Category: Education Blog

Being on the spectrum of autism changes the way you perceive the world around. Teaching skills to autistic children require unique and more playful ways. There is a special range of toys available for autistic children. Such toys target social interactive skills, language skills, problem-solving and sensory-motor skills.

Here is a list of 15 brilliant toys for autistic children to play and learn.

1. Fidget Cube of 12 Sides

Dealing with stress can be difficult for autistic children. Having this toy can help when closed ones or teachers are not around. This cube has proven to be helpful in reducing anxiety and relieving stress. Children with autism can feel relaxed, having this toy in social environments, during long drives or anywhere else.

2. Adorox Liquid Bubble Drop

This is a portable bubbler, which children can carry. The colorful liquid moves slowly, which relaxes and increases concentration. Bright colors of the liquid keep autistic children focused. They stay calm, which increases their ability to gather thoughts.

3. Blocks of Vehicle and Sound

This toy is perfect to improve picture association and help kids learn the sounds of vehicles. The game comes with a feature of self-correction. Each block contains 6 sides with pictures of motorcycle, plane, train, boat, ambulance and fire engine. Correct solution of the puzzle results in an auditory response of the vehicle’s sound. This makes the game exciting for autistic kids.

4. Chubuddy Pendants

These beautiful pendants are made with latex, lead, plastic and other safe materials. The colorful pendants look like a stylish fashion accessory. And they can also work for children as their chew toy. This can help when a kid feels an immediate need for sensory stimulation.

Know More: Top 10 Educational Games For Kids

5. Learning with See and Spell

This toy is a perfect combination of pictorial representation and language improvement. It improves spelling ability, motor skills, reading and vocabulary as well. The set of puzzle contains boards and pieces of English language letters. Kids can make spellings in this colorful game.

6. Farm Animals and Sound

This is another puzzle to motivate auditory senses in autistic children. The wood-based board contains animal shapes along with colorful animal blocks. A kid has to place the right block in the right shape with the help of pegs. Correct placement results in the sound of that animal. This allows the kid to identify different animals, their sound and improves the ability to work with shapes and colors as well.

7. Quack Stack

With this one toy, you can make shower time exciting and improve your kid’s visual, spatial and motor skills. This toy comes in the shape of a duck, made of non-toxic and safe material. The feet of the duck has a cup shape. The beak pours water and the wings work like a propeller. Pouring water over the duck allows it to navigate its way in a bathtub full of water.

8. Foam Puzzle Blocks

Soft foam blocks of the puzzle are easy to grab. Their multiple colors allow kids to learn texture, while the variety of shapes improves shape identification. They are lightweight blocks in various shapes and a kid has to make building blocks with them. The dotted surface stimulates the skin and touch-senses in an autistic child. This makes them more interactive in other scenarios as well.

9. Balance board

For kids older than 3 years in the autistic spectrum, a balance board is suitable for physical activity. Kids find it fun and enjoy trying to balance themselves on board. You can find versatile animal character shaped boards for your kid. The kid has to stand on the board and balance his or her weight in the center.

10. Riverstone by Gonge

Gonge is known for various toys for children. Their Riverstones set is perfect to improve physical coordination in autistic children. The materials are not slippery at all. The size difference of 6 pieces makes it exciting. You can place the pieces on a flat surface at convenient or challenging distances. The kid can try to move from one stone to the other and balance his or her body on them.

11. Space Hopper

Space hoppers provide therapy forkids. Inflated balls help with sitting and jumping safely in a room. This activity involves multiple muscles, which increases the muscle strength and core power in kids. It also increases the ability to balance. These hoppers are available in different colors in the market. The material is safe and kids enjoy playing with it.

Know More: 20 Smart Brain Games For Kids 

12. Bilibo

This helmet looking toy is open to your child’s creativity. The material has the capacity to handle weight and damages. Your child can do a lot of things using this toy. It won’t shatter, no matter if played outdoors or indoors.

