Today we have the privilege to participate in a twitter discussion called The Coffee Klatch. The Coffee Klatch is a daily discussion that takes place on Twitter from 9a-11a every weekday for parents of children with special needs.

Today’s discussion with moderator, Tammy of QuirkyMomster is about toy suggestions for children on the spectrum. Since there are no toys that are specifically made for children with special needs, it can sometimes be challenging identifying which toys are best suited for them. I thought it might be helpful to list some of the suggestions we here at The Big Toy Book came up with.

To help younger children work on their social skills:

Building Blocks such as Mega Bloks & Lego

Tents & tunnels

Toys for Auditory and Cognitive Developement

When working on auditory and cognitive development, the key is to find a game that is a learning too that doesn’t make the child feel like they’re being given a task. Here are some games we discussed on The Coffee Klatch for this:

1-2-3 Stomp by Wildbrain ****(Stop by QuirkyMomster for a giveaway!)***

Toys that encourage imagination

Cars, Trucks, Action Figures and Dolls are all great for imagination. As well as play sets, costumes and anything that allows a child to create his/her own world.

Dress Up Trunks

Melissa and Doug put out some great imaginative career dress up sets like this one

Dress up Trunks are great also!

Melissa and Doug Play sets

Teen and Tween toys to work on social skills

Buddy Talk Cards

Screen Life’s “Scene It” games

Here are links to 2 great toys for autisim articles we spoke about:

• (source: http://hubpages.com/hub/Lego-and-Autism–Educational-Toys-for-those-on-the-Autistic-Spectrum)
• (http://www.autismepicenter.com/autism-toys.html)

We are planning on doing another Autism chat in April for Autism Awareness. Become our fan on Facebook to stay in the loop! 

Do you have any other suggestions?  Lets share them in the comments!