Each year Autism Live curates a list of top toys and gifts in a wide range of categories and developmental levels to help you find the perfect gift to delight the children, teens and adults in your life who are on the Autism Spectrum. This year we have chosen toys in various price ranges to help you make the perfect holiday selection. We hope there is something to delight everyone on your list!
Top Toy Winner
Gecko Run
Marble Run
Thames & Kosmos
Description
8+ Years
This innovative marble run uses a specially designed system of flexible tracks the does not require any support structures. Attach the tracks to surfaces with the help of clever nano pads, which work like nanoscopic suction cups, to create a strong, but temporary bond. Pads can easily be repositioned, leaving no damage!
Autism Live Says:
We love the way this marble run reinvents the traditional marble run and lets creators reach new heights, literally. We also love that it doesn’t occupy floor space, leaving more room to play! This is a great toy to work on motor skills, problem solving, cause and effect and a whole host of executive function skills!
Therapist Recommendation Toy Winner
Africa Wild Life Starter Kit
Schleich
Description
3+ years
Welcome to the wild: A zebra, an African elephant calf, a chimpanzee cub and a lion make up this wonderful assortment of animals – a perfect start to your collection
Explore the animal kingdom with these safari animals! Travel the plains of the savanna and swing from the trees of the jungle. Schleich animal toys are modeled in the finest detail to help children learn about animals from all over the world and fall in love with nature and wildlife.
Autism Live Says:
We love the detail and specificity on Schleich animals. It makes them a great teaching tool for everything from language to learning about real animals in the environment. Schleich animals make wonderful reinforcers for children on special occasions or when the deserve a special treat.
STEM Toy Winner
Wow in the World Light Up Terarium
Thames & Kosmos
Description
6+ Years
Make your own glowing terrarium as you learn how to grow real plants from seeds! Watch the alfalfa grow each day, place it in your terrarium, and let it glow! UV LED string lights attach to a plastic moon from the center of your sphere for a fantastic glowing effect!
Low-maintenance and quick-to-sprout, all your alfalfa plant needs to grow is some natural light and water every few days!
Autism Live Says:
We love kit that teaches STEM skills while creating a beautiful keepsake that glows in the dark. Your child will learn and grow along side their sprouting plants! This kit will work on fine motor skills, planning, and problem solving, while your child is learning important environmental lessons.
Speech Builder Toy Winner
Sentence Builder
Key Education®
Description
5+ Years
Construct simple sentences by interlocking puzzle pieces to create sentence strips, and practice early reading and writing with the set’s fun puzzle-piece card tiles and interactive games.
Great for both homeschool and classroom learning, the Sentence Building set includes teaching suggestions and multiple reading and writing games to work alongside students to build vocabulary, grammar, and increase fluency.
Autism Live Says:
We love this kit to visualize sentence structure and prompt speech. For some of our learners being able to see and manipulate words into a sentence helps order thought when speaking.
Social Skills Builder Toy Winner
Freddie the Fly:
Connecting the Dots
Boys Town Press
Description
5 + Years
Freddie the Fly: Connecting the Dots: a Story about Learning to Read Social Cues by Kimberly Delude is a delightful book about Freddie, the frustrated fly who keeps missing social cues. Freddie learns how to read social cues, and why they are important as the book progresses.
Autism Live Says:
We love learning about social cues from this delightful fly. Freddie teaches us simple lessons that can make a big difference in how we interact and grow. You kids will enjoy learning from the entire Freddie the Fly series.
Sensory Toy Winner
Super Blanky
Dreamighty
Description
3+ Years
Super Blanky by Dreamighty is a versatile wearable blanket that doubles as a cape, complete with a character mask. This innovative product combines warmth, comfort, and imaginative role play for children ages 3 and up. Super Blanky features a patented sleeve design the keeps hands free during activities.
Autism Live Says:
We love that these soft, plush blankets are available in lots of different themes, to ignite the creativity in your loved one. Snuggle up or play pretend, either way these unique blankets are a sensory soothing experience.
