Activities for Children with Autism

Oliver Larholt explores the ways parents and children can enjoy quality time through play and learning.

As parents, it’s our responsibility to help our children find positive and empowering ways to play. It can be hard to know how to play with your neurodiverse child. 

This can be because they engage in repetitive behaviours or resist disruption. Or maybe they struggle to focus or effectively communicate. 

However, play is a crucial part of all childhoods, and even more essential for autistic children who may struggle with developmental barriers.  Play helps children develop new patterns, build attention and practice communication skills.

Inclusive Teach have a wonderfully comprehensive guide to the benefits of play here.

Oliver Larholt’s Guide to Choosing the Right Activities for Your Child

Every child learns in different ways, and autistic kids are no different. Choose play activities based on your child’s needs and preferences. 

Make sure to: 

1. Follow their interests
   Do they love dinosaurs? Muppets? Music? 
   Engage what they already love to boost motivation and enjoyment.
2. Use visual supports
   Visual aids make instructions clearer and tasks easier to follow.
3. Build on their strengths
   Grow their confidence by recognising where they thrive and encouraging them to keep practicing and learning.
4. Keep instructions clear and concise
   Keep steps small to prevent overwhelm and foster independence.

Things to consider when picking activities for your autistic child

Make sure to choose your activities, including the materials, timescales, and rules, based on your child’s specific needs. 

Children with autism may have any combination of the following traits: 

• Heightened sensory sensitivity
• Difficulty
•  Maintaining focus 
• Repetitive behaviours
• Dislike of interruptions or change to routine
• Strong interest in a limited range of topics
• Difficulty sharing or taking turns
• Struggles to verbally communicate
• Difficulty with social cues
• Trouble remembering names or sustaining conversations

You may find your child prefers playing with siblings. Read more about supporting the siblings of children with ASD here.

Oliver Larholt’s favourite activities

Here are my top activities for kids with ASD, collected over fifteen years of playing with my son. 

Tactile fun

1. Sorting Activities
   Sorting teaches kids observational, categorizing and organizational skills. It can also double as a craft project by making and sticking on labels.
   Give younger children toys and blocks to sort by colour. Older kids can sort items by name or category.
2. Texture Play and sensory bins
   Textures are great for both soothing and teaching. 
   You could try: 
   • Shaving cream and water beads 
   • Flour and oats
   • Wet and dry sand
   • Fabrics or sponges

You can either lay these textures out on a flat surface- flour and foam are both great for mark making! Or you can fill any plastic bin, tub or bowl with different textures, objects and shapes to make an exploratory sensory bin. 

Get active or go outside

1. Set up a balancing Beam
   You can make a balancing beam using planks of wood outside, or put a few lines of tape on the floor if you’re inside. 
   Helping your child to stay on the line/beam is a fun way to develop balance and coordination.
2. Garden Together
   Spending time outside in the garden combines fresh air, tactile play, and the sense of achievement that comes with watching something grow. 
   You can plant seeds together, pull weeds, or care for existing plants for a relaxing activity that also teach about seasons, cycles, and responsibility.
3. Sensory Walks
   Go for a walk in the garden, park, or even through your house, paying attention to the various textures, colours, and smells around you. 
   You can add in stories or sounds to build postive associations with locations, objects, or landmarks- making excercise also a game. 
4. Yoga and dance
   Yoga and dancing are great ways to encourage self- expression, boost mood, and build coordination skills.
   Put on different types of music and ask you child how the rhythm make them want to move, or what images the sounds make them think of. 

Arts and crafts

1. Shadow Puppet Theatre
   You can make your own shadow puppets out of card or thick paper. You can take time to decorate them together too, even though they’re “shadow” puppets. 
   Ask you child to retell a favourite story, memory, or activity with their puppet. A wonderful activity for wrapping up the day or rainy afternoons. 
2. Shredded Paper Crafts
   Tearing paper into different shapes can be a stimulating and satisfying sensory experience for kids with ASD.
   Make sure there’s a variety of colours, patterns and textures.
   Then help them glue the shreds they’ve made onto card to create unique gifts and artworks. 
   Give your child a variety of paper products like:
   • Tissue paper
   • Magazine or newspapers 
   • Drawing paper 

Creature comforts

1. Set up a reading nook
   Create a comfort corner for you child by designating a special corner with picture books and objects that soothe and inspire. 
   Add toys that match the stories in the nook to make book reading a sensory experience too. 
2. Cooking together
   Help your child develop important life skills by making simple meals and treats together. 
   Mixing ingredients is a wonderful tactile experience, they feel a sense of pride and confidence when they successfully follow instructions to make something delicious. Sharing what you’ve made with others is also an opportunity to practice social skills. 
3. Calm Down Bottles
   You can me a calm down bottle by taking any plastic beverage container and filling it with glitter, glue and warm water. 
   When you shake the bottle, the glitter swirls and settles in mesmerising patterns. You can add slightly larger items like confetti or foil stars too.

The Classics

1. Building blocks
   Playing with Legos and other building blocks has been shown to help autistic children improve communication and social skills. 
   Building blocks are a tactile activity that also builds confidence and problem solving skills.
2. Hide and Seek
   Hide and seek supports gross motor skills with minimal social interaction.
   Make sure you: 
   • Play in a safe indoor area
   • Clearly explain the rules (preferably with visual aids)
   • Give your child a book or toy to play with while they hid

More resources on play with neurodiverse children can be found here:

The Importance of Play for Autistic Children – Autism Awareness

5 Structured Play Ideas That Build Skills for Kids with Autism – Transformative Autism Care for Children

Autism and Play: Encouraging Interaction and Learning – Hope Center for Autism