Occupational Therapy

Holiday Gift Guide 2025: Infants and Toddlers

| Mary Stoffel, MOT, OTR/L

October is behind us, which means it’s officially wish list season. Sorting through the avalanche of toys and games online and in catalogs can feel more than a little overwhelming. I’ll be honest: narrowing down our favorites wasn’t easy. So yes, our list is on the larger side this year. But in our defense, every pick earned its spot.

To make the Child(ish) Advice list, we researched:

  • Is it cool and new?
  • Does it support child development?
  • Does it stand out from all the rest?
  • What do the reviews say about durability and practicality?

This year, we’ve grouped our favorites by target age and by category. First up, infants and toddlers.

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A Quiet Place: Voice and Volume

| Mary Stoffel, MOT, OTR/L

Lee Abbott (signing): You cannot go down there!
Regan Abbott: Why not?
Lee Abbott: You know why.
Regan Abbott: I’m not a child! I won’t make a sound!
Lee Abbott: Just don’t. Please.

“Quiet” isn’t the first word that comes to mind when describing kids. More often, they fill every corner with sound—shrieks of joy, dramatic retellings, spontaneous dinosaur roars. Children tend to operate at full volume…unfortunately. As it turns out, there are real, developmental reasons behind all that noise.

Kids tend to be loud, not because they’re misbehaving, but because they’re still learning. Self-awareness, emotional regulation, and social cues are all works in progress. They’re figuring out how to read the room, tune into themselves, and turn the volume dial down. Add in boundless energy and curiosity, and volume becomes part of how they explore, connect, and express themselves.

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Don’t Scream, It’s just the Class Clown

| Mary Stoffel, MOT, OTR/L

Sidney: Stu, Stu, what’s your motive? Billy’s got one, the police are on their way, what are you gonna tell them?

Stu: “Peer pressure. I’m far too sensitive.”

Oh, Stu Macher. Not only was he part of the very first Ghostface duo, but he’s also the ultimate class clown. Loud, impulsive, and constantly cracking jokes, Stu masks chaos with charisma. But beneath the blood and comic relief lies something eerily familiar: The emotional blueprint of a kid who uses humor to connect, deflect, and survive.

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The Twin Brain

| Mary Stoffel, MOT, OTR/L

We are constantly fascinated by the brain and how it shapes behavior. Our chats about what is going on in our kids’ heads led to our last posts about the boy, girl, and even ADHD brain. So naturally as moms to twins, we turned our attention to twin neurobiology.

Twin brains seem to operate in a world of their own. It’s almost like one brain expressed through two distinct personalities. For example, my daughter H leans into logic and reasoning, while K brings emotional depth and creativity. Together as identical twins, they feel like complementary halves of a shared whole. My husband and I have also seen moments that defy explanation: one twin tearing up when the other gets hurt, or both making the same gesture at the exact same time. It’s weird, but it’s pretty cool.

Patti having fraternal twins, their brains are less complementary but more like synergistic sound boards. As they learn, they take cues from each other, speeding up their understanding and sometimes their competitiveness.

It naturally leads to the question: Are twin brains wired differently than singleton ones?
In some ways, yes. In others, not quite.

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The Girl Brain

| Mary Stoffel, MOT, OTR/L

While working at a pediatric clinic, seasoned therapists often noted that boys responded best to clear expectations and consistent consequences, while girls benefited more from patience, emotional connection, and time to process instructions and feelings.

When I was just starting out, I assumed all kids processed things the same and saw girls’ need for patience as coddling. For context, I was raised in an Asian household where emotions were seen more as a weakness than an asset. So, if you had to cry, go outside.  

With time however, I realized I was wrong. It wasn’t that they didn’t understand the task; it was that they wanted to get it right so badly. Sometimes they’d miss the mark on the first try, or they’d misread my tone and think I was upset with them. Other times, they were simply grappling with the fact that there was no room to negotiate the task or the consequence. What they needed wasn’t leniency—it was time, clarity, and emotional safety. Check out this IG video.

We know that boy and girl brains are different, but what are the actual characteristics a girl brain and makes it’s learning processes distinct from its male counterpart?  

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