#236: The Toy Coach and The Toy Queen Discuss The Best Toys For Early Childhood Development
What Can a Pediatric Occupational Therapist Teach Us About Toys?
In Episode 236 of "Making It in the Toy Industry," host Azhelle Wade chats with pediatric occupational therapist, Keri Wilmot, who has a treasure trove of insights from her nearly 25 years in the field.
Keri uses toys to help children improve fine motor skills, coordination, and overall performance in self-care tasks. Her work with kids facing ADHD, autism, Down syndrome, and cerebral palsy is testament to the transformative power of play.
Want to help your child master the art of tying shoelaces? Kerri’s got a tip for that—use toy tools like tweezers to build up the necessary hand strength. Is your kid's sensory processing a roadblock to engaging in play? Keri’s got that covered too in her book “Wired Differently.” And if you’re worried about how tech has sidelined physical activities, her new book “Fine Motor Foundations” addresses this head-on with practical advice.
💡 Key Takeaways
Collaboration on Development-focused Products: Azhelle and Kerri chat about the importance of creating toys that aid in children’s development—whether for kids, parents, or caregivers.
Sensory Processing and Play: Kerri dives deep into how essential sensory processing skills are for kids, especially those with ADHD or autism.
Book and Toy Recommendations: Check out Kerri's second book for tips and toy recommendations like the eco-friendly Boogie Board.
Everyday Items as Tools: You won’t believe how common household items like rubber bands or cotton balls can become tools for fine motor skill development.
Using AI for Activity Ideas: Not a Pinterest parent? No worries! Kerri even suggests using AI to come up with fresh and engaging activities.
Episode Cliff Notes
Learn the secret to using household items for enhancing your child's fine motor skills. (Timestamp: 10:15)
Find out how AI can creatively assist parents in developing engaging activities for their kids. (Timestamp: 15:45)
Find out the unique toy recommendations Kerri shares for developing fine motor skills, and how you might already have these items in your kitchen. (Timestamp: 18:42)
Hear expert insights on the impact of sensory regulation and how to improve your child's focus through play. (Timestamp: 22:30]
Hear Keri Wilmot’s personal stories about memorable toys from her childhood. (Timestamp: 30:05)
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This episode is brought to you by www.thetoycoach.com
Connect with Keri: Website | LinkedIn
Wired Differently: A Teacher's Guide to Understanding Sensory Processing Challenges by Keriann Wilmot
Fine Motor Foundations: Tools and Techniques for Tiny Hands by Keriann Wilmot
Cabbage Patch Kids
Barbie Dream House -
[00:00:00] Azhelle Wade aka The Toy Coach: You are listening to Making It in The Toy Industry, episode number
[00:00:03] Azhelle Wade: two hundred and thirty six
[00:00:22] Azhelle Wade aka The Toy Coach: Hey there toy people, Azhelle Wade here and welcome back to another episode of Making It In The Toy Industry.
[00:00:28] This is a weekly podcast brought to you by the toy coach.com. You know me, the toy coach, and today I'm gonna introduce you to the toy queen, Keri Wilmot. Keri is a pediatric occupational therapist with almost 25 years of experience working with children.
[00:00:45] Occupational therapists use play and toys to help kids achieve new skills to improve their performance. After developing quite a large collection of amazing toys for the last 15 years, Keri has brought her expertise to the world through [00:01:00] toy related content videos, articles, and television segments.
[00:01:03] Keri has attended New York Toy Fair 12 times.
[00:01:06] She's attended Nuremberg Toy Fair four times and is also a toy award judge at that show. Keri is now the author of two books, Wired Differently, A Teacher's Guide to Sensory Processing Challenges, and most recently, upcoming at the time of this interview, Fine Motor Foundation's Tools and Techniques for Tiny Hands.
[00:01:27] This book highlights many of Keri's favorite toys, games, and activities that work to develop specific fine motor skills from birth to the early childhood years. Keri, welcome to the show. Happy to have you here. Now, before we get started, I've got to open with my favorite question. The thing that surprised me most about the toy industry was,
[00:01:47] Keri Wilmot: Just how enormous
[00:01:49] it actually is. I will never ever forget walking into the Javits center for the first time and having zero [00:02:00] understanding of just how the toy industry is all sorts of different companies from all over the world. I just, I did not expect it to be as as it is.
