5 Educational Toys and Apps for Preschool Aged Children with Autism
Summer is quickly approaching, and if you are the mom of an autistic child, you may be searching for different products to help hone their skills if their specific therapies are on hold until the school year starts back. My son was diagnosed with level 2 autism at the age of 2 (he is now 5) and currently receives speech and OT through his school. We are always looking for toys that will help him continue to advance when at home during breaks. The toys and apps listed below are great options that we currently own or have used in the past. We noticed an improvement in his communication, language, and fine motor skills. Each child with ASD has a different and unique way of learning and exploring the world. I have found that my son is very much a visual learner. Though we bought them primarily for our ASD son, we have found that our typical second child has enjoyed and benefitted from them as well!
This post contains affiliate links for Amazon. As an Amazon Associate, we make commissions on qualifying purchases at no additional cost to you. We were also gifted a TekyGo! Squeezie, all opinions are our own.
This is a new to the market toy that we were able to try out. The Squeezie plush (we have the robot) connects to your tv through a wireless TekyGo portal where you can play interactive games. Each game provides educational content such as letter recognition, identifying animals and objects, and so much more. You can read more about it here. The kids are prompted through visual cues to squeeze, move, and spin the Squeezie when prompted by the game. This is a great option for kids who are sensory seekers and benefit from “heavy work” activities, which was recommended to us by our OT. The interactive games keep him moving, but the games keep him mentally zoned in. My son loved this and frequently asks to play with the “robot”. They are also currently offering a virtual summer camp for 2023 with free activities and contests with a chance to win TekyGo! gift packs. You can find out more information about their virtual summer camp here. Recommended for ages 2 and up.
This is a good option for the younger kids that are not quite ready for an iPad or tablet. The LeapFrog Leaptop Touch helps kids learn numbers/counting, ABCs, letter recognition (you can even program it to help them learn to spell out their name), pretend play, and identify letters and sounds. It can also aid in strengthening their fine motor skills when the laptop is flipped over to a touch tablet. The recommended age is 2 years and up.
Both of my boys love ABCmouse! The games are really engaging and easy to follow, even for younger children. ABC mouse offers educational content ranging from language and reading to math and science. When we first started using this app, my ASD son was mostly non-verbal. His language skills have improved dramatically over the course of the years using ABCmouse. I have recommended this app many times. They offer monthly and yearly subscriptions. They also offer discounts frequently so be sure to check out their site for special deals. Recommended for ages 2-8.
This is a good option for older kids. If you are worried about too much screen time, you can set time limits and control the content that your child is able to view. If you have multiple kids, you can set up individual profiles with age appropriate choices for each. There are many just for fun games as well as educational games available. We added ABCmouse and found that there are other apps available designed specifically for autistic children such as Autispark, which my kids have enjoyed. If you have mulitple children sharing a tablet, we would recommend getting the Fire with higher storage so you will not have to continuously free up space on the device. Recommended for ages 3-7, however my 2 year old gets a lot of use out of this as well.
VTech Touch and Learn Activity Desk
This is a great screen free option. The activity desk helps improve language, sound, and word recognition through songs and other interactive prompts. The activity pages, chalkboard, and play phone are also great for improving fine motor skills. There are plenty activities within this desk to keep your child engaged and entertained all while learning. Recommended age is 2 and up.
