Six Social Games to Teach Children with Autism at Home
The aim of this resource is to teach you six social games to play with your child with ASD at home. All of the activities will develop your child’s social skills but I have listed other key developmental skills that your child may improve upon. The games should be adapted, expanded and developed to keep your child engaged. Whatever you decide to do, make sure you keep it short, fun praise your child for trying!
Water Painter
What you will need:
Paintbrushes
Jars, tubs
Water
Garden or outdoor space
Skill area developed:
Fine motor skills
Commenting on actions
How to play
Find old paintbrushes, tubs or jars in your cupboard go outside and paint the furniture windows, fences and walls. You can also draw shapes, letter, numbers and animals. Use the time to comment on your actions and the actions of your child. Remember to keep it fun and not to force your child to copy everything you are doing.
Possible expansion ideas
Add glitter to the water
sing a song as you paint
Encourage other child and or adults to join in
Island Jumping Pirates
What you will need:
Pillows or circle pads
Music
Living room space
Pirate fancy dress (optional)
Skill area developed:
Gross motor actions
Attention and listening
How to play
Lay all of the pillows out on the ground. This is a different version of musical statues show your child how to dance on one island when the music is playing. When the music stops, they need to stand still or freeze on the island until the music resumes. If your child finds jumping and dancing hard then you can reduce the number of islands and ask them to run from the island to the other.
Possible expansion ideas
Add a statue pose when freezing
Encourage other child and or adults to join in
Chase the cat’s tail
What you will need:
Shirt tie or string
Living room or outdoor space to run around
Skill area developed:
Gross motor skills
Fine motor skills
Commenting on actions
How to play
If your child enjoys a chasing game then you can beef it up by tucking a tie into the back of your trousers for your child to grab. Once he catches you, you can swap roles.
Possible expansion ideas
Encourage or another child and or adults to join in
Treasure Hunt
What you will need:
Either pictures or written words as clues
Treasure treats such as Easter eggs or sweets
Grand prize at the end
House or garden space
Skill area developed:
Cognition and reasoning skills
Reading and literacy
Spacial awareness
Fine motor skills
Gross motor skills
Commenting on actions
Academic learning
How to play
An old family favoured is the treasure hunt whereby an adult hides a number of small prizes around the house and gives a clue as to where the next prize could be. If your child finds this hard, due to social difficulties then make the hunt short and join in with them. You can also use hand-drawn pictures of the places you have hidden the small prizes.
Possible expansion ideas
Use a map instead of clues
Add an action within the clue such as clap your hands 10 times
Add an academic clue like ‘find something blue to find the next clue’
Encourage other child and or adults to join in
The Balloon Olympics
What you will need
Balloons
Garden or outdoor space
Medal
Reward as a prize (e.g. chocolate)
Skill area developed
Fine motor skills
Gross motor skills
Commenting on actions
Hand-eye co-ordination
How to play
Create three or four Olympic sports that can be used with a balloon such as:
1. Balloon shot-put – throw as far as you can
2. Balloon golf – hit the balloon with a stick as hard as possible
3. Balloon long jump – run and then you have to jump on the balloon
4. Balloon penalty shootout – kick the balloon into the goal
Your child should try all of these sports 3 times, in the end, you can aware a gold, silver or bronze medal. Make sure that all children are able to get a prize for trying. If your child social skills are delayed, then just try one of the games and give them an edible or highly valued prize for trying.
Possible expansion ideas
Add water to the balloon
Encourage other child and or adults to join in
Sing-a-Long
What you will need
Phone to film
Music
Fancy dress (optional)
Skill area developed
Expressive skills
Fine motor skills
Commenting on actions
How to play
A nice simple activity that can encourage laughter and lots of silliness. Make a list of ten songs that your child knows and likes then film your child singing the song-dance around and generally be a bit silly. After a minute, you can watch the footage back with your child, be sure to praise and comment on what they are doing. Swap roles and review.
Possible expansion ideas
Add a filter to make silly faces or features
Fancy dress
·Roll a dice to add other elements like pretending to be an animal whilst singing
Encourage other child and or adults to join in
The six games above are designed to give you some ideas on games you can play with your child at home. If you would like further help and support in developing your child’s social skills click here to book an appointment today.
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