[00:02:11] Azhelle Wade aka The Toy Coach: Before Jumping into this industry as an occupational therapist, did you have your own practice?
[00:02:15] Keri Wilmot: No, settings, so I have worked in early intervention, which is a program that works with children newborn to the age of three, and that's a home based program. I've worked for children's hospitals. I've worked in centers. And most recently now I'm working in a children's hospital home health.
[00:02:34] So kids that are newborn through the age of 21 that are home or I see them and they might have like or emotional types ofdisabilities, things like ADHD, autism, down syndrome, cerebral palsy.
[00:02:48] Azhelle Wade aka The Toy Coach: Give me a day in the life, can you, of what it's like when you're working with one of your home based clients.
[00:02:54] Keri Wilmot: for me, it kind of all
[00:02:56] starts in the closet, right? Because as an occupational therapist, [00:03:00] we need to motivate kids in order to learn these skills. And so that's how I ended up in the toy industry was that in order to motivate kids to want to play with me so that we could get to those goals at which they needed to learn things like improving their strength, improving their coordination, I needed to have stuff they liked, I think about the kids that I'm seeing that day, and I have a closet that are full of toys that I've literally collected over the last 25 years, and I've moved from Massachusetts to Texas.
[00:03:28] If it was a great toy, if the country with me, but I'm constantly. I'm constantly looking for games, activities and things that I can use with clients for a specific purpose and a lot of things that actually have multi use. So if I pull one game that day and I'm going to put it in the car when I go to see a client, can I use it in different ways that might meet the needs of multiple kids so that I don't have to essentially have an entire closet full of toys in the trunk of my car? But I have five or six kids course of the schedule appointments, I go to their house, I bring toys and games with me. We have very specific [00:04:00] goals of things that parents would like them to work on. And it's usually things like, improving their fine motor skills, coordination, all because we want kids to be independent and we need them to learn how to do things like tie their shoelaces, hold a spoon, hold a fork.
[00:04:15] And, all these toys and games that we have out there are you know, when played with those foundational skills that they to do those like daily self care activities.
[00:04:26] Azhelle Wade aka The Toy Coach: So can you give me an example of a milestone you might have set for a child when you're going to their house and then I want to hear about a specific toy that you've used to help you reach that milestone.
[00:04:36] Keri Wilmot: We often teach kids how to do is to tie their shoelaces. And that's a really difficult activity, right? Because there's just lots of different steps that you have to be able to do in order to remember them and then use your hands in all sorts of different ways. One hand is doing one thing. Two hands are working at the same time. Using your hands to complete that skill.What you need to have in order to tie aside from having [00:05:00] good attention and understanding and focus to even in memory to follow all those steps, is you need to have what we would call a tripod style grip.
[00:05:10] And that's where you take your, your thumb, your index and your middle finger, pinch them together. So when you're manipulating that string to learn how to, do those steps, you need to be able to make this actual. Make this actual movement, right?
[00:05:24] Azhelle Wade aka The Toy Coach: The pincer
[00:05:25] Keri Wilmot: Yep, yeah, and this one's a little different. Pincer would be thumb and index.
[00:05:28] Azhelle Wade aka The Toy Coach: So it's a different
[00:05:29] Keri Wilmot: a different grip
[00:05:30] Azhelle Wade aka The Toy Coach: pincer's the index and the thumb. And then when you add the middle finger, it's a different grip.
[00:05:34] Keri Wilmot: because you have two different sides of your hand, right? You have, like, the power side is when you use your hand and all your fingers at the same time. And then as fine motor development happens, you get more accuracy and precision.
[00:05:45] For shoe tying, obviously we take, I take a shoe, we have different colored have all sorts of strategies we can practice to learn that skill. But, Tools like tweezers and tongs are really great activities to do to build up the [00:06:00] muscles in the hand that you need in order to be able to improve your hand strength so that to tie shoelaces your hands and your movements are doing the right things that it needs to
[00:06:09] do to get the job done.
[00:06:10] Azhelle Wade aka The Toy Coach: Now, in your intro, I mentioned that you had developed a large collection of toys.
[00:06:15] Keri Wilmot: basically have just over
[00:06:17] The years been collecting things that I know kids love and and that was the basis of how Toy Queen got started was that I just had certain toys and games that buy for people for gifts that weren't necessarily like the hot thing on the hot list at a, a specific holiday timeframe. But yet they were like, My kids loved that thing and I would have never ever thought to purchase that when I went to the store And so over time like just going to consignment shops buying toys myself Once I got into the toy industry doing lots of toy reviews and working with companies have been sending me toys, over the years I basically Have kept it down to one toy closet of that I think are best that sort of meet [00:07:00] my day to day use with multiple kids.
