Top 10 Toys for Autistic Children

Design

Children can build all sorts of structures, and a downloadable guide can be read from your tablet or smart device, or printed to help assist the fun. Safe for children ages two and over, these pegs are a great occupational therapy activity, for children or adults. It assists with pattern recognition, basic math skills, fine motor skills, and more. A drawstring toy bag makes the pieces easy to store and travel with. Certified Non-Toxic, Lead- and Phthalate-Free, and BPA-Free, these pegs are safe and simple, easily washable with soap and water, and no hassle to clean up. Give your children the colorful afternoon that they deserve with this rainbow set!

Educational Value

Construction sets are a great way for kids to work fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, math skills, pattern recognition, visual perception skills, and more. These pegs are colorful and just the right size for tiny hands to be able to use without frustration.

Effectiveness

It’s a fun, unique alternative to LEGOs or DuploBlox. These little pegs are fun and easy to build with. They’re colorful, and the emailed PDF guide helps children and parents truly get the most out of the toy with suggested learning activities.

Design

Thrown or rolled in a certain way and the Hoberman’s star-like features hold up really well providing any kid, or adult for that matter, with enough sensory input to stimulate his or her imagination. Pick it up in the wrong point and the Hoberman collapses into a ball more like a highly defensive hedgehog. So, if you are actively looking for sensory processing disorder toys, then the Hoberman Mini Sphere can help.

Educational Value

This wonderful sphere expands when thrown making it a great toss-game throw toy.
It stimulates excitement and small children can carry it with them easily because it is so lightweight. The simplicity of the expanding/contracting motions of the Sphere provides the autistic child with the repetitive motions needed for busy brain activity. The Sphere is a wonderful sensory toy that will fascinate for hours on end.

Effectiveness

The Hoberman Mini Sphere provides the best exercise to keep an autistic child’s mind and hands busy. This helps him or her take full control of his or her repetitive behavior. Additionally, we found that the Hoberman can be used as a very novel desktop ornament.

Design

Impresa Product’s Mesh-and-Marble Fidget Toy is the ideal choice for a fidget toy that can be used in situations where noisier toys would cause a distraction. This could be waiting at a doctor’s office, listening to a lecture in class, or even at your desk in the office. Whatever and wherever your need, these mesh toys are waiting to set your mind at ease and get you back on task. Since several are included in each package, there is no worry if one or two are lost.

Educational Value

These little bags may appear simplistic and in truth, they are, but simple toys often work best when it comes to calming the anxiety or stress concerns that accompany many forms of autism. They have been safety tested for use by both children and adults and can help promote a sense of calm in those with an overabundance of energy. Sliding the premium metal marble against the rough mesh of the bag is a gentle sensory experience and can help focus your child’s mind. This particular style of ‘fidget’ toy is perfect for school as it provided a silent distraction and it is small enough to easily slip into a pocket on the way out the door.

Effectiveness

The Monkey Fidgetz Set includes a rainbow assortment of eight little bags in four bright, primary colors. They’re small enough that children can easily carry them in their pockets. Each bag contains a small, smooth marble that can be pushed around within its mesh confines. This set is what many might call a “fidget toy.” It can help children with excess energy to focus or be used to calm them down. They do stretch out over time, so make sure to have extras handy when you see them starting to wear down.

Design

Most, but not all, of the cards contain discussion cues or questions that can be answered when you play a card, when you discard a card, or even when you draw a card. You can have the person who plays the card answer the question alone or everyone at the table can answer. There is a multitude of different ways to play! You will be pleasantly surprised by how the familiar game style and playful card format can relax your child and make them more open to talking about their anger. It can also provide jumping-off points for you to share your own experiences with your child and help empower them to control their emotions.

Educational Value

This fast-paced card game presents an ideal way to showcase different ways to not only recognize situations that may cause anger but also how to deal with that anger in a healthy and productive manner. The simplistic language on each card is easy to understand even for younger children and can help present talking points that foster discussion about why your child is feeling angry. This is an ideal tool for therapists and teachers as well.

Effectiveness

This game is really two things in one, an enjoyable card game that can help promote familial bonding and a therapeutic tool that can help open discussion points with children who have trouble managing their anger.

Design

The whole idea about using the pogo jumper in the management of autism is anchored in its ability to provide a distraction for the mind. Because the brain will have to coordinate the muscles that are required for hopping and landing while maintaining optimum balance, the brain will no longer have the time to think and process stressful information that can worsen the symptoms of autism.

Educational Value

The Pogo Jumper provides an autistic child with more than just a fidget toy for the hands. It is a full-body stress reliever that stimulates the brain and muscle coordination. This mostly foam-covered toy is easy to manipulate by four-year-olds and up and getting on and off is quickly learned. The Pogo Jumper is a safe, healthy toy that will keep kids busy for hours. It also builds coordination skills that regular fidget toys cannot provide.

Effectiveness

At first glance, you won’t think of the My First Flybar as one of the most ideal gifts for an autistic child. However, experts agree that as long as the mind is able to free itself from stress triggers, then you’d be able to manage the symptoms related to autism.

Design

If you’re feeling especially creative and want to play together, create a basic scavenger hunt for your child by hiding these around the house and giving them clues to help them find it. These bean bags are simple, well made, and highly versatile. The set includes eight bean bags and a carrying case. Each bean bag has the shape name embroidered onto it, so lettering won’t wash off or fade. They’re washable so you don’t have to worry about bacteria collecting, and constructed of a soft, lightweight felt so kids can handle and chuck them around easily without worrying about any real damage. The set includes seven suggestions for fun, hands-on games that children can play.

