This collection of 65 Autism Toys will help you select the perfect gift for your child with autism, Sensory Processing disorder or other special needs. My son has autism & I used to struggle when I shopped for him – so I put this gift guide together (with a little help from his ABA & Speech therapist) – to help you in case you need it!
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Shopping for toys for kids with autism can be downright stressful. As parents we overthink everything! We start to question our knowledge of our children, autism, motherhood…and the next thing we know we’re googling age appropriate stacking games at 2 am.
It doesn’t have to be this hard!
What Are The Best Toys for An Autistic Child?
Ok, so when it comes to our kids with autism, we have to keep in mind – it’s not about the toy – it’s about our child!
More specifically, what you can teach your child by using the toy. Of course, you want to keep it fun – no child wants to be learning 24 hours a day 7 days a week.
If you’re struggling to find developmental &/or sensory toys for your child – this list will help! We tried to include toys that help in one or more of these areas:
Speech Development
Movement-Gross Fine Motor Skills
Motor Skills
Sensory Seeking
You’ll find over 65 toys, games, puzzles, and activities to help your child develop language, fine and gross motor skills, hand-eye coordination, social skills, and self-regulation – all while having FUN!
Mr. Potato Head is a classic toy that’s fun, entertaining, and educational! This toy provides kids opportunities to learn body parts, emotions, pronouns, prepositions and more!
There are many Little People Fisher-Price styles available, but I chose this one because my son loves animals! This toy is perfect for pretend play and language development.
This is one of Darlene’s favorite developmental toys for younger kids because it does so much for the child! This award-winning light-up rattle promotes the child’s visual tracking skills which are needed later on for reading. When you describe what your child sees when he plays with the NogginStik, you are encouraging language development.
The NogginStik helps teach cause and effect when children shake and bank the rattle.
This developmental toy was created by an Early Intervention Therapist, and it comes with a parent guide to help moms and dads play and engage their little one.
The Phlat Ball is super cool! It’s meant for older kids, but smaller kids can play with it too. Speech Therapists use it all the time with toddlers! Basically, it’s a ball that you can push down on to make it flat as a pancake!Then you wait about five seconds and it pops back into a ball! Kids can learn words like ball, push, pop, more, please, roll, wait, surprise, kick, and mine from playing with this toy.
It’s also fantastic for sensory-seekers and kids who crave deep pressure. SLP’s use the Phlat Ball for turn taking practice since it’s fast and fun.
Truly a must-have! There are tons of ways kids can use this unbreakable and unique toy! Sit in it, stand on it, spin it, or stack it to work on coordination and motor skills!
It’s amazing how much a child can learn from playing with bubbles. I could write an entire post on learning from bubble play! These no spill bubbles are fabulous for smaller kids who may be prone to spilling or pouring! To promote social skills like eye contact, catch a bubble on the wand and hold it up next to your eyes. (The bubble makes you more interesting and gives your child a reason to look at you!)
For language development…When you play with bubbles you are teaching your child vocabulary words like blow, bubble, reach, in, out, up, down, here, and there (and more) in an appropriate context.
You can also teach him body parts when you catch the bubble on the wand and place it on his nose or belly or arm.
Before a child can imitate words he must be able to imitate actions. Bubbles give you all kinds of opportunities for imitating-which is really an expressive form of communication. He can imitate blowing the bubbles, popping the bubbles, and clapping them with his hands!
One of our favorite wooden toys from Melissa & Doug! Features 12 brightly colored shapes that are easy to grip. This toy is recommended for working on motor skills and language development.
This adorable set of blocks is full of learning potential. You can promote language development with this toy by focusing on words like block, up, fall down, cat, dog, colors, bird, and the names of the objects on the blocks. You can also teach size words. Try things like “Let’s find the big one” or “That one is small.”
Vibrant wooden Make-A-Cake mixer set by Melissa & Doug makes an excellent autism toy that promotes pretend play and social interaction. The 41 piece set includes a mixer, bowl, pretend cake mix, cake pan, and more.