[00:07:02] And if it doesn't really stand the test then it gets, donated
[00:07:06] or passed on to somebody else.
[00:07:08] Azhelle Wade aka The Toy Coach: Oh,So you have curated a collection of products, not developed from not manufactured.
[00:07:13] Keri Wilmot: but at some point, think when you've, enough time doing done playing with toys and seeing how they work and using them in different aspects,
[00:07:20] I have lots of ideas.
[00:07:22] Azhelle Wade aka The Toy Coach: We might not have to work together on that because I think that's brilliant. a lot of those students that come through my program, always want to create products that really make a difference for kids and parents and caregivers. And it's not just about a product to sell. It's about a product that's going to help them to develop and you have so much insight in what's worked.
[00:07:39] So I could see a line. Color coded, developmental, this age to that age with all the pieces you need and then it'll make your life easier Because as you arrive to these homes, you're like I have exactly the kit I need for this home Or maybe they already have it. So that would be great.
[00:07:55] That'd be great what part of your job inspired your [00:08:00] first book Wired Differently? A Teacher's Guide to Sensory
[00:08:04] Keri Wilmot: So in order for kids to play and learn, they need to have good sensory processing skills. And that's really it's a really complicated, understanding of being able to pay attention and focus. It's how information comes into the brain from, from the world, how, what what you how you're moving, how you're feeling things. And I was ironically, at a play event actually. I was with the genius of play in Austin and speaking on play. And I bumped into publisher had been looking for an occupational therapist to write that specific content. And so it, that, that book actually was just the toy industry helped me bump into a publisher who needed that content written, but, it's really important. it's, about play in general, but about the mindset of play, right? And if you're distracted or you're having a hard time focusing and filtering out all that information different sounds of things, how bright things are overwhelming you to the [00:09:00] point where can't look at it and you don't want to. play with it Sensory issues happen a lot ADHD or autism. They get really overwhelmed. Then, it's hard to do the things kids love to do It's hard to It's hard to focus and get all those activities done because just so overwhelmed. So I think more than just that.
[00:09:17] having good fine motor skills to play with the toy. People really need to think about like the mindset that kids are in and the space that they're in Are they able to sit and accept that activity at that time to participate, complete
[00:09:33] it and be successful?
[00:09:34] Azhelle Wade aka The Toy Coach: It's a very good point. it would be a moderate investment for there to be a line where maybe it's all the same product, but one is super colorful and one's a little bit less. So those that don't want to be overstimulated, you can keep that stimulation down to a minimum.
[00:09:46] But for kids that are ready for that overstimulation, you can provide them with a toy that will reach their challenge level. How did that book do? That came out September, 2020. What was the feedback you received on that
[00:09:57] Keri Wilmot: The feedback is reviews on Amazon. It was tricky cuz it came [00:10:00] out right smack dab in the middle of the pandemic, right all
[00:10:02] Azhelle Wade aka The Toy Coach: perfect time. No one had anywhere to go. They just sat home and read your book. It's great.
[00:10:07] And toy sales are through the roof. So it was perfect.
[00:10:10] Perfect. Okay. Tell me about your next book. So what inspired you to come out with another book, first of all, and much less the fine motor foundation tools and techniques are tiny hands. What inspired that?
[00:10:22] Keri Wilmot: That a lot has changed in our world, right? I think if people can say that play has changed over time and as we've seen the introduction of things like more tablets. You look at babies and the kinds of, Kerirs they're in and bouncers they're in and the toys that they're playing with, we're seeing play shift because kids aren't necessarily getting the same kinds of, play.
[00:10:44] motor experiences that we got as kids, right? There's less floor time when on the floor and they're on their hands, pushing up and working on crawling. That's how they're developing all those little tiny muscles in their hands to be able to play later on. So [00:11:00] what I've seen over the years really just this shift.
[00:11:03] And we now, with education, it's getting harder and harder at earlier ages, right? Like, when I went to kindergarten, I just had to write my name by the end of the year. Now, kids that go to kindergarten, they need to write their first name and last name before they even go to kindergarten, right?
