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If you’re searching for safe, stimulating, and super fun toys that’ll keep an autistic child engaged, you’ve found the right place! Whether your child prefers quiet toys that are soft and squishy, loud toys with lots of vibrant colors, or challenging toys that can keep their brain busy for hours on end, you’ll find it all in this article! So, keep reading to find the 25 best toys for autistic kids!
Busy boards are one of the best toys for autistic kids! This Montessori busy board, which resembles a gaming controller, is a fidget toy for kids six months to three years old that helps develop fine motor skills. It's sturdy and great for encouraging sensory play. Best of all, it's sure to keep your child busy for hours, so you can enjoy peace and quiet occasionally. You're welcome!
The busy board handbag for fine motor skills is suitable for kids up to five years old who prefer softer toys. It's made of soft wool felt and has a visually appealing design that'll keep your child enamored for an extended period. This busy board aids cognitive skill development and provides learning material for shapes, colors, animals, clothes, weather, etc.
This last busy board is shaped like a cube and includes six sides of play. It's the perfect toy for curious kids who love exploring and discovering new things, and it's also the perfect toy to help your child practice hand-eye coordination. And congratulations—this travel toy will keep you from wanting to rip your hair out during long car rides since it'll distract your kid from asking, 'Are we there yet?' every twenty seconds! We're considering adding this to our other list of useless boxes.
If your child loves vibrantly-colored toys with several different patterns and textures, this mini belt-covered pillow will be perfect for them! Not only does it encourage independence and problem-solving, but it's also a great way to practice buckling, lacing, and tying--so you may not be stuck struggling with pesky shoelaces for the rest of your life after all! They're your kid's problem now.
This is one of the best toys for autistic kids who enjoy playing with toys that have various textures or a diverse range of visual stimuli! This outer space sensory bin, which includes space rocks, foam planets, a squishy alien, and more, is definitely something the space-obsessed kiddos will love. Almost as much as they'll love...
...This set of solar system-themed stress balls! With eleven squeezable stress balls and six bouncy balls, this toy will keep your kid entertained for a long time. The toy set also comes with flashcards, stickers, alien monsters, astronauts, and more, making it a great sensory toy for children who are interested in space or science in general.
If your child isn't a fan of galaxies or planets but does happen to love the animals the Mount Everest-sized asteroid wiped out some 66 million years ago, you could always get them this dinosaur sensory play box! This box includes sand, rocks, dinosaur eggs, and, of course, the dinosaurs.
Speaking of dinosaurs, your mini scientist may enjoy digging for these not-so-dinosaur-related fossils with this National Geographic kit. It comes with fifteen real, centuries-old fossils, a chisel, brush, magnifying glass, and a 16-page learning guide! For kids who enjoy learning about ancient specimens, this kit is perfect.
If you're looking for another of the best toys for autistic kids that'll have sand all over your house for the rest of eternity, this kinetic sand playset is a great option! Despite the possible sand nightmare, it's worth buying if your child enjoys building sandcastles, even indoors.
One of the best toys for autistic kids who enjoy both nature and creative projects is this pressed flower art kit! After a fun day of exploring and picking flowers, this kit can be used to press and preserve them for an extended period. It's a great toy set for kids who like making personalized cards during the holidays or unique bookmarks for their favorite books!
Another one of the best toys for autistic kids who like to do DIYs is this Moon lamp. It can be hand-painted and completely personalized according to your child's preferences. Not only is it a great way for your kid to express their creativity, but it's also a beautiful night light that'll keep them settled at night!
This spiral art kit is great for kids who love arts and crafts and enjoy patterns and intricate-looking designs. It's appropriate for kids six or older and comes with 12 wheels in various shapes and sizes, making it a toy that'll keep your child entertained for weeks and months to come!
Is your child a big fan of squishy toys, pretty colors, and ASMR? If so, they'll love this jellyboard! It's one of the best toys for autistic kids who like mess-free fun, and it can hold most children's attention for an extended period, so it's another great toy to travel with.