Another fabulous toy for pretend play! This set comes with a hammer, saw, screwdriver, wrench, vice, angles, screws, nuts, and gears for hours of play.
From Melissa & Doug this dress up set for pretend play includes jacket, stethoscope, reflex hammer, ear scope, syringe and name tag. Often visiting a doctor can be stressful on our kids with autism. Role playing using this costume may help ease anxiety.
Recommended by occupational and ABA therapists the Smart Snacks Cupcakes set is an autism toy that helps kids identify colors and shapes while working on fine motor skills.
If you’re looking for ways to improve your child’s social skills check out this Cooperation Game! It teaches children to work, play, and win together and requires cooperation.
This 13″ doll is perfect for pretend play and speech development. Soft and cuddly, she arrives with a removable bath robe and wash cloth. She is also 100% machine washable!
If you prefer a boy this little prince arrives in an adorable onesie and cap. His eyes open and close and he is the perfect weight for cuddling. He is also machine washable!
This autism toy encourages sensory exploration and strengthens visual spacial skills. You can also use it as a fun way to experiment with cause and effect. My son has a love affair with water and this is one of his favorites! He loves to watch the water drip-drip down into the tub. I love it more than a flooded bathroom!
Filled with the best crafts and art supplies this is another one of our favorite autism toys. The felt shapes, fabric flowers,and foam shapes offer excellent tactile sensory exploration. Craft sticks, google eyes, and buttons can be used to develop fine motor skills.
Do-A-Dot’s have become a favorite around here! Art is a fabulous way to build language and fine motor skills.These markers are fruit-scented, but they are also available in unscented.
Oh, and in case you’re wondering, this paint washes off the walls and your body quite easily with soap and water. I know from experience.
Unlike chalk, Butter Stix offers a dust, smudge, and mess-free experience! Kids can draw on a variety of surfaces like, glass, mirrors, windows, and plastics & Butter Stix wipes away easily with a damp cloth!
This easel from Hape is easily one of my favorite autism toys! Featuring a magnetic white board on one side and chalkboard on the other it offers the best of both worlds! The height is adjustable & you can use the included paper roll to capture all the art work you child can create!
If your child enjoys hiding in small spaces and needs a quiet place to calm down or chill out-this is your best bet. I did my homework & I purchased this model in June. It’s 100% cotton canvas with Pine wood poles. It looks super cute-especially for the price. My son loves to curl up in it and play on his iPad. If you’re concerned about size-it’s 71 X 71 X 84 inches (big enough for me + my son, or two average sized ten year-olds!)
This swing is a must-have for kids with autism or sensory processing disorder. The swinging motion is incredibly calming and strengthens the vestibular and proprioceptive systems by teaching the body and brain to work together. This sensory integration improves your child’s balance, coordination, body awareness, and concentration. My son has one of these swings and it’s one of his favorites!
Another swing option you may consider is this 100% cotton canvas swing. It’s great for indoor or outdoor use – it isn’t hard to take down & move – my son absolutely loved it, but so did our Labradoodle – she ate it:( I’ve ordered a replacement!
Melissa & Doug’s wooden stamp set is a fabulous toy that encourages fine motor skills, creativity, hand-eye coordination, and narrative thinking. It includes 26 detailed wooden stamps, 5 colored pencils, and a 4 color stamp pad with washable ink.
Comes with high praise from Nathan’s occupational therapist! The beads & blocks are large – & – easy to grasp. Lacing helps develop fine motor skills, dexterity, and hand-eye coordination. These beads also make for a great travel toy and my son uses them kind of like a fidget when he needs to calm down.
This Peg Board Lacing toy is for, 2-5 year old girls and boys. The Montessori peg toys allows your child to learn, play, and grow by stacking and building. You may also use this autism toy to develop color and matching recognition skills.
Hape’s Alphabet Puzzle not only helps your child learn her ABC’s, but also promotes dexterity, matching skills, hand-eye coordination, and spatial reasoning.
