Favorite heavy work toys for active toddlers
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All toddlers are active, but some are ACTIVE! If you want to wear out an active toddler, using toys that meet sensory needs and provide heavy work will regulate and calm them. Everyone has different sensory preferences and needs. We may prefer dim lighting, like certain texture foods, or feel overstimulated in loud environments. Toddlers are no different, and they often are observed seeking out more of our lesser known senses- proprioceptive input (our sense of where our body is and how it’s moving) and vestibular input (our sense of balance). Instead of constantly begging our kids to settle down and slow down, providing an outlet to get those sensory needs met will naturally calm them.
Heavy work is a group of play activities that provide opportunities to meet those sensory needs through pushing and pulling (which provides proprioceptive input). Many heavy work activities pair well with activities that provide vestibular input too (like rocking, spinning, hanging upside down). It’s great when heavy work activities can be built into the day’s routine. Some of those activities can happen naturally, like allowing our toddlers to help carry in groceries or switch laundry with us. But sometimes, it’s nice to have a toy or piece of equipment to fall back on to get those sensory needs met and burn up that energy.
These are the most effective gross motor heavy work toys for toddlers:
Climb. Slide. Repeat.
Wobble discs require heavy work to propel by pushing back and forth with legs. They provide vestibular input to keep balance on disc and rock back and forth.
Sit N Spin. Spin one way, then spin the other to prevent overdoing the vestibular input.
Scooter boards can be used while sitting or lying on belly and pushing with arms. We have a blast setting up obstacles and moving around them or crashing into towers.
Velcro corn hole does it all. Bean bags have added weight that gives input when tossed. This toy also has the velcro board on the other side with the heavy work opportunity to pull the balls from the velcro
Pogo stick. We get to pull as we jump and concentrate on keeping balance while pushing through legs. A whole body sensory experience!
Ball pit. We love to use this as the end of an obstacle course for crashing or digging for other buried toys.
Large cardboard blocks are perfect for safely crashing and working on motor skills while building it back up.
Modular couch. There are plenty of great brands of these. You want to look for sets that have enough pieces that kiddos can creatively build a fort in more ways than one, and you want the pieces large enough to act as a crashing pad when needed.
Tunnels are amazing budget-friendly and space-saving tools to provide heavy work while crawling back and forth. I love to add hidden pieces of another toy (like puzzle pieces) to make the play goal-directed.
The roller coaster has been hours of fun at our house. Encourage your toddler to get the car lined up on the track and pushed back to the top for the heavy work component.
We love to play burrito while wrapping up in blankets and wiggling out. The body sock makes that game possible when someone isn’t always available to wrap them up over and over.
Balance bikes couples heavy work with problem solving and motor planning to keep the bike up. We love toys that can challenge multiple skills.
Spinning seat provides heavy work when they work to propel themselves.
We love to make obstacle courses with balance beams and stepping stones. I add more heavy work challenges with fun instructions to complete it like different types of animals (stomping, crawling, etc.) to get more input through the muscles and joints.
Trampoline. Each bounce gives them the opportunity to push through for more. This is a staple in our house when my little guys is jumping on things or people that he shouldn’t. It’s great to have a place to direct him to safely jump to meet those needs instead of just telling him to stop.
Bouncy animals can work in the same way and provide opportunities for more pretend and exploration while they jump.
Pikler triangles are amazing to challenge problem solving and motor planning to get across. They require toddler to pull to climb
The stair slide is another favorite at our house. We use our modular couch cushions to pad the landing and climb up those stairs over and over and over.
Bean bag chairs are great for crash landing or just hanging out when we need to calm down.
Ride on toys work just like balance bikes for our smaller crowd. Push through the legs and plan how to maneuver around our environments.
No sensory toys list is complete without a swing, but you could argue it’s not quite heavy work. Being pushed on a swing is not heavy work, but it provides calming vestibular input. If a child has to work to propel themselves or take turns with a peer or parent to push the swing, they get their heavy work in too!
Wobble seats are also questionably heavy work, but I just want you to have all the tools in one place! Wobble seats can be placed in a chair to give a child a way to wiggle while staying seated. However, there are plenty of ways to use them in play that do provide heavy work. We love spinning, using it as a stepping stone, or holding the sides and rocking.
How many times can I say it’s a favorite of ours? I’ll be honest, we got the bounce house as a gift, and I thought it was entirely too large to be used practically. I have really been proven wrong. It’s small enough that it can be used for a basement or large play room in the colder months (yes, we even pushed our couches and used it in the living room once.) It’s also great for outdoors with really little set up. We use lots of “popcorn” style games on the bounce house to add more heavy work.