One of the best toys for autistic kids who enjoy playing with puzzle toys is this magnetic maze! It comes with 55 magnetic beads in ten different colors and is an excellent toy for improving counting and sorting skills. You can also increase or decrease the difficulty level, making it a challenging game that can be played more than just a few times.
This STEM-building toy provides more magnetic fun! This set contains forty magnetic tiles in several different shapes and colors. It promotes pattern recognition and problem-solving while simultaneously allowing your child to express creativity. Like most of the toys on this list, it can keep a child busy for a long time and act as a much-needed quiet time activity for those moments--or hours--when you need a little peace.
Another of the best toys for autistic kids who are into STEM is this robot construction set. It can be built into ten different models, making it another beloved, long-lasting toy! It also happens to be one of the best toys for autistic kids who need a little extra encouragement to bond with other people. Enjoy building models together as a family, or inspire teamwork between your child and other kids with this crafty construction set!
This Whack-a-Mole game is one of the best toys for autistic kids who need an outlet for frustration or aggression. It's a harmless way for them to release their anger, and the game is a great way to test their reflexes! This challenging game can be played with one or two players and includes several modes to keep it interesting, too.
If it's a singer you've got on your hands, this voice-changing device will be even more appealing to them! It can be used as a regular voice amplifier, but it's also great for when your child is feeling silly! It comes with four voice modes: Alien, ghost, monster, and Robot. Now, if you hear a bunch of moaning and groaning inside your decades-old house, you can blame it on your kid instead of accepting that there's an old spirit lurking around.
This bubble machine is one of the best toys for autistic kids who love being outdoors! If you can never seem to find enough outdoor toys, consider adding this one to your collection. This isn't just any old bubble maker; it can make a thousand bubbles per minute and includes four different lighting options to create a gorgeous and ever-vibrant scene straight out of a movie! It'll keep your kid--and let's be honest, you--mesmerized for ages!
One of the best toys for autistic kids who love challenges is this light-up gaming cube with five exciting brain games. It's an educational toy that can help strengthen memory and concentration and is visually stimulating! Be sure to take this with you during travels to avoid having an unhappy and bored child during long trips.
Another excellent handheld, brain-teasing game is this push-pop puzzle game, which has four game modes and encourages concentration and hand-eye coordination. This stimulating gaming device acts as a great fidget toy and can be used for solo play or shared with friends and family.
You can say you're buying this toy for your child, but we all know you're really buying it for yourself! This farm-themed activity center is the same kind you'd find in a pediatrician's office. We all wished we could have one when we were younger. Now you can! When you stop hogging it and learn to practice what you preach--you must learn to share your toys!--your kid will enjoy the wide variety of play options this activity center provides.
Finally, consider investing in a safe, stimulating place for your child to enjoy playing with all their favorite toys! This Peapod sensory chair is good for providing a little extra security. It's lightweight and easy to move, acts as a cocoon that can be as snug or loose as needed, and is a nice place for kids to go when they want personal space. Your child can rock, bounce, stim, and self-soothe in whatever way they want inside this chair.
Even More Of The Best Toys For Autistic Kids
We wanted to throw a couple more of the best toys for autistic kids as fallbacks. If they’re easily bored, consider these larger assortments of toy packs to keep their attention focused for a bit. There is always going to be something they gravitate to keep them busy.
Desperate times call for desperate measures! If you've been looking everywhere for your kid's favorite fidget toys and are coming up short lately, it may be time to finally buy some new ones! You can easily replace the missing items with this 80-pack of child-safe toys, which includes spinners, squishy items, and spiky balls, amongst other things.
If your child loves music, this percussion instrument toy set will undoubtedly give them a serotonin boost, and it might become their favorite toy yet! It comes with 22 pieces, including a tambourine, saxophone, and harmonica, so it will stimulate the kid's auditory senses!
