Sensory Toys for Autistic Children – Educational Tools

In this post, we are going to discuss some toys that are highly useful for the development of sensory perceptions of kids with Autism.

One of the main difficulties that a child who is affected with ASD often has to deal with is the improper development of the senses, any of the 5 senses upon which we rely for conducting our basic day to day activities can be over or underdeveloped in the case of Autistic kids.

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In one of our previous posts named “Toys for Autistic Kids” we have briefly discussed this particular point and also recommended a product which helps with the development of sensory perception, but considering the importance of this subject, we will be elaborating this topic in a bit more detail here.

Sensory toys that we are going to enlist in this post are specially designed tools that help in strengthening as well as the balancing of the five senses wiz. touch, smell, sight, sound, and taste. These toys focus on the cognitive and physical development of each sense by engaging the kids in various activities.

Before we jump to the toys we will discuss the working of these tools with respect to each of the senses:-

1-Sight

For the development of visual senses, children are introduced to artful designs and drawing based games that use contrast, colors, and features to strengthen their ability to perceive visuals.

2-Touch

These tools are specially prepared for the improvement of a child’s ability to perceive things using their touch sense. Basically, they are introduced to materials with different textures that help them with the tactile exploration.

3-Sound

To improve the ability of hearing sense of the children we can use the toys that promote auditory engagement by introducing various sounds to them like whistles, crinkles, bells, chirping etc.

4-Smell

Autistic kids often get irritated and annoyed with certain smells which usually is pleasing to other people, hence these tools make these kids accustomed to the different type of aromas. By doing this we are encouraging them to make use of their smelling sense which is a very important thing for healthy functioning.

5-Taste

It is known that Autistic kids are usually not interested in taking their meals. One of the reasons for their aversion towards food is because of their underdeveloped sense of taste. As humans, we highly rely on the flavors and taste of food to form our interest towards particular food items.

In order to generate the interest of an Autistic kid in food, we have to make them capable to distinguish various tastes precisely so we use specific tools to encourage them in using their sense of taste. (For this, you can also consider the Autism Support Program, where they teach you about various diets that are good for children who are affected with Autism)

8 Toys and Products for the Sensory Development

1 – Corrugated blocks

These are simple corrugated blocks which are used to build various toy structures. We have all played with such kind of toys but what we didn’t know is that they are very useful in the building of tactile senses.

Kids love to play with such toys and it is also very safe, one great thing about these tools is that they encourage their creative ability and the use of different colored boxes of varying sizes helps them to strengthen their visual sense as well.

Our recommended product for this purpose is Edushape’s corrugated blocks that you can buy on Amazon.

2 – Sensory Magnetic Building Blocks

Another tool for intensifying the tactile sense of children are the magnetic building blocks which are very interesting as well as engaging.

These colorful magnetic stem construction set consist of 4 unique textures for sensory stimulation. This toy promotes creativity while it also helps in the development of cognitive functions of a kid’s brain.

Here’s our product recommendation – “BizyBeez MagStix Wheel Set

3 – All in One Sensory Toy Kit

This toy kit is based entirely on the cognitive sensory play which is a way to help children with the development of various senses like touch, smell and sight.

In order to develop the cognitive ability, this toy set focuses on their problem-solving skills by engaging them in the activities like measuring, mixing and cleaning up. These toys enhance children’s motor skills whereas it also boosts up their creativity, the toys have different aromas and they can be pulled or stretched.

We have found a very good such product on Amazon which you might want to check out – Spring Fly’s Sensory Toy Kit.

4 – Sensory Stimulation Bundle

This bundle consists of 11 stress balls, 8 puffer balls, and 5 fidget toys. These balls are known to be highly useful for tactile sensory development.

Since all these toys come in various colors with some consisting glowing lights, they are also a very good tool for the development of the visual senses. Fidget toys are recommended by therapists for the children who are affected by developmental disorders like ADHD and ASD.

You can buy our recommended Sensory Stimulation Bundle on Amazon.

5 – Sensory Soft Stacking Educational Construction Bricks for Kids

One of the best toys for improving imagination and hand-eye coordination for kids is these construction toy bricks. Different colors, sizes, and shapes help kids to improve their cognitive abilities.

Cultivating spacial relationship of children using such toys during their early brain developmental stage is very important and these toys are efficient for such purposes.

For this purpose, we recommend Zooawa’s Building Block Set.

6 – Sensarock

It is a cool fun-filled toy for kids that can play a crucial role in the development of their motor skills. This one is a highly recommended product which is specially prepared for kids affected by ASD. The product is filled with a lot of colorful balls inside which makes rhythmic swooshing sounds while the kid rocks the chair.

Thus it is also useful for the development of visual and auditory senses. Apart from this, the toy can also help children to deal with gravitational insecurities.

You can order Sensarock from Amazon.

 

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4 thoughts on “Sensory Toys for Autistic Children – Educational Tools”

  1. I want to get my toddlers more growth development toys. I am thinking about getting them the magnetic building blocks first. But mostly all of these toys I want to add to their educational toy collection. These are all great toys. Thank you so much for this awesome article.

  2. thank you for sharing. I have a younger relative who has a form of autism. He never liked any of the toys the other kids played with which I found odd. His birthday is coming up soon hopefully one of these toys can work for him . Is there any toy you would recommend in particular for a 3 year old?

    1. Thank you for the comment, when it comes to choosing toys for kids with special needs we should consider their needs and understand how they are going to utilize it.

      The toys we have recommended here is perfect for a three year old. If you think that the kid can handle toys well then the educational construction bricks are awesome otherwise you can also prefer to go for the sensory toy bundle if you think the kid is too young to handle the first one, but in either case, supervision is essential.

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