[00:11:18] We've changed
[00:11:20] I'm sorry. I got to pause there. Cause that is so interesting that the expectations are higher yet. The actual amount of time we spend doing physical act, anything off of a tablet is less I'm not saying that tablets aren't great. I have a whole section in the new book about apps and stuff that I think are great for fine motor development and ways to use them. But, you think about the posture that they're in when they're using their tablets, you think about, constantly just using this finger. kids aren't even like using their index finger to play with apps. They're using two thumbs, right? Sowith academic expectations becoming more challenging, I feel like there's an importance to really, in those early childhood [00:12:00] years before the age of three, three and a half, to really make sure that kids are getting the kinds of play experiences possible to build those foundational motor skills. Because, what's happening is everyone's Oh, they need to learn how to write their name. Here's a pencil, here's some paper. This is how you write your name. Kids hate that. They don't want to do that, and the book includes is all skills that kids need to learn. For fine motor control ways to help improve their writing But it also has all sorts of different toys from my favorite toy companies that specifically talk about Certain fine motor skills and toys that will specifically toys and games that will specifically address those skills to a companies that teachers and parents can look at to give them some inspiration if they're looking for gift giving purposes, but I really think we just need to spend more time helping kids get those experiences in a more thoughtful way because before we know it, it's really [00:13:00] all boring academic stuff, and the play gets lost. really early because of the time that it takes to learn those skills.
[00:13:08] Azhelle Wade aka The Toy Coach: Can you name a product from your book that is helpful for kids learning how to write their name?
[00:13:14] Keri Wilmot: Yeah, bookie board. So I'm not sure if people are familiar with what bookie boards are. They are. not what you're taking into the ocean to ride the waves.
[00:13:22] Azhelle Wade aka The Toy Coach: I have a boogie board here. I got one from their marketing team. It's amazing. So yeah, go tell us about the boogie board while I play with it on
[00:13:31] Keri Wilmot: Yeah. So It has a stylus where you're able to write and draw on it and then you hit a little button and then it just disappears. And that those ones are adorable. I have a few of those myself. They clip on to a backpack. They're perfect for plane travel. It, they're great for the environment because they definitely don't use up lots of paper.
[00:13:50] But kids love them. It's, something about. Yeah. Being able to write and then push that button and have it like magically disappear that [00:14:00] love
[00:14:00] Azhelle Wade aka The Toy Coach: buttons, at least on mine, the button is the nose. So it's also just cute. Like you pop the nose and then it disappears.
[00:14:06] Keri Wilmot: And what's cool about
[00:14:06] they have sorts of different kinds of those So that's just one but I mean they have ones that are bigger with
[00:14:12] Azhelle Wade aka The Toy Coach: with different pens. Even you saw the ones with the different stylists, you can have a, almost like a marker style.
[00:14:18] Keri Wilmot: about those two is have different opportunities for grip, right?
[00:14:22] There's the, there's thicker ones that almost look like a big crayon with different tips on them. There's a thinner one So it gives A variety. of ways for kids to explore that. And, a lot of times, like, I don't even use what included. We write, like you can use your fingernail, you can use anything. So it allows me to modify the tool that a child is using to be successful and have that experience.
[00:14:44] Azhelle Wade aka The Toy Coach: So when you go, let's say you're going to help a child write, are you going with a mindset of, okay, today I just want to get them to write one letter of their name. Like how, what is your, yeah, approach?
[00:14:55] Keri Wilmot: So, the beginning part would be to look at the motor skills And to kind of warm the [00:15:00] hands up. Is there, do they have the right strength that the right coordination? Maybe you use like, uh, Plato or, or something to Get the hands moving together. and, then the other piece is just looking at what their age is. Because, kids don't just at three take a pencil and you can't start to teach them how to write letter X. There is a very specific progression on the kinds of lines that kids can imitate holding a pencil or stylus first, and they build on each other.
[00:15:30] So a lot of the frustration comes, I think, is that, people don't know that, and so they're like, oh, you have a kid whose name is Zachary, right? The first letter is Z, and you're like, okay, Zach, let's write your name. And he's I don't want anything to do with writing my name. because just not in a place at. where he can make a letter Z, right?
[00:15:49] Azhelle Wade aka The Toy Coach: Don't want anything to do with that.
