Toys with Therapy Influence

I am always mindful of things... toys, apps, books...whatever it should be that would not only entertain Reid but would also hold value in a therapeutic way for him. Not necessarily a get the most for my buck mentality... but more of a how can I sneak in strengthening his little muscles without him knowing it mentality... and this Christmas I think I hit the jackpot in the occupational therapy/toy department with one gift in particular. 
Reid asked Santa for Legos. So Legos he got... lots of them, BUT the ones I love the most and I think he does too are these... the Lego Education Community Minifigures Set I found on Amazon. It is a set of just people, their body parts, and accessories. He has literally spent hours looking at the box for inspiration from their samples and then putting these little people together. The pieces are tiny so it has proven to be work for his little fine motor skills which I intentionally want strengthened to help him with his printing and cutting... The hours he has spent already gives me hope that this is a "go to" toy that will help him in these areas. 
At any rate, I thought I would share our Lego find in case you too are looking for toys to help with fine motor control. There are other sets beyond the "Community Helper" one, I also found a "Fairytale and Historic Figurines" one. Later on down the road Reid might be ready for one of the bigger "kits" where he would build a spacecraft or city... but he is not ready for that right now, these figurines fit the bill just perfect for him and I am so glad I found a set that is just people.

AND truth be told, (call this BONUS blog post material for any parent of multiple children finding themselves in a similar situation) ...there is another reason why I like these. Last spring during baseball season I made a split second decision as I was running out the door to get to Luke's baseball game and decided to pull out 2 bags of old Legos Luke had long since stopped playing with and Reid didn't even know existed, in hopes to keep Reid "corralled" for the game. Well, the result was nothing short of therapeutic for ME... it resulted in a squirrely little brother sitting calmly on an outstretched blanket by my feet totally enraptured by all the Lego pieces, so much so that I was able to watch the ENTIRE game with only an interruption here and there for a blue slurpee and m&ms (his snack shack staple). So... having a few more legos to bring to the fields in a few months doesn't hurt the whole "toy/therapy/keep em' entertained philosophy".