Parents Recommendation Toy Winner
Rock and Roll It Rainbow Piano
Mukikim
Description
6+ years
Rock out, then roll it up! Rainbow colored, flexible, completely portable piano with 49 standard keys. It features a Play-by-Color Song Booklet, Multiple Keyboard Tones, Multiple Demo Songs, Echo/Sustain, Record & Playback! Powered by USB (cord included) or batteries. Play anywhere!
Autism Live Says:
Parents love this portable piano with so many options. We especially love that it comes with a headphone jack, so your child can rock out while you chill out!!! This toy will work on fine motor skills, but music has also been found to help with cognitive skills!
Oldie but Goodie Toy Winner
Speak and Spell
Basic Fun
Description
7+ years
Relive the classic fun of the 80s with Speak & Spell! This toy may be new, but it has all the iconic graphics, sounds, and gameplay you remember! Enjoy hours of educational fun with 5 Play Modes! Spell, Mystery, Say It, Secret Code, and Letter—which game will you play today? Choose from different challenge levels as you learn and play! Can you reach the highest level?
Autism Live Says:
We love this classic game that taught kids how to spell in the 1980s and is still helping kids to spell today. Even ET used a Speak and Spell to phone home! It’s a great classic education game that is still fun!
Motor Play Toy Winner
NeeDoh-The Groovy Glob
Schylling
Description
3+ Years
This groovy glob is the ultimate stress ball that helps you mellow out and find inner peace, tranquility, and calm mindfulness. Give it a squeeze, squish, pull, or smush. It’ll soothe your soul and get you feeling groovy fast. The non-toxic, dough like compound has a superb sensory sensation.
Autism Live Says:
OMG! The globs really are groovy, and they are great for building hand strength while having a fun sensory experience. We love this for kiddos who are struggling with handwriting, opening a water bottle, etc. They will love squishing this glob!
Kid's Choice Toy Winner
Kidi Star Drum Pad
VTech®
Description
5+ Years
Drum up creativity using 20 drum style sounds including rock, marching band, metal, jazz and more to make unique music. Play along with 30+ songs or tap out a drum solo, then hit the record button to capture and replay your performance. Connect to your own music via BLUETOOTH wireless technology or audio cable. Show off your drum skills with three thrilling games and sharpen your talents with Coach mode.
Autism Live Says:
This amazing toy is life changing for kiddos who like music and/or enjoy moving their hands. We especially love the coach mode where they are learning actual drum skills and of course we love the headphone jack so when your child falls in love with this toy, they can play day and night, and you can still take a break from it!
Empowering Employment Skills Toy Winner
Horse Club Mobile Vet
Schleich
Description
5+ Years
Speed to the rescue of injured and sick horses and animals with this mobile vet and horse play set. Increase imaginative play and combine with other Schleich HORSE CLUB playsets to build entire worlds. Explore the world of Schleich animals and unleash the limitless possibilities of storytelling and imaginative play. These realistic and detailed toy horse play sets are built to last generations.
Autism Live Says:
This beautifully made toy allows the child to play pretend and in a very realistic, albeit miniature way. This type of role play is pivotal in preparation for eventual employment. The animal/horse lover on your list with LOVE this toy!
Educational Toy Winner
Geo Flakes
Activity Set
Discovery Toys®
Description
5+ Years
Explore colors, shapes, and a host of early math concepts with this set of 120 large-sized translucent flakes and wipe-off activity cards. Then exercise your imagination, motor coordination and cognitive skill building endless creations with the flakes. The slotted design & large size of the flakes allows for early building success.
Autism Live Says:
This kit is power packed with fun and learning. The creative and educational opportunities are endless. We especially love the activity cards that prompt building skills for powerful learning.
Best Card/Board Game Winner
Dodo
Thames & Kosmos
Description
6+ years
Oh, you silly bird! The Dodo has laid an egg, but…oh no! She accidentally pushed it out of her nest and it is tumbling toward the edge of the cliff. Can you save the egg before it falls into the sea? Work together to roll the die, collect materials, and build new bridges to help guide the Dodo’s wibbly-wobbly egg safely into the boat at the foot of the mountain. Will you save the egg and win the game?
