Activities for Kids with Autism

By undertaking creative, social and physical activities for kids with autism on a regular basis, a teacher or a parent can help the child deal with this learning disability in the best possible manner. Read on for some excellent autistic children activities...

Autism, a genetic disorder, which leads to learning disabilities in a child, such as inability to interact or communicate with others, is a condition which cannot be treated. However, a child can certainly improve upon it, if it is detected in time and early Autism treatment is sought. Training a child under professionals, by sending him to special schools, can further enable a child to develop his social skills, communication skills as well as get rid of any compulsive behaviors he might be displaying. Parents and teachers should undertake certain activities for kids with autism on a regular basis, so that an autistic child understands himself, his peers and everyone or everything around him. Scroll down for such educational activities for kids with autism.

Fun Activities for Kids with Autism

Music

Music, whether singing or playing musical instruments or simply listening to songs, can play a very important role in an autistic child's learning. Parents and teachers can teach a child certain behavior patterns by associating them with particular kinds of music. For example, commands like "form a line" or "stand" or "be quiet" can be associated with certain tunes, so as soon as these are played, a child knows whether he is supposed to stand or sit, etc. You may further go to autism teaching strategies.

Besides this, while playing musical instruments, if the children mimic each other's tunes, it can serve as excellent social skills activities for kids with autism as following each other's tunes, in a way, promotes social interaction.

Playing in a Park

Simple outdoor activities for autistic children, such as playing in a park - swinging, sliding, playing on monkey bars, building castles in sand pits, etc. help an autistic child to develop his motor skills, improve upon his balance as well as increase his comfort level in social settings. Of course, all these activities should be carried out under the supervision of teachers or parents.

Story Telling and Story Reading

Another of the activities for children with autism is story telling as well as story reading. The teacher can simply narrate a story to the autistic children, preferably displaying placards on which some of the story characters and incidents are drawn. Or, the children can themselves read a story from a book, one by one, and the teacher can explain in between, after each paragraph, where the story is heading to.

Sports

Since autistic children are not very comfortable in playing games which require them to be in constant physical contact with other people, sports such as golf are ideal for them. These individual sports activities, in contrast with football or soccer - both of which are a team game, are perfect for autistic children as they help them develop their individual skills.

Art and Craft

Art and craft activities such as drawing or sketching or undertaking simple paper crafts, can help the autistic children to cultivate creativity and in some cases, identify their hidden natural talents! Moreover, playing with colors is something that all kids enjoy immensely. So, this activity is a great learning experience for autistic children and thus, parents or teachers should undertake it on a regular basis. Here's a great team art activity for autistic children - simply have all the children make their hand prints on a chart with paint colors. When everybody is done, put up this chart on the wall and write "together" on it. Show the children this chart everyday and explain them what "unity", "team" and "together" means.

Photography

Again, an excellent activity for autistic children is to take them to a picturesque location, give them a camera and ask them to capture anything and everything they find interesting. Later, these photographs can be collected and either put up on the walls or pasted in a scrapbook.

Throw Ball

One of the most beneficial sensory activities for kids with autism is playing throw ball. The children can learn how to play in teams, develop their motor skills and at the same time, have lot of fun, catching and throwing balls at one another. You may read more on autistic children activities.

As you can see, all the above mentioned activities for kids with autism, not only provide them a good learning experience, but are quiet entertaining and fun too. So, incorporate these in an autistic child's daily routine to make him learn while having fun at the same time!