[00:15:50] Keri Wilmot: Just, play based, stuff, maybe, I make Z and I'm like, hey, there's you see how I did that, slide across the top slide, slide down, slide across the bottom, so there's all sorts [00:16:00] of strategies that we use to meet kids where they're
[00:16:02] at developmentally.
[00:16:04] And that's We have this specific. timeline of how development happens, but the kids that I generally work with are not necessarily meeting those timeframes at the same time as, another child would be like, if it's a three year old expectation, I work with kids that might be meeting that expectation at seven. And so the cool part the right kinds of toys and that also appeal to different age groups who are learning the same skill, but maybe at a different time. where the toy isn't like like a lot of, there are some toys that work on skills that a child, older child might be at, but they're they're babyish, right?
[00:16:42] It's there. It doesn't match the cognitive of where
[00:16:45] they're at.
[00:16:46] Mm
[00:16:46] Azhelle Wade aka The Toy Coach: An occupational therapist, Where Do you go to find toys that would be good to bring to your client's home? Because I do have a lot of students who develop educational toys and [00:17:00] the mass market toy industry is not super fond of education first products or education focused products. So my students are constantly looking to connect with teachers, parents directly.
[00:17:14] And I am encouraging them to go to therapists, but I would like to know like, where do you find the products that you end up using with your
[00:17:23] Keri Wilmot: Well, and that's, that has totally evolved especially like living in two different geographic parts of the country, right? Like I grew up in the Boston area. We, at the time that I became an OT like 25 years ago, we had tons of learning express stores, right? We had a lot of these real nice specialty toy stores that had those sections that you're not, you weren't going to find in a big box retailer, right? And so then I moved to Texas. And we have none of them. All we have are big box retailers. Actually, we might have one now, but I've been here for eight years, and so for me, if I'm urging parents that [00:18:00] want to go and look specifically, I'm looking for those specialty toy retailers because I generally know that they have already curated those collections. of games that are more educational, and focused. And then now a lot if they're asking me specifically, then I usually have a recommendation of a company that I can send them to that might meet their specific needs and say, Hey, you know what? Look at this company's storefront on Amazon. Look at their website, and see. search by this particular category for letter identification, and we narrow it down that way, so that they can find what they need. But, the of going into a store these days the same when it comes to educational choice for sure.
[00:18:42] Azhelle Wade aka The Toy Coach: Do you wish there was some sort of, like award badge specific? I guess there are some coming out for their STEM there's mesh, but I think what you're looking for is a little bit different. Like physical, like sensory development products by age range don't you wish that there were some sort [00:19:00] of like award or badge or branding that would just make it very clear for you?
[00:19:03] Keri Wilmot: Yeah, and I feel like it, the differently abled catalog used to address some of those things like way back in the day back at Toys R Us. Yeah, I do. and I love stem toys and I think mesh is great and I love all these concepts, but it's in my world, when I look at a toy, I can make anything there's a wide variety of ways to play with things that it's, I look at things that way just because it's in that Yeah. Category website doesn't mean another toy doesn't always fit that criteria depending upon how you play with it.
[00:19:35] Azhelle Wade aka The Toy Coach: Yeah. You're looking for more like directed play. Do you think that is a big market for upcoming toy creators to focus on if they have an education focused product that they know is designed to help with this, develop a specific skill? Do you think it's worth their while to try to reach occupational therapist like yourself?
[00:19:53] Keri Wilmot: I've talked to a lot of companies. I've done product with companies myself over the years, and I ask a lot about the kinds of that they're [00:20:00] doing, and a lot of them, some of them are focused and some of them are like their friends, kids, and their friends, kids are very different than the kinds of kids that I work with.
[00:20:09] Azhelle Wade aka The Toy Coach: are there conventions with occupational therapists that potentially creators could exhibit at or go to, to meet more people in your community?
[00:20:18] Keri Wilmot: there's a Occupational Therapy Association, the other part would be teachers. There'sprogramming and things like where they have, too. Educational conferences too. When somebody comes to me with something, I know exactly who that direct competitor probably is going to be for that kind of toy.
[00:20:34] And I know what's been, created that's already been, that's like it, or, and what worked and what didn't work. I have such a broader being in the space and making it my business for 15 everything and anything about what's being created for children's toys.
[00:20:49] And people joke, like I have a 15 year old, but here I am, still focused primarily on that early childhood. level because not only does it need for my [00:21:00] clients, but those are the kinds of toys that I feel like are really important that we still need to keep developing.