Educational Value

This provides a wonderfully tactile way for children with greater sensory needs to learn basic shapes and colors. Playing catch improves dexterity and hand-eye coordination. And the bags are soft and light, so kids can handle them easily, making them a great way to keep little fingers busy and safe.

Effectiveness

You can play in a variety of ways. The fact that they’re not heavy makes them a little trickier to catch, but it also means that your child is less likely to incur any kind of injury as a result of playing. They have their own drawstring bag, so clean up and travel with these is simple and quick.

Design

Cards feature fun, silly illustrations along with prompts such as “I feel scared when…”, “I’m different because…”, etc. Players then finish the sentence with their own personal thoughts and feelings. Targeted at children ages five to twelve, it can be a useful therapeutic exercise, and there are ways to play games with the cards that challenge memorization skills and different forms of communication. There are thirty-five cards in total, and versions one and two can be combined for a more complete experience. This pack is version one and appears as a winner on Dr. Toy’s 100 Best Products, and 10 Best Socially Responsible Products lists.

Educational Value

This game helps children build important communication skills, as well as teaching them to identify their thoughts and feelings as they happen. Kids and adults can bond over similar thoughts and feelings, and discuss together the best way to cope with and navigate these experiences.

Effectiveness

This game is a good way to get a dialogue rolling between children and adults concerning feelings and how to handle them. It helps build understanding between family members and can be used as a starting point when guiding children through healthy behavioral responses to tricky feelings.

Design

That fly over there on the window? The dripping tap from the bathroom next door? They all sound as loud as if they were right next to you. It's completely understandable that this type of overloading sensory input would cause a lot of extra stress and anxiety in performing normal everyday tasks. Sensory toys, such as the MarvelBeads Water Beads Rainbow Mix, provide a soothing and gentle sensation that can help reduce anxiety by providing a calming focus. These beads expand into durable little water balls that will retain their shape and color through multiple uses and can be dried out and then reused over and over again. This 8-ounce bag is enough to fill an entire kiddie pool and are completely biodegradable so there is no concern if you lose a bunch along the way.

Educational Value

These teeny beads are a perfect example of the old adage: “Great things come in small packages.” Make a game counting out how many green balls are in a handful and your little one will be learning everything from language to counting skills. Practice filling a small cup one bead at a time and you’ve got a great game to limber up little fingers and help those fine motor skills develop. Roll them in paint across a piece of paper and you’ve got a unique way to promote artistic creativity. The smooth texture provides a pleasant tactile experience for children afflicted with sensory disorders and can help calm anxiety and ease stress.

Effectiveness

Sometimes tiny things bring the biggest joys! These beads start out small but when combined with water grow and grow into beautiful standard-sized jelly marbles. They’re squishy, making them extra fun for those kids who do best with tactile sensations. They’re also colorful and visually appealing, especially to young eyes. They’re a fun and easy sort of science experiment for families to do together. Produced in calming tones and with a soft, enjoyable texture, these are optimal for children with sensory processing differences.

Design

The toy is recommended for ages two months and older. Snap a few together to get longer chains and more room to build and create, or play with them as they are. They are small enough to carry in your purse or pocket, so they’ll be handy whenever your family needs them. Just know that the clicking sound is always present, so these might not be the best option for situations that require silence. Supervise young children who might still be interested in chewing on new things, as the pieces do come apart into smaller links.

Educational Value

Link ‘em up! The Neliblu Wacky Tracks Snap and Click Fidget Toys are bright and full of creative opportunities! Kids can take links out to shorten them, add links to lengthen them, mix up colors into beautiful patterns, and create all kinds of awesome designs. These toys bend at each link, so forming imaginative shapes has never been so easy. Creative expression helps children build autonomy, confidence, social skills, and emotional tools. And since it’s so hands-on, they’ll also see the added benefits of improved motor skills, dexterity, and hand-eye coordination!

Effectiveness

There’s really no wrong way to play with these. They allow your child to play as creatively as they please while focusing them and helping to quiet over-stimulated minds and bodies. They also help to improve fine motor skills and dexterity in a way that isn’t stressful and puts no pressure on them to do it “right.”

Design

Who doesn’t love a bouncy ball--and especially one big enough to sit on? The Hippity Hop is 18 inches in diameter and appears in five different styles. The handle is textured to help children find and keep it and is molded with enough room to be easy to hold onto. It’s best for ages 3-6 but truly, fun for all ages (maybe just a little too small for the older crowd). It’s an excellent way to encourage kids to work out. Time with the Hippity Hop can lead to increased core strength, stronger leg muscles, a better sense of balance, and improved cardiovascular endurance!

Educational Value

The Hippity Hop ball is one of the all-around physical stress relievers for the autistic child that can be used indoors or outdoors. It is also mentally stimulating because coordination and balancing skills are required to get on and off and stay on while bouncing. The exertion from bouncing will wear out and creatively use up the energy from even the most energetic child. The added benefit from such a physical toy like the Hippity Hop is that while it relieves stress, it will also build the muscles in the legs.

Effectiveness

Aside from the obvious benefits of total concentration and focus which can help autistic children, the Hippity Hop can also be beneficial in enhancing vestibular orientation and the proprioceptive senses. Besides, it’s highly recommended by occupational therapists, physiotherapists, and even educators.