My Favorite Toys That Help Teach Social + Emotional Skills To Toddlers

During my time sitting in on Isaiah’s therapy sessions I learned how much toys aid in the development of children learning new things. My son Isaiah who was diagnosed with Autism this summer is working on social emotional skills and I wanted to share some toys that are helping us out. Special needs or not, all toddlers can find it hard expressing and recognizing emotions. I gathered some toy ideas to share if you’re in need of some fresh ideas to present to your child to help teach all about feelings!

Why Learn Social Skills Through Play? Have you ever heard the quote “The work of a child is play”? Through playtime children have the opportunity to exercise their cognitive skills and experiment with social scenarios. When playing with other children they learn sharing, problem solving and self control. For kids on the spectrum it can be hard for them to identify emotions so through play they can practice through social stories and visual representation on what feelings are. Overall there are so many benefits to using toys and materials to teach social skills!

Fisher Price Little People:

We are big fans of little people here and here’s why: The fisher price little people line comes with an array of figurines in different skin tones and professions. My boys love the big vehicles they have and are learning about community helpers and their roles as well as the dynamics of a family (mom, dad, sister, brother...) this line has a lot of different play sets from houses to cars, so there is lots to choose from!

Stuffed Animals/ Dolls: Toddlers love caring for their babies! For my kids we have build a bears that they can dress up, put diapers on and carry them around the house. Isaiah learned what “gentle” means from his teddy bears and we also were able to demonstrate brushing teeth, washing hands and sharing examples using his teddy. There are also great quality dolls for boys and girls on the market that can serve the same purpose. You can show how to tuck their baby in to sleep, feeding or even how to brush their hair.

Pretend Play Food & Doctors Set: Role play is so important! Getting pretend food and setting up social scenarios like restaurant or picnic is vital for toddlers to understand social interactions and gives them a chance to practice those events. A doctors set can help promote learning about empathy and caring for someone else, they can do this with a friend or with a doll/ stuffed toy. You can ask “How can we help teddy right now?” or “How do you think teddy feels?” Even if they can’t answer, you can show them ways to care. Place a pretend bandaid on or give a hug and inviting them to copy you can go a long way in teaching them!

BONUS: Watching Social Scenarios On Youtube

This isn’t a toy but I wanted to mention this because this has helped Isaiah so much! Watching other kids on YouTube play with toys correctly, share and take turns has been so helpful. Zay tends to copy what he sees when it comes to social norms and giving him real children examples to see has proven to be the most powerful tool for him! Just type in kids pretend play videos on YouTube- seriously it’s so helpful!