How to Select Toys for Kids With Special Needs
Parents face a challenge when selecting toys for children but it's even more difficult to identify toys for children with special needs. Given the plethora of products on toy store shelves, parents may find it difficult to figure out if the toy's features match their child's abilities. Use various online resources, such as guidance from nonprofit organizations, for children with special needs and manufacturers' toy guides and tips, to identify particular toys for your child.
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Instructions
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Ask yourself how the combination of your child's interests and abilities can provide an opportunity for learning and playing with a toy. Avoid a generic approach, such as asking what toys are educational and creative. Observe your child at play and figure out the best choice rather than surrendering to your child's whim after seeing a toy advertisement on television.
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Search for toys that correspond to the stage of your child's development. Know your child and what he prefers and is able to do. Pay attention to the age-level recommendations on toy labels.
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Identify toys that are well-constructed, open-ended and safe. Investigate toys that are flexible, offer the child a multi-sensory experience and keep him active and moving. Choose toys that encourage your child to use his imagination and hands-on manipulate, such as balls, blocks and dolls.
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Visit websites that compile information on and rate toys for children with special needs. For example, the AblePlay five-star toy rating system covers a child's various developmental areas, such as sensory, communicative, physical and cognitive abilities. (See Resource 1) Take advantage of a reference from a free and trusted third-party advisor. Study AblePlay's evaluations of 50 to 75 toys, which include the toy's benefits and ideas for play activities.
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Make a list of toys that suit your child's strengths and help her to improve particular skills. Consider two factors, the toy's therapeutic value and whether or not your child will have fun playing with the toy. For example, a child who needs to improve her abilities to concentrate and visualize may benefit from a toy that is structured as a labyrinth.
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Visit a play center that focuses on children with special needs and consult with the administrators and staff about appropriate toys for your child. A division of the nonprofit Anixter Center, the first American Lekotek Center was opened in 1980 by special education experts. (See Resource 2) Found in schools and children's hospitals, Lekoteks cater to children from birth to age 8 with various special needs, including Down syndrome, sight or hearing loss, cerebral palsy, epilepsy or medical or intellectual disabilities. The services include a toy lending library of more than 50,000 toys and play sessions. Search the Internet or the white pages for a Lekotek close to you.
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Use manufacturers' toy guides for children with special needs. Visit the Toys "R" Us "Toy Guide of Differently Abled Kid," which offers recommendations on toys for children with developmental, physical and cognitive disabilities. (See Resource 3) Partnered with the Lekotek Center, this guide has furnished advice for 20 years. Peruse the Fisher-Price website pages on "Toys & Playtime Tips for Children with Special Needs," which provides assistance and tips on identifying categories of toys, such as toys with realistic sounds and figures, toys that react to simple touch, mirrored toys and toys that magnify, for children with special needs. (See Resource 4)
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