With all the new fangled gadgets and gizmos, iPhones and iPads and Legos galore, we thought we’d go back to the basics and share with you some of our favorite toys for little ones. The list is endless but we narrowed ours down to a few things that not only we love, but that kiddos love as well. You can facilitate some great communication interactions and also work on some other important skills and your child won’t even realize that they are “working” on their development. Here are a few of our favs and why we love them:
1. Bubbles

Leprechauns! Shamrocks! Rainbows! Pots of gold! Green drinks! Green parades! St. Patrick’s Day is just around the corner. St. Patrick’s Day is a different holiday from what most of our kids are used to. It’s harder to understand but is still a lot of fun! You don’t typically get or give presents. You don’t have an egg hunt. You probably don’t have a big family dinner. As we get older it becomes a more important social holiday. So how do we work on St. Patrick’s Day now so that our kids are ready for all the social implications of St. Patrick’s Day when they are older?

“Point to your nose.”
“Where are your eyes?”
“Show me your feet.”

Protesting “no” is a skill that sometimes can be difficult for children with language disorders. Instead of using their words they may:
1. Push objects or people away
2. Throw objects
3. Cry/scream
Here are a few steps you can follow to help your child protest “no”:
Step one: You will need a visual of “no”.

Thanksgiving is a time for family, food and fun! A great way to enjoy the holidays while working on social communication is by playing games. Give your tummy a break from turkey overload and fill your plate playing this enjoyable holiday themed activity.

Materials:

“I am thankful for my family!”
“I am thankful for my friends!”
“I am thankful for my dog Landry!”
Thanksgiving is the time that we express how thankful we are for people and things in our lives. This may be a difficult skill for our kids with autism spectrum disorders….to understand what “thankful” means and to understand what/who they are thankful for. Here are a few different ideas to help your child understand what is means to be thankful:
Preschoolers and Kindergartners:

Did you ever see a pumpkin, a pumpkin, a pumpkin?
Did you ever see pumpkin with no face at all?
With no eyes, no nose, no mouth and no teeth?
Did you ever see a pumpkin, with no face at all?
So I made a Jack O-Lantern, Jack O-Lantern, Jack O-Lantern.
So I made a Jack-O-Lantern with a big funny face!
With big eyes, a big nose, a big mouth and big teeth.
So I made a Jack-O-Lantern with a big funny face.

Halloween will be here very soon! One of our favorite parts of Halloween is the fun art projects. Although kids love art, sometimes the activities can be a little overwhelming with a lot of steps, a lot of materials or just super complicated. Here is a fun and easy art project that you can do at home with friends, with family or alone to help get you and your little one in the Halloween mood!
Materials
-White paper
-Halloween cookie cutters
-Paper plate
-Tempera paint: white, yellow and/or orange
-Visuals

With the new school year it is likely that your mailbox or your child’s backpack is being filled with birthday party invitations from their classmates. Fun, yes. But this doesn’t always mean smooth sailing for our children. Birthday parties can be challenging for our kids as they are held at all sorts of different locations, have different activities at each party, can be filled with loud unfamiliar sounds, unfamiliar routines, some of our not so favorite foods and have specific social expectations.