DIY fidgets are a wonderful tool for helping children with autism manage daily stress, stay focused on a task at hand and self-regulate their emotions. These are 3 of my absolute favorite DIY fidgets that you can easy make at home for, or with, your child. There are so many reasons that I love DIY fidgets for children with autism. For the best autism activities for parents, teachers and therapists, get my autism activities workbook bundle.
What are the benefits of using DIY fidgets for your child?
DIY fidgets help reduce daily stress.
It can be a very stressful world for children with autism. Between noise, lights, social situations and verbal challenges the world can be downright overwhelming. Fidgets are comforting and allow your child do something physical and repetitive to help him or her calm down.
DIY fidgets can help your child stay seated at school or in his or her home program.
I am in favor of children moving around, engaging in outdoor activities and having the freedom to improvise within their learning days – whether that be at school or at home. However, there are some times when it is important for your child to stay seated. This can be very difficult for a child with autism due to difficulty concentrating and sometimes related hyperactivity. Your child may tend to wiggle, slide of his or her seat, jump up dash across the room, sit for 5 seconds, repeat… This can be very challenging if your child is taking a test or if you are trying to teach him or her something new!
DIY fidgets strengthen your child’s hands.
While squeezing, turning and twisting a fidget, your child is also building his or her hand strength. Many children with autism have related fine motor issues that can affect their ability to learn to write and draw. Fidgets help them get one step closer to having the hand strength and precision necessary to engage in these types of activities.
Although you can find some lovely fidgets to purchase, I love DIY fidgets! Creating them is a fun project to share with your child, it is often less expensive to make a DIY fidget than to purchase one and if anything happens to the fidget, you can just make another one!
These are my 3 favorite DIY fidgets :
1. Wacky sacks from Somewhat Simple. I Heart Naptime.
2. Braided yarn dolls from The Craft Train.
3. Wooden beaded bracelets from Lines Across.
Does your child use a fidget? Has it helped him or her to stay calm in challenging situations?
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More Autism Learning Tools
- Puzzles for Autism
- Printable Social Stories
- Sensory Boxes for Autism
- Autism Chew Toys
- Free Autism Resources
More Autism Learning Resources
- The Successful Interaction with a Child with Autism Course – learn to better understand your autistic child or students with this complete course.
- Autism Activities Workbook Bundle – build communication skills, fine motor skills, sensory play skills and daily living skills, while helping your child or students to successfully manage any difficult behaviors, with these fun, educational, printable activities.
- Sensory Communication Workbook – Build communication skills with simple sensory activities.
- How to Make a Communication Binder Guide & Workbook – Learn how to create a Communication Binder for your child or student with autism using real photos. Follow my expert guide to learn how to use it to increase communication skills.
- Autism Adapted Books Bundle – a collection of 10 adapted books that will help you build communication skills while teaching more than 120 vocabulary words.
- Zoo Animals Play Dough Mats Bundle – use these printable play dough mat to work on the names of the animals, build language skills, and increase fine motor strength and precision in a fun, sensory way!
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