[00:21:05] Even though I'm a mom, I'm this space every single day. It's not, I didn't move out of it because my child got too big and I'm not anymore. I'm still, it's still very much a part of day to day therapy life that it's really important for me to stay on top of it.
[00:21:19] Azhelle Wade aka The Toy Coach: Keri Ann's book, Fine Motor Foundations, is specifically geared toward childhood educators, special education teachers, but clearly there's information that can benefit toy creators looking to target this age demographic, as well as parents. The description of the book starts with, do children, in your class, struggle with holding writing tools comfortably, cutting with scissors accurately, completing self care tasks?
[00:21:43] there are age specific milestones in this book to help caregivers get insight into typical fine motor skill progression. There are activities that are ready to use that you can implement. I am curious to know what is the most unexpected toy that aids in [00:22:00] fine motor development that you might've mentioned in this book?
[00:22:04] Keri Wilmot: I don't know if it even counts as being
[00:22:07] A toy, but the most unexpected fine motor toys are often the ones you can find in your kitchen utensil drawer.
[00:22:15] Yeah,
[00:22:15] We want parents and teachers and buy toys, right?
[00:22:18] That's obviously an important purpose. But I don't think people realize just how many natural experiences they can create with opening a kitchen utensil drawer, pulling out the Meatballer, the strawberry huller and chopsticks, all those kinds of things that you just you have sitting in a drawer And then the other piece of it is going into the bathroom. Do you have cotton balls? Do you have q tips? What do I recommend in the book is now that we have AI right? It's great. I have tweezers tongs cotton balls and Pegs what can I know? There it is. Yeah.
[00:22:55] Azhelle Wade aka The Toy Coach: AI and ask it what fine motor, activity can I create with these things that I have at home?
[00:22:59] Keri Wilmot: that I have [00:23:00] a basis and a foundation for lots of things. So I don't necessarily have to go to AI. I can usually come up with it on my own, but for those who are not aware of what they could do for sure. Yeah, absolutely.
[00:23:12] Azhelle Wade aka The Toy Coach: very intrigued. I actually want to try this now. What, if you suggested a toy, And that you want and did that same thing. So like I have a Barbie, a piece of paper and a crayon. I don't know. Or like I have a Barbie, I don't know, a pillow and a crayon. Let's say, what fine motor activity can I do?
[00:23:30] I'm just curious. I'm going to type it in right now. I have a Barbie. What's the prompt that you suggest people use in your book?
[00:23:36] Keri Wilmot: think. There's no specific prompt.
[00:23:37] Azhelle Wade aka The Toy Coach: Have a boogie board, hair tie looking around my house, and A pillow. Find a, we have no idea if this will work. Find a way, find a developmental way to improve my child's fine motor skill. Okay. Let's see what it does. Let's see. I'm so curious. So I am typing this into chat GPT for [00:24:00] clarification.
[00:24:00] Okay. Oh, wow. Okay. Not bad. Okay. All right. I might have to improve this prompt a bit, because what it did was it gave me different activities for each of the different things I have. It didn't use them all together, but still, that works. Obviously for the boogie board, drawing and writing practice.
[00:24:16] Encourage your child to draw shapes, letters, and numbers on the boogie board. This practice helps improve hand eye coordination and control. Tracing. It says draw simple shapes or letters on a piece of paper and place it under the boogie board. Have your child trace over them developing precision muscle memory. I would say we can't do that because boogie boards are not transparent in any
[00:24:35] Keri Wilmot: they have.
[00:24:36] Azhelle Wade aka The Toy Coach: open.
[00:24:37] Keri Wilmot: These ones are not, but they did have a version that was.
[00:24:40] Azhelle Wade aka The Toy Coach: not totally off the mark.
[00:24:41] Okay, and the third activity with the boogie board is to connect the dots. Create a simple connect the dots activity on the boogie board. This can help with hand control and following a sequence. Huh.
[00:24:50] Good idea.
[00:24:51] Okay. Hair tie activities. So I told it, I'm going to pull up my hair tie, which is covered in my hair. So that's embarrassing, but this is the hair tie that I was looking at. [00:25:00] So show your child how to stretch and manipulate hair ties using their fingers.
[00:25:03] This activity strengthens finger muscles and enhances dexterity. And Keri is nodding in the background. Yeah. Do you agree? Is it true?
