If you need help this Christmas
If you have been helped by CHO in the past and need help for Christmas, please send an email to cho@cho-va.com requesting holiday help and include your name and address. We will send you a letter so you can register for the Christmas Store.
If you have never received help from CHO, please call your school social worker or Fairfax County Human Services at (703) 222-0880 and ask for a Christmas referral for help.
If you’d like to donate toys to this year’s Christmas program, here are some toy suggestions
Younger Infants:
•Things they can reach for, hold, suck on, shake, make noise with—rattles, large rings, squeeze toys, teething toys, soft dolls, textured balls, and vinyl and board books
•Things to look at—pictures of faces so baby can see them and unbreakable mirrors
Older Infants/Toddlers:
•Things to play pretend with—baby dolls, puppets, plastic and wood vehicles with wheels, and water toys
•Things to drop and take out—plastic bowls, large beads, balls, and nesting toys
•Things to build with—large soft blocks and wooden cubes
•Things to use their large muscles with—large balls, push and pull toys
•Board books with simple illustrations or photographs of real objects
•Things to pretend with—toy phones, dolls and doll beds, baby carriages and strollers, dress-up accessories (scarves, purses), puppets, stuffed toys, plastic animals, and plastic and wood “realistic” vehicles
•Things to build with—cardboard and wood blocks
•Rattles, Nesting Rings, Stacking Blocks or Cups, Blankets, Bath Toys
Ages 3-4:
• Things to create with—wide non-toxic, washable markers, crayons, andlarge paper
• Things for solving problems—wood puzzles (with 4 to 12 pieces), blocks that snap together, objects to sort (by size, shape, color, smell), and things with hooks, buttons, buckles, and snaps
• Things for pretending and building—blocks, smaller (and sturdy) transportation toys, construction sets, child-sized furniture (kitchen sets, chairs, play food), dress-up clothes, dolls with accessories, puppets, and sand and water play toys
• toddler-sized scissors with blunt tips, chalkboard and large chalk, and rhythm instruments
• Things for using their large and small muscles—large and small balls for kicking and throwing, tunnels, and pounding and hammering toys
• Little People Play Sets
• Airplanes, Construction Trucks, Balls, Duplos, wooden food for play kitchen, Melissa and Doug Wooden Play Sets for Kitchen, Melissa and Doug Broom and Mop set, Big Plus+Plus Set, Bubble Machine, Outdoor Chalk, Cars, Trucks, Dolls, Squigz,
Ages 5-6:
•Things for solving problems—puzzles (with 12 to 20+ pieces), blocks that snap together, collections and other smaller objects to sort by length, width, height, shape, color, smell, quantity, and other features— collections of plastic bottle caps, plastic bowls and lids, keys, shells, counting bears, small colored blocks
•Things for pretending and building—many blocks for building complex structures, transportation toys, construction sets, child-sized furniture (“apartment” sets, play food), dress-up clothes, dolls with accessories,
puppets and simple puppet theaters, and sand and water play toys
•Things to create with—large and small crayons and markers, large and small paintbrushes and fingerpaint, large and small paper for drawing and painting, colored construction paper, preschooler-sized scissors,
chalkboard and large and small chalk, modeling clay and playdough, modeling tools, paste, paper and cloth scraps for collage, and instruments—rhythm instruments and keyboards, xylophones, maracas, and tambourines
•Things for using their large and small muscles—large and small balls for kicking and throwing/catching, ride-on equipment including tricycles,
tunnels, plastic bats and balls, plastic bowling pins, and a workbench with a plastic or wooden hammer, nails, and saw
Preschool Age:
Paw Patrol, Bluey, Frozen, Dinosaurs, Princesses, Firetrucks, Firemen, Police Cars, Cars, Wooden Blocks, Sorting Toys, Alphabet Robots, Locks/plastic keys with numbers and letters on them, puzzles, Playstix, Magnatiles, Duplos, playdough, Pretend Play (kitchen, doctor kits, vet kits, stuffed animals), Wooden Trains/Track, Matchbox Cars, Playmobil Sets, Dress Up Clothes, Pretend Kitchen Food/Sets, Horses, My Little Pony, Fairies, Dolls, Take Apart Plastic Airplane/Motorcycle with Drill, Encanto, Peppa Pig, Transformers, Lite Brite, Plus+Plus Sets, Zingo, Hi Ho Cherry-o game, Connect 4, Guess Who game,
Ages 7-8:
Legos
Puzzles
Science Kits
Sports Equipment
Scooters