13. Socially Speaking

Autistic children usually shy away from social encounters. They struggle to express their emotions, which makes communication difficult. This toy called Socially Speaking is a perfect board game you can introduce in the life of your autistic kid.

The game helps to improve the interactive abilities of kids. About 3 to 6 players can play this game together.

The game revolves around the tasks of greeting, listening, complimenting, asking correct questions, calling people, expressing feelings and other social activities.

14. Board of Basic Skills

This is an educational toy to educate kids with autism in terms of daily activities and skills. The toy includes the practice of buttoning shirts, tying shoes and other acts. Kids, who are older than 3, can enjoy this game and learn to do a lot of daily activities on their own. The board game comes with a wide range of toys to build excitement.

15. Early Learning Flash Cards

Flash Cards for Early Learning improve the memorability of kids. Learning shapes, alphabets, phonics, numbers and words become easier. Autistic kids between the age of 4 and 8 can get maximum advantage from this game.

Now, you can find the best toys to help autistic children grow their knowledge, physical and social strength…

Revising the lessons the same day it is taught helps students to keep it in memory for long and quality homework assignments can check their understanding on a regular basis.

After spending 6 to 8 hours at school, homework will be a headache for most of the students as it consumes their free time at home.

However, teachers can come up with some good strategies to make it the most exciting and interesting part of their study.

In fact, it is a skill to assign home works tactfully so that students will find it really interesting to work on it and they crave for more.

Let them know that there is a goal behind every assignment and let them feel the pride of accomplishment after every submission.

Here let us have a look at some of the tested and proven tricks and tips that might help teachers to assign homework in a better way to produce effective results.

1. Give them a Clear Picture of the Final Result

Don’t just give an assignment to the students and expect them to complete it with expected quality on time. Rather be more transparent with the objective of each assignment and give them a clear picture of what is expected out of the final product.

This helps them to plan the work accordingly and take the effort to work towards the target. Research suggests that doing for a purpose trains their brain accordingly and the learning they gain through this means can be retained in the memory for long.

2. Provide Enough Time for Homework Submission

The submission time for the homework needs to be realistic so that the students can take enough time to complete it with ease.

Asking them to submit the assignments in an unrealistic time frame causes unwanted pressure and the students may not be able to do their best.

Also if they fail to complete it or if the solution is not found in the time frame, they may lose the confidence they have in the subject.

3. Incorporate a cause into the Homework

Instead of simply giving a vague assignment, try to bring in some cause behind every home works so that students find it more interesting.

Let it be a personal or community cause, students will be all over the assignment to make a notable mark of their given chance.

Whether it is proving right over wrong or powering justice over injustice, students would be prompted to give out their best.

4. Give Feedback in a Timely Fashion

Just like assigning homework, assessing them and giving timely feedback is important. This encourages them to perform better every next time and correct the areas that need improvement.

The assignments without feedbacks are totally ineffective and the students slowly lose the importance of doing it and they will lack the motivation to give their best.

The timely feedbacks also assure complete participation of the students and nobody feels like skipping the work.

Know More: Top 12 Motivational Stories For Kids

5. Provide them with a Real Audience

Giving a real audience for the work they do makes the assignments more interesting for the students and they take the effort to give out their best.

Having a single teacher to view their creativity may block them to try something different but having a feeling that a group of people are going to see their work can make an impact in the way they approach an assignment.

Let it be a power point talk or project blog, giving them an audience like social media where people of interest makes relevant comments can enhance their spirit to accomplish even challenging tasks.

6. Verify Student understanding of the Assignment

Instead of just assigning the homework and assuming that the students can work on it, take some time out to check the student understanding of the assignment.

Give proper directions to complete the work and explain it in a clear manner so that each student in the class has equal chances of completing it successfully.

7. Give Choices Whenever Possible

Always don’t restrict the assignment problem to just one type but include different types of assignments and let them choose their preferred one.

This may not be possible always but giving such alternates whenever possible keeps up their interest in homework.

