How to Pick Activities for Asperger's Children

Children with Asperger's syndrome like to focus on just one or two things that interest them to the exclusion of everything else. Fun games or activities that get them interacting with the larger world can help offset this tendency. Of course, every child plays differently, but here are some suggestions.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

1. Choose books with some kind of interactive component. Pop-up books, books with colorful pictures or interesting textures can get him engaged while he learns new words.
2. Go to the park. Exercise is a great way for Asperger's kids to blow off steam. Playgrounds and jungle gyms provide a chance to improve motor skills, and she can have fun amusing herself on slides, merry-go-rounds and swings.
3. Watch TV or movies together and talk about how the characters interact. You can point out the use of sarcasm in a sitcom, or explain why somebody cries in a drama. This can act as a kind of tutorial that will help your child pick up on social queues.
4. Keep puzzles around. Children with Asperger's syndrome usually need to develop their spatial skills. Puzzles or models of any sort are a fun way to get the child working with his hands and thinking about how things fit together.
5. Play board games together. This provides social interaction, but does so in a structured way that Asperger's kids tend to be more comfortable with. And, as with all children, games help kids learn to handle defeat.
6. Sing together. Studies have shown that music can have a powerful socializing effect on Asperger's children; and, like everybody else, they have an easier time learning words when they are set to music.