Magna-Tiles offer hands on autism toy that helps with spatial and tactile skills. Your child can create his own unique patterns and designs with this 32-piece set of colorful tiles.
Truly a must have autism toy! This Plasma Car rewards good hand-eye coordination and provides a way for kids to get exercise-inside or outside! My son is 6 and he LOVES his Plasma Car!My son will be turning 8 & still LOVES this!!
Gonge River Stepping Stones help kids improve balance and coordination. They are also a fun and functional autism toy you can stack them up for easy storage!
The Teeter Popper is on the list because it is one of our favorite autism toys for indoor or outdoor fun. If your child likes to be on the move, then he will LOVE it! While he’s enjoying rocking, rolling, sitting, or standing on the Teeter Popper he will be working on core leg strength, balance, and stability.
These affordable and fun scooter boards are a fun autism toy that gets your child moving indoors and out. My son loves to scoot on his tummy for sensory input!
This autism toy for movement is perfect for indoor play if you have younger children. Encourages gross motor skills and physical activity. Ideal for rainy day fun!
This indoor trampoline is perfect for kids to burn off a little (or a lot) of energy! We are including this particular model in this collection of autism toys because of the padded thick foam handrail and unique metal spring construction for durability and long lasting use.
Relieve stress and anxiety with this autism toy for sensory seekers. Stretchy Strings are soft and durable and resist pulling, pounding, and pinching. This set includes 7 multi-color strings and makes a great gift for Christmas or a birthday.
This sensory putty can be used in the classroom and home to help your child relieve stress and help her concentrate. Set includes 5 types of putty in various colors.
The Learning Set Edition of this kinetic sand set makes an ideal sensory autism toy. CoolSand never dries out and this comes with 2 pounds of sand and an inflatable sandbox.
The Toysmith Mystical Glitter wand contains glitter beads and star and moon confetti that swirl to provide a calming effect on children with sensory needs.
Water beads are the best for kids who need tactile sensory input. They also have a calming effect when used in sensory bins or other sensory activities. My son adores these beads!
Spiky sensory balls are the perfect autism toy for sensory & tactile stimulation. This pack of 5 brightly colored balls will make a great gift for any child with autism or sensory processing disorder!
Ok, so this may not be a toy, but it will make a fabulous gift for any child with autism! Y’all know my son has issues with meltdowns and sleep. Our ABA therapist suggested this weighted blanket last summer & it is a miracle worker! I even bought another one to send to school this year! Honestly, I’m surprised by how well it works to calm him since weighted vests never seemed to help, but this blanket was a game-changer. FYI-I ordered the 48 X 78 size & it’s just right for Na (He’s 6.)
*Because of it’s weight it can be extremely hard to machine wash-so I got a textured cover I could easily remove & wash. Here’s the link to the one we got. It’s soft and (bonus)-super cute!
Ball pits create a great multi-sensory environment for kids and improve body awareness and sensory integration. This model from Fun & Function was designed with special needs kids in mind. It has a cushioned bottom for soft landings and relaxing activities.
I know a bubble machine isn’t your traditional autism toy-but this is what our ABA therapist uses to help my son calm down! And it works! This model has a high velocity fan that makes bubbles rise quickly in the air to create the most dreamy bubbly atmosphere! And y’all, this one is surprisingly affordable!
Liquid motion timers also have a calming effect on kids with autism, sensory processing disorder, and anxiety. And their size makes them perfect for travel!
Studies show sitting on a stability ball helps kids focus-this Ergonomic seat is a safer alternative. With this seat you don’t have to worry about a ball rolling around, collecting dirt, or taking up space! If you have a child that needs help focusing at school or home you’ve got to check this out!
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(7) Comments
Gracesays
Thanks for writing this post it was very help, I’m not a mother but my brother has special needs, and it is always a hassle to find gifts. I think his favorite would be the Mellisa and Doug Service Station.
Thanks for writing this post it was very help, I’m not a mother but my brother has special needs, and it is always a hassle to find gifts. I think his favorite would be the Mellisa and Doug Service Station.
Thanks very much,
Grace