Also, give some concessions like choosing to work individually or in groups depending on their choice of assignment.

Try to include difficulty levels in assignment choices where they can choose to solve simple problems individually or take up problems of high difficulty level which can be solved in groups.

8. Try the Flipped Classroom Method

Instead of trying the traditional method of assigning homework, finding interesting alternates such as the flipped classroom method can not only take off the boredom but also produces a quality outcome.

Know More: 10 Reasons Why Students Fail in Mathematics

Let them view video tutorials of a topic at home before it is covered in class and use the class hours for doing assignments.

This gives teachers a live chance to assess their assignments as they do it and give additional explanation and clarifications on the areas that need improvement.

9. Include More Cultural Products

Rather than making it written assignments that include only topics from the syllabus, give them a chance to include more cultural products in the assignment.

As the brain prefers to work in the contexts that are more familiar, including cultural products can make a positive impact on the effectiveness of the assignment.

This may include the elements that are part of their daily routines such as magazines, foods, television shows or sports equipment.

10. Maintain a  Well-Structured Schedule

Instead of giving assignments at will, take some effort to maintain a well-structured schedule for the homework.

This helps students to know about the upcoming assignments in advance and plan their study time accordingly.

However, you can give surprise tests once in a while to check their readiness for a subject and that motivates them to keep updated.

11. Incorporate Their Ideas in Assessment Techniques

Don’t always try to dominate with your ideas in classroom assessment techniques. It is always a better choice to incorporate student ideas in the assessment techniques and choose their preferred way of assessment.

This can include creating rubrics, running the hands-on project or creative ways of minimizing the time needed to solve a problem.

If their ideas are appreciated, they get a feeling that they owe the assignment and they can set more clear targets.

If they can internalize the criteria for success, they will be able to give their best.

12. Give Less More Often

It is not a good idea to burden them with lots of assignments which kills their spirit to take up such tasks.

It is always a better strategy to give fewer assignments but give it more often to improve their productivity.

This type of distributed practice can make a better impact on the effectiveness of the assignment as it gears up maintenance and retention.

A single larger practice session may seem futile over the period but multiple smaller practice opportunities will keep up the rhythm and the students will always stay connected to the content.

13. Keep Away From Fluff Assignments

Also, make it to the point that you keep a minimum standard for the assignments given to the students and see that it is relevant for them in some aspect.

A good assignment should be something that can produce a better result with minimal investment of time rather than taking a lot of time for something that doesn’t really serve a purpose.

14. Consider dos and don’ts

Just like every area, there are certainly some dos and don’ts while considering strategies to assign homework for effective results.

Do make sure that the topics in homework are familiar to students and which gives them a feeling that they are making progress.

Do see that the students have enough resources to complete the task and do plan it ahead so that you have enough class time to give directions.

Do not assign works that require complex skills and never use it as just time fillers.

Do not frame the assignments that may satisfy only a certain category of students and don’t assign a work that is redundant.

Moreover, train the students to overcome any sort of challenges they face in their studies so that they can complete the homework assignments with less anxiety.

Use the technology to inform parents about the home works to be completed for lower grade students.

Also, make sure that everybody in the class follows it systematically by intimating even the absentees through emails and support notes to help them do it just like the students who were present in the class.

Mix up the homework styles to avoid boredom and try to include both short term as well as long term assignments.

Parenting is one of the hardest jobs. It becomes challenging when you go out with your toddler for social gatherings. All the eyes gaze criticizing the behavior of your kid.

At social gatherings, parents have to ensure that kids cope with their problems comfortably. At the same time, they also need to ensure that other people don’t get bothered. Parties, movie theaters, supermarkets, and all other social gathering opportunities require advance preparation to discipline your toddler.

There are both right and wrong ways of disciplining your toddler at social gatherings. This article will help you learn all the right ways:

1. Take Care of Toddler’s Basic needs in Advance

If you go out with a hungry, tired child, he or she is more likely to create a scene.

