 toys, the swing, and then maybe one key therapy item to help us through the winter! Just in case anyone needs to remember that bloggers are real people with budgets too!
If you liked this post, Six-Year-Old Holiday Gift Guide (Adaptive Gross+Fine Motor Ideas) you might also like:
- Three Year Old Special Needs Gift Guide
- Board Games Gift Guide for 3-6 Year Old
- 5 Year Old Boy Gift Guide
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