[00:25:12] Okay. hair tie patterns. Encourage your child to make patterns by looping hair ties around their fingers.
[00:25:17]
[00:25:18] Hair ties around their fingers are small objects. This helps finger coordination and creative thinking. Pins or grass practice. Place small objects like beads or buttons on a table. Have your child use the hair ties to pick them up.
[00:25:30]
[00:25:31] Yeah, no, that one doesn't work. I thought it was going to say, put the small objects in the hair tie, like in a, within the circle of the hair. I don't know. Interesting.
[00:25:40] Keri Wilmot: yeah, No.
[00:25:43] Azhelle Wade aka The Toy Coach: Buttoning and unbuttoning. Sew large buttons into the pillowcase and create buttonholes.
[00:25:47] Teach your child to button and unbutton, improving fine motor skills. Pillow pinching. Place small, oh, it thinks I have a pillowcase. Okay. Place small objects inside the pillowcase. Have your child use their fingers to pinch and pull the [00:26:00] objects out, enhancing their grip and finger strength.
[00:26:02] What do you think about that one, Keri?
[00:26:04] Keri Wilmot: it is not the best activity
[00:26:05] or the most fun, but if you added an element to it of, okay, reach your hand, show them all the, show them all the pieces, right? Okay. Now, reach your hand into the bag and not look,
[00:26:16] but get me the hair tie.
[00:26:18] That's more
[00:26:18] fun.
[00:26:19] Azhelle Wade aka The Toy Coach: Like that. I like the little bit of surprise element and like a mystery pillowcase, like a mystery box pillowcase. Would you say that your specialty is in fine motor skills specifically?
[00:26:30] Keri Wilmot: Um, not necessarily just fine motor skills, you know, that
[00:26:33] sensory regulation piece, I think is that underlying component 1st? getting kids regulated, emotionally available to pay attention and focus, maybe to sit and then work on. What are activities that we're working on when they're ready to participate.
[00:26:49] But if you have kids that are disorganized, they're overstimulated, they're running around, they can't sit, they can't focus, then you're not even going to get to that fine water task. a lot of What [00:27:00] we do is teach people about, the strategies that you can use to help kids calm down so that they're able to focus.
[00:27:06] And then, Then what's the activity that follows it, Because I might want them to write their name, but there might be 10 steps that we need that need to happen before then before we can even get to that activity.
[00:27:19] How we ask play with it in a very specific way that gives them confidence, you know I think a lot of there's a game. I I that I pulled out of the closet this week It's ring it on. I think It's a play monster. thought it. was play monster But so there's a game bell and I have the disney edition and it has four different cards of character And it's like a card swapping game and Got a lot of of speed. There's a lot of stuff that needs to happen in order to play that game. I have kids love Disney So what I did is I took one of every character, I put them face down on the table and then I said, which character do you want to be? And they say, Woody. I take all those cards. We put them in a big pile, upside down so you can't see. And then it was okay, [00:28:00] go. Find when you find your four cards right that match of the woody character, you get to ring the bell, so a lot of kind of the what we're doing is modifying what we have to create different activities. That can help kids improve their skills, but that, the kids are looking at the box trying to set it up based on the photo that's on the box, but I had them play a completely different way. And they initially they couldn't understand why I wasn't, it up that way. But, really the skill of an OT is how you use something in a different way that gets kids to participate. that makes them successful, that builds their confidence. And that's I think, the unique piece of what, we have to offer.
[00:28:45] Azhelle Wade aka The Toy Coach: I think
[00:28:46] might be quite beneficial for OTs then is a, like a, if toy companies were interested in, or if an independent party were interested in, like yourself creating a downloadable [00:29:00] resource of these are the activities that you, the unexpected activities you can do with these popular products. To reach these, to do, to practice these skills or to develop these skills, to have that go to resource.
[00:29:13] And then for, I'm thinking for my emergent toy creators, when they are reaching out to OTs and saying, Hey, I have a great product and here, and if you buy it, there's also a list of, exercises that'll give you for varying age ranges that you can do with this product beyond the basic way to play with it.
[00:29:29] I'm sure that would be Yeah. And that's how. Queen was created. It was practical ways to play every day. And that was essentially my you play with this toy instructions that are
[00:29:38] Keri Wilmot: being provided to you?
[00:29:40] I think, I know Learning Resources, Educational Insights, they know that teachers and therapists are playing with their things.
