3 Favorite Toys: Wonder Wheel, Ball Mountain & Ball Drop Tower

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As I was organizing my stash of therapy toys I noticed that the last 3 toys I bought all have similar sensory properties. Most of the kids on my caseload have Autism and it is always an adventure to find things to spark their interest enough for them to engage and communicate. With over 25 years experience as a SLP under my belt I’ve gotten pretty good at spotting toys with features that many of my patients with Autism will LOVE 😉

  • The Wonder Wheel has been great for targeting go/stop, fast/slow, on/off (the suction cup is a little difficult for most kids to remove from the table with out help). It has also been a fave with one of my patients who has a visual impairment. It has a very pleasant sound similar to a rainstick.

 

  • The wooden one has been named “ball mountain” by one of my patients. It has been magical to watch his play evolve over several session from self exploration -> tolerating an adult to sit near him -> showing enjoyment with an adult sitting near him -> him imitating inviting an adult to play with him -> him spontaneously inviting an adult to play with him and sustaining several minutes of joint attention during play. The bell has a very pleasant sensory-friendly tone.

 

  • The ball drop tower set was quite a bargain when I found one that came with a set of two priced similarly to a single. Great for targeting short/tall, go/stop, on/off, together/apart, more, roll, through, around, down, hole and colors. The balls have tiny balls inside them with a faint rainstick-like sound. This one had so many language opportunities that I made symbols for it for PECS and Aided Language Stimulation. I keep symbols in the container with that toy so they are always available. When a particular patients shows interest in that toy then I add those symbols to their PECS book, AAC app or AAC device.

 

Here is a PDF of those symbols. The larger symbol is what I put on the outside of the toy storage container: Ball Drop Tower – free printable symbols for PECS or for Aided Language Stimulation – from OMazing Kids

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Ball Drop Tower symbols

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I bought all 3 on Amazon:

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#SLPeeps #over25YearsExperienceWorkingWithKidsWithAutism  #LoveShoppingOnAmazon #SLPblogger

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Angela Moorad, MS, CCC-SLP
Speech-Language Pathologist
Founder of OMazing Kids, LLC – inclusive wellness & educational activities for kids of all abilities
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Angela Moorad is the founder of OMazing Kids, LLC and is an ASHA certified & licensed pediatric Speech-Language Pathologist and Kids Yoga Teacher with over 25 years experience working in a variety of settings (early intervention, schools, teletherapy & a nonprofit pediatric rehab hospital for children with developmental disabilities). She is an app beta tester for educational & therapeutic app developers and loves sharing info about great apps, products, books & toys to use with kids of all abilities.
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