Discipline a hungry or tired child is almost impossible. These are the basic needs you need to prepare for in advance.

If your kid is tired, don’t take him out. Or, allow your toddler to sleep during the car ride.

If you are going out for dinner with family or friends, don’t assume that your toddler can wait for the food to be served. Feed properly, at least feed enough to satisfy the hunger of your child.

2. Prepare your Toddler Before Going Out

If you put your kid in a strange situation, things are more likely to go out of hands. Preparing in advance is a logical way to discipline your toddler at social gatherings. You should have a talk with your kids or follow a roleplay sequence at home before going out to a new place.

If your toddler is old enough, you can address questions such as:

Where are we all going today?

What are the reasons to attend a gathering?

What will happen when we reach there?

How are we supposed to behave?

Why do we need to behave specifically?

Find age-appropriate ways to help your toddler understand how to behave. This will allow kids to stay ready for new situations and keep them disciplined. But make sure it all seems fun to your kid. Don’t make them feel scared of the place before even reaching there.

3. Don’t Make them Feel Alone or Insecure

Toddlers can feel insecure if they see you ignoring them. It is easy to indulge in conversations at social gatherings. Your toddler knows no other way than to act out in order to gain your attention. It is their way to reassure that you are concentrating on them.

Talking to your kid consistently is very important at social gatherings. Ask them if they need anything or simply include them in your conversations. This way, kids feel relaxed, which reduces the chances of them acting out.

4. Increase Child’s Involvement

Whenever you go out for social gatherings with your toddler, think of things you can do to involve your kids in some activity. Boredom is another reason why kids become restless and start acting out. No kid likes to sit quietly and watch, while you talk to your friends. They need some kind of activity to focus their mind. And obviously, if the toddler is concentrating on something, he or she stays disciplined.

You can keep your kid’s favorite toys with you. Or, find other creative ways to involve your child, according to where you are.

5. Don’t Ignore Toddler’s Restlessness

When adults feel anxious, they tend to move faster and get out of a situation. But that’s not how toddlers behave.

A toddler can feel more restless if you talk loud, fast or try to move out of an environment quickly.

Instead of increasing the pace, you should try and decrease the pace and allow your toddler to calm down.

Know More: 10 Incredible Movies For Toddlers

Calm yourself down first of all and follow up with deep breathing. Then, connect with your toddler by making eye contact. Sing a slow, soft song you generally sing to calm your kid down. Twirl your toddler around gently. These slow-paced activities can help your child feel relaxed again.

6. Bring out the Child in you

Sometimes kids can make silly demands and act out if you don’t fulfill their demands.

Maybe you want to stop your child from running around, but he doesn’t want to. In these situations, you can bring out the child in you.

Take your kid out and run around. Your exaggerated silliness and make your kid laugh and resolve the stressful situations smoothly.

7. Listen and Empathize

In many situations, toddlers simply want to convey what they feel, which can seem like they are acting out.

So, all you need to do is listen and empathize with their feelings.

Don’t immediately jump into conclusions or try to solve the problem. Wait and listen to what your child is saying.

This will help them calm down and behave well.

8. Set some Boundaries whenever appropriate

You can’t fulfill every demand of your kid, just because he or she is acting out at a social gathering.

For instance, you can’t give your child candy every time he or she asks.

Instead, you can deal with the situation by offering an alternative to candy.

Setting the boundaries is important to make your child understand that they need to ultimately listen to you.

If they feel that acting out is a way of getting away with everything, this will become their habit or trick.

9. Go to a nearby Private Place in case of a Meltdown

If your toddler has a meltdown, it would be wise to calm the kid down a little and try to find a private space nearby.

Take the kid to your car or a room to talk and calm him/her down. This way, you can save from creating a public scene and focus solely on your child’s needs.

Preparing your toddlers for social gatherings is not a one-talk solution.

Your kid requires constant assistance and you need the patience to deal with unwanted situations. If you keep following all the techniques offered in this article, they will help you discipline your toddler for sure.