[00:29:45] So they do have a lot of information on their sites That is targeted more specifically, even to certain professions rather than, parents too, but professions as well. I think, important to, to realize that, might that, you're [00:30:00] designing a toy five year old, but there could be a 10 year old that's going to play with that toy, so just having that open mindset of the other kinds are going to play with that and what What they're going to learn from it or how it that might be different
[00:30:13] than your intended thought.
[00:30:16] Azhelle Wade aka The Toy Coach: Love it.
[00:30:17] Oh, this is great. I want to know, what are you hoping to do next with the Toy Queen? What are your goals for maybe a year from now?
[00:30:27] Keri Wilmot: with companies. I have written content for them. I've worked on the product Consultation side, I want to help be their liaison to whatever industry they need. I have You know, television, I've done toys on television. I've been space for a long time.
[00:30:42] So I really want, to continue to work with companies and help them, create a better product, maybe meet the needs of that special needs demographic a little bit cause that's the hard part, nobody anticipates they're going to have a child with special needs, but, but parents want nothing, more than to see the joy of [00:31:00] their children playing and no matter what level they're capable of playing at. And I think that's, That's what I hope to do .
[00:31:07] Azhelle Wade aka The Toy Coach: My final question for you today, Keri, is What toy or game blew your mind as a kid?
[00:31:12] Keri Wilmot: generation. My mom stood in line for days in order to get my cabbage patch kit.
[00:31:19] Azhelle Wade aka The Toy Coach: Aww, that's so
[00:31:21] Keri Wilmot: Those are play with just having lots of dolls, right? but I'm definitely the Cabbage Patch era and my mom can tell that
[00:31:27] story like it was yesterday standing
[00:31:30] in the parking lot of Bradley's in the rain
[00:31:35] Azhelle Wade aka The Toy Coach: Wow,
[00:31:35] Bradleys!
[00:31:37] Keri Wilmot: to open the back to see how many they
[00:31:39] that day
[00:31:41] Azhelle Wade aka The Toy Coach: No, I was toward the tail end of the Cabbage Patch, but I did learn to braid on my Cabbage Patch doll. And I vividly remember like being in the car with it, like it goes like this. And I was like, trying to figure it out.
[00:31:53] Keri Wilmot: Yeah, if there was a, if there was a second, it had to be a Barbie dream house because nothing was cooler than [00:32:00] an elevator to Barbie dream house.
[00:32:03] Azhelle Wade aka The Toy Coach: The fact that we both said the elevator. Why was that so cool? Like we couldn't just pick her up and go like this. The elevator for some reason was like so cool. Like she got an elevator in her house. amazing. She's on the first floor. Now she's on the second floor.
[00:32:19] She's so silly.
[00:32:21] Oh my gosh, that's so awesome. Keri, where can people learn more about the Toy Queen and your books?
[00:32:27] Keri Wilmot: I W I L M O T dot com. You can email me at Keri, K E R I at toyqueen. com. The books are on Amazon or through my publisher, which is Griffin House that is part of Kaplan Early Learning. And I'm on all the social channels. I'm on Instagram as Keri Wilma, W I L M O T, and anywhere you can type in Toy Queen, you'll find my
[00:32:53] Azhelle Wade aka The Toy Coach: Queen. You'll probably find the Toy Queen if you type in Toy Queen.
[00:32:56]
[00:32:56] Keri, this was a really informative conversation [00:33:00] and I'm sure you and I are going to work together sometime in the future to make it easier for people with new creators. to get their educational products in front of more people like yourself. There's always an opportunity for them to have a bigger audience for their products because so many new creators are parents and caregivers inspired by the kids they take care of.
[00:33:19] so happy to have you on the show and to share that insight. I'm going to go ahead and get started with everybody listening to the podcast. Now, my listener, if you love this podcast and you haven't left a review yet, what are you waiting for? Your reviews keep me coming back week after week.
[00:33:31] It keeps exciting guests like Keri wanting to come on our show. And every time a new review comes in, I get a notification on my phone and it puts a huge smile on my face. So wherever you're listening, Write a review of this podcast, make sure you're subscribed to this podcast. And as always, thank you so much for spending this time with me and Keri today.
[00:33:50] We both know your time is super valuable and that there are a ton of podcasts out there, so it means the world to us that you tuned in to this one until next week. We'll see you later, toy people. [00:34:00]
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