Check out these cool toys – there are tons of ways to use Squigz to work on developmental skills with kids!
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When my boys got a box of Squigz for Christmas last year, I knew we had a winner. But I had no idea how many different ways there were to play with these awesome, sticky little toys until I brought them in to use in my occupational therapy sessions.
From heavy work to fine motor skills to visual motor skills and more, the possibilities for these “fun little suckers” are endless! The Squigz Starter Set comes with 24 little silicone suction cup poppers in 8 different shapes and sizes. They stick to each other along with just about any surface you can imagine, making for awesome construction play and other creative play ideas.
Here were some of our favorite ideas…
15 Ways to Play With Squigz
1 || Stick all of the Squigz on the table (or other surface) and have kids pull them off as fast as they can!
This is great for fine motor strengthening, visual motor integration, and gives a little dose of proprioceptive input as kids pull against the suction cups. We used this as a little fine motor warm up at the beginning of our OT sessions.
2 || Stick all of the Squigz on the table (or other surface) and ask kids to pull off a certain color.
This adds a little cognitive element for younger kids (I used this with young preschoolers who were just learning their colors).
3 || Ask kids to pull of a few Squigz in a certain sequence.
This is a great way to up the complexity for older kids – great for sequencing, memory, and fine motor skills!
4 || Stick them all over the table or floor to make an awesome obstacle course for cars, trucks, trains, and other toys!
Challenge kids to weave their toys in and out of the obstacles – great for visual motor integration!
5 || Stick them to each other to make bridges for cars and other toys to go through.
6 || Stick Squigz on the side of a file cabinet, refrigerator, or mounted marker board and work on core strength by having kids pull them off in a kneeling position.
Or, place the Squigz up higher and have kids move from tall kneeling to standing to pull a Squig off and then back to kneeling to place it in a basket or container on the floor.
7 || Stick them on a marker board (large or small, mounted vertically or resting on a table) to make a visual motor obstacle course!
Have kids weave in and out of the Squigz with a dry erase marker.
8 || Stick Squigz on a marker board to make dot-to-dot drawings.
9 || Use them to practice leaving spaces between words when writing.
We practiced writing short sentences on marker boards, sticking Squigz to the marker board in between each word to show how much space to leave.
10 || Use them to practice letter construction by placing one of the Squigz on the marker board as a starting point, indicating where to start forming each letter.
11 || Use Squigz with play dough!
They make great little stamps!
12 || Try a geo board challenge.
Stick several Squigz to the table and see how many rubber bands kids can hook between them before the suction cups pop off! This worked best with the smallest orange Squigz and the kids loved it!
13 || Work on upper extremity strength!
Sticking several Squigz to the floor and having kids positioned on their tummies over a therapy ball or bolster to pull off as many as they can while supporting themselves on one hand!
14 || Make it a relay!
Again, stick Squigz to the floor and have kids run or move on a scooter back and forth to grab them off the floor and then race to another place to put them in a bucket one at a time.
15 || Squigz make awesome fidget toys for circle time and other classroom activities!
So much fun, right? What the heck are you waiting for? Pick up your set of Squigz today! You won’t be disappointed! Do you have Squigz already? What are your favorite ways to play! Leave us a comment below!
Find all of our recommendations for the developmental toys we use every single week in our therapy practice and in our play groups!
[…] At The Treehouse, Squigz are one of the very hardest working therapy toys on this list. We have them out during almost every single play group because they’re so fun and versatile. Today, we’re sharing 15 ways to play with Squigz. […]