Special Toys for Special Kids
Last weekend I had to run into Toys*R*Us to pick up a birthday present for a party my son was attending. I am not a good shopper. I don't like to wander around the store looking at this or that - I much prefer to just know what I want to get, go into the store, right to that item, grab it, purchase it, and leave. 1.2.3. - done! So with a couple gift ideas in mind I walked into the toy store but before I had even gotten past the Easter toy displays my eyes were drawn to a rack holding pamphlets for toys that would be great for children with special needs.
What a great idea! So often I am asked by the parents I work with if I could recommend toys that would help their child(ren) with their unique sensory & development needs. I want to be able to offer them more than just the standard swings, water/sand table, finger paint suggestions. I have created a simple list and try to change it as new toys come out but now Toys*R*Us has made it even easier for me (and therapists & parents alike) to help out when it comes to birthday & holiday gift giving.
I wondered if there were other places that had a list of toys that would be helpful and found a few websites with some really good toy suggestions. I've listed a few here but if you go into Toys*R*Us you can pick up one (or two, or three) of their special toy brochures/pamphlets to share with your families and kids with special needs.
Ten Toys that Speak to Autism (Toys*R*Us)
eSpecial Needs (toys & adaptive equipment)
Fat Brain Toys (toys & resources for children with special needs)
Children Succeed - (games to help Autistic children with social skills)
Amazon Google (you can even do a search on the Amazon website under "autistic games")
Amazon Google - special needs (and even under "special needs games")
Bee Able Toys (Toys for children with special needs - Autism, Down Syndrome, and more)
Playworks (Special need toys)
Kidscope Toys (Autism, educational, special needs toys)
Toys for Special Needs Children (Nebraska even has an information page listing all the companies that offer toys with special needs in alphabetical order)
Happy Shopping! If anyone knows of any other good sites please share and I would be happy to post the names and/or links.
Until next time
~Wendy~