It's December 25th the house is as silent as a mouse except for the creek of the stairs as your little tearaways sneak into the golden glow of the living room where they find the holy grail that they have been staring at for the past four weeks. Beneath the colossal green giant wrapped in tinsel and baubles lies packages of joy ready to be ripped from the paper in which they are covered.  Eagerly they shake the boxes, pressing them against their faces, hoping to discover what it contains before bursting into your room declaring it time to awaken.

Parents are looking for something different for their child with special needs to discover under the tree. To help, we put together a two-part special to help give you inspiration for your Christmas gifts this year.

Visual toys

Eye-catching visual toys make for fantastic Christmas gifts. With a wide range of readily available colourful toys on the market; you’ll be spoilt for choice with what to get your child this year. Visual effects can transform any bedroom, creating an incredible sensory experience.

You can choose from a range of captivating toys to help encourage visual processing, create a calm environment, and provide visual challenges that your child will love to interact with. You’ll be spoilt for choice with a wide range of glow in the dark toys and paint; giving them the chance to create fantastic masterpieces or have fun popping luminous UV reactive bubbles. Lava lamps and bubble tubes are attention-grabbing options that will provide hours of fun. You can pick from a range of vibrant colours that are ideal for improving colour recognition.

Lastly, mirage projectors are a brilliant choice for creating cool effects on any wall space. You can choose from a selection of wheels to use to give you a spectrum of scenarios. Whether your little one would rather donning their favourite astronaut helmet and turning their room into outer space, or exploring the depths by projecting hundreds of tropical fish upon their walls, you can choose a cartridge that suits them.

 Messy play

It really is no secret; children love to make a mess. Messy play toys are fantastic for children of all ages: especially those with Autism. Messy play encourages smearing and squishing of substances that as parents we don’t mind that they play with. There are a number of options that aid developmental growth, at the same time of providing hours of entertainment. Kinetic sand is one option. Mimicking the tactile and soft properties of wet sand, kinetic sand is perfect sculpting and playing indoors. You can opt for a floor or desk tray, with some fun accessories so that you can recreate those fun beach days by making sandcastles in the lounge. 

Alternatively, you could opt for the brighter option of playfoam: the ingenious foam which never dries out. It does not stick to substances or leave smears behind so you can give your child a sensory experience with foam that can be squished and squashed time and time again.

There are many online stores available for you to find the perfect gift for your child with special needs this year. We recommend trying; 

https://www.sensorytoywarehouse.com/

www.exploreyoursenses.co.uk/

www.specialneedstoys.com/uk/

www.glow.co.uk/sensory-toys-lighting.html

Stay tuned for our next instalment of our gift ideas to help you with your Christmas shopping and find the ideal presents.