Autism Live Says:
This is a beautiful board game to work on strategy and team work. We love working together to save the to save the Dodo’s egg! Best of all this game is great for working on the big feelings and frustrations that come with failure. You can’t always save the egg and you have to start over. This is a great life lesson.
Boredom Buster Toy Winner
Novalinx Beyond Cube
Project Genius
Description
8+ Years
Challenge your skills beyond the traditional cube. The Novalinx is a supernova-sized challenge with a whopping 12 sides to solve. Twist until all facets on each side are the same color. Give it a scramble & challenge yourself to solve it again. Can you beat your previous time? Test your skills & enjoy the thrill of solving it faster with each attempt! This puzzle challenges spatial awareness while building problem-solving and fine motor skills.
Autism Live Says:
We love the problem-solving aspect of this game, but also love the beautiful colors and patterns that are made when the colors don’t match. It can function as just a gorgeous fidget! We also love this female owned company that has a work program for young adults with autism.
Best Video Game Winner
Just Dance
Ubisoft
Description
Just Dance is a motion-based dance video game for multiple players, with each game including a collection of classic and modern songs each with its own dance choreographies. Players perform choreographed routines by following the movements of on-screen characters. Players score points by accurately dancing in time to the music and scrolling indicators. There are yearly versions of Just Dance that feature different hit songs with different choreography. Versions are available on all game platforms.
Autism Live Says:
We love how this game gets our kids moving! They don’t have to be great at it to have fun, but the game will give them feedback and reward them when they are able to do the steps/movements in beat. There is also some evidence that moving in front of their avatar helps hone the mirror neurons in their brains!
Best Puzzle Winner
Say Cheese!
Project Genius
Description
8+ Years
Say Cheese! Is a single player logic game that increases your child’s brain power and keeps them quietly busy for hours of independent play. The Goal? Navigate your way through the challenges by rolling rodents face-down to snouts-up in as few moves as possible. Are you gouda-nuff to solve the challenges that only get better as you work your way up? Say Cheese! features 50 original Challenges as outlined in the included Challenge booklet that also includes the solutions.
Autism Live Says:
We love this logic puzzle, but we encourage you to play it as a group! Talk through the challenge, try strategies, see if it works, reset and try again! This is great for critical thinking, problem solving, working as a team, being flexible, and overcoming challenges. We love it.
Best Book Winner
Shiny Misfits
Scholastic Books
Description
This graphic novel features and heroine with a challenge. Bay Ann wants to shine. But when a talent show appearance goes viral for all the wrong reasons our heroine is forced to figure out what really makes her stand out. This is a hilarious graphic novel about friendship, fame, and fighting for control of your own story.
Autism Live Says:
This lovely graphic novel is perfect for readers who are motivated by pictures to stay engaged. The message is also inspirational, learning about identity, that being uniquely you is a prize in itself.
Best Art/Craft Winner
Creatibles
Ooly
Description
6+ Years
There’s no kiln needed with this collection of air-dry clays. Model, shape, build, and create with this pliable clay and shaping tools, then simply set it out to dry. Once it’s hard, you can decorate further with paints or markers. The kit contains 24 mixable colors The Creatibles Deluxe Air-Dry Clay Kit is everything a budding sculptor could want. The super soft clay makes hand building your creations easy and fun, especially with the help of 3 sculpting tools to add detail and dimensions.
Autism Live Says:
We love many color combinations you can make with this kit. The clay is easily moldable but still encourages building fine motor skills. We love that your child’s imagination will flourish while they make their unique creations!
Don’t forget to check out all the fabulous toy and gift winners in other categories.
You might find exactly what you are looking for there!
We at AUTISM Live
wish you the
Happiest of Holidays!
After all of your shopping is done, if you find that you have more to give, please join us in making a donation of any size to Autism Care Today (ACT). This wonderful organization gives grants to families for things like iPads, insurance co-pays, sensory equipment, GPS devices and more. Your donation could make another family’s holiday wishes come true.