Gift Guide: ADHD-Friendly Presents to Build Your Child’s Brain

Yes, you could buy another stuffed animal or Nerf weapon, and your kid would probably love it. Or you could invest in a gift that stimulates your child’s brain, builds up her working memory, or helps him improve social skills. If you’d like to give the gift of stronger organization skills, focus at school, or reduced anxiety, use these ADHD-tested recommendations to get a jump on holiday shopping.

It takes serious time and energy to find toys that are age-appropriate, stimulate curiosity, and encourage our children to interact with the world. Now, a subscription service called Kiwi Crate does the heavy lifting, sending you a kit each month filled with STEM-based activities to get kids aged 3-4, 5-8, or 9-16+ thinking, learning, and building. Each Kiwi Crate comes with handy ratings, indicating the expected level of parental involvement, mess, and skill building in each kit. They’re all-in-one tools to help your child’s creativity blossom! (Starting at $23.95/month; www.kiwicrate.com)

Some kids with ADHD focus best when fidgeting, but misinformed teachers may assume that movement distracts from their work. Now, with the dual-purpose Desk Buddy, kids can fidget and remain productive, with teachers and classmates none the wiser! This fidget doubles as a ruler, and has differently textured sections for children to rub or tap to their heart’s desire. It’s made of FDA-approved material, dishwasher-safe, and bacteria resistant — so don’t worry: it’s safe for your child to chew, too! ($9.99; www.sensoryuniversity.com)

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Balance boards (#CommissionsEarned) are used by Dr. Ned Hallowell in his Learning Breakthrough Program (LBP), a non-medical exercise-based intervention for treating ADHD. The program is based on stimulating the cerebellum and frontal lobe, spurring natural improvement of difficult ADHD symptoms. Your child doesn’t need to know any of this, though — she’ll be having too much fun wiggling and rocking on the balance board! Have her try it while she’s watching TV; she’ll improve balance, coordination, and (maybe) ADHD symptoms instead of just sitting there.

Everyone knows kids with ADHD do great with rewards, but it can be a struggle for parents to implement systems that work for each child’s unique needs. Enter KidCash, a simple incentive system based on real-world economic principles. When your child behaves well, you reward her with realistic looking “cash” that can be exchanged for candy, device time, or put in savings. When she misbehaves, you can present her with “tickets” that can be paid for with cash she’s already earned. Your child will feel all grown up controlling her own “money,” and start to understand the consequences for her actions, too. ($20; www.kidcash.com)

If your child struggles with handwriting — whether due to dysgraphia, poor fine motor control, or difficulty focusing — the Tran-Quill Vibrating Pencil Kit might be the answer. The pencil vibrates gently as your child writes, increasing focus and subtly improving pencil grip as your child builds muscle memory. To top it off (literally!) each Tran-Quill pencil comes with interchangeable Bite-n-Chew pencil tips, allowing chronic pencil chewers to get the oral stimulation they need while they work on improving handwriting skills. ($35.99; www.arktherapeutic.com)

ADHD often goes hand in hand with anxiety, and it can be devastating for parents to watch their child struggle with constant worry. Worry Eaters are comforting toys that can be used to help young children manage anxiety. By writing or drawing his or her worry on a piece of paper and zipping it into a Worry Eater’s mouth, your child can learn to express anxieties and let them go. Worry Eaters are goofy monster dolls that your child will love to play with, but they can also be close companions, helping your child carry the burden of anxiety. ($24.99; BUY ON AMAZON (#CommissionsEarned))

The stories of Richard Scarry, beloved children’s book author, come to life in this exciting board game for children under the age of 8. It promotes cooperation — a skill we can all work on — by requiring all players to work together toward a common goal. It also strengthens cognitive skills, visual processing, and planning, with an engaging plot that will provide young children with hours of fun! ($24.99; BUY NOW (#CommissionsEarned))

If your child goes wild for Minecraft, she’ll love the ZOOB Challenge, an open-ended modeling system where creativity, problem solving, and perseverance are rewarded. The ZOOB system includes 175 pieces — including wheels, rubber bands, and balls — as well as 25 “challenge cards” to test your child’s ingenuity. Can she build a device that will bounce the ball? How about one that will send it down a ramp? For children interested in the science of motion, the ZOOB challenge will provide hours of STEM-based fun. ($35.49; BUY NOW (#CommissionsEarned))

Children with ADHD can struggle with executive functions like sequencing tasks, and they often have difficulty understanding cause and effect. Laser Maze, an award-winning logic game, can help them on both fronts as they use mirrors, beam-splitters, and a little creativity to direct a laser through a series of obstacles. Plus, Laser Maze’s engaging one-player design will allow your child to have plenty of solo fun — without resorting to staring at a screen. ($35.99; www.thinkfun.com)