Finding Balance With Asperger's: 3D Feel & Find Toy for Sensory Therapy

Guidecraft, a leader in quality toys for children, was nice enough to send me some therapy toys for my 4-year-old son, Quinn, to assist with his symptoms caused by Asperger’s. One item that we were sent was the award-winning 3D Feel & Find, a puzzle-type activity with a therapeutic twist.  Guidecraft's 3D Feel & Find can be done as a puzzle for toddlers, but for older children, or children with Autism Spectrum Disorders, it can be used as a great sensory tool.

For Quinn, we lay out all of the 20 tiles so he can easily see them all, keeping the wooden shapes inside the cloth carrying bag. Quinn reaches in, and by touch alone, tries to accurately identify which shape he is touching. At first, this was really difficult for him because he lacks self/social awareness and tactile activities, such as learning by touch, are particularly hard for him. As we’ve used this set more and more, he is really learning to develop that sense of touch.

When I sat down to do the pictures and video for this activity, I was thoroughly impressed by how far Quinn has come since starting this activity. He gets over half right, when before he got none or almost none correct. I really look forward to watching this sense develop more and more as he plays with this toy.



(Click any image to enlarge)

As with all Guidecraft’s products, this set is very well made and will last a very long time. You can purchase 3D Feel & Find on Guidecraft’s website, www.guidecraft.com. It retails for $30.

Thank you to Guidecraft for providing a complimentary product sample for us to base this review upon.

Finding Balance With Asperger's: Puzzles for Developing Fine Motor Skills

Part of my son’s diagnosis of Asperger’s requires us to work with him on things that require him use fine motor skills, because his are slightly delayed. Puzzles, small blocks, and anything with small pieces are great to build his hand strength and hand/eye coordination. Guidecraft, a leader in developmental toys for children, was nice enough to send me some of their amazing products, one of which is the Construction Truck Sort and Match.

The Construction Truck Sort and Match is a great way to teach color and shape matching, sequencing, pattern recognition, sorting, and builds fine motor skills in a fun, game-like way. The set features a magnetic matching board that props up into the box to make game play easy, thick cardboard pattern cards, 48 construction truck pieces made from thick plastic, and comes in a durable birch plywood storage box, so you can store it neatly and securely for a long time. You can do this tangram-type activity solo or with a partner. Playing with a partner helps Quinn build the social/emotional connections that many people with Asperger’s struggle with and it teaches about being a gracious winner and loser.

Here is a quick video showing my sons at play . . . 

Of all the products Guidecraft sent us, this one has gotten the most play so far. Quinn has enjoyed using the pattern cards, making his own creations, and “racing” against a partner to recreate a variety of trucks. He’s had so much fun doing it, he hasn’t even realized he’s actually building many skills. The set is simple enough for even the youngest kids in my daycare to play with it, but the pattern matching is hard enough for them all to enjoy it. Doing “races” just adds an extra element of fun to it. I am thrilled with the durability of the set, the premise, the set up of it, and that it’s teaching so much without them realizing it. I also really like that it stores away neatly in its own sturdy box, thus making clean up and storage easy.

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You can view all of Guidecraft’s products on their website, www.guidecraft.com. The Guidecraft Construction Truck Sort and Match puzzle toy retails for $45 and can be purchased on Guidecraft.com, Amazon.com, and Walmart.com.


Thank you to Guidecraft for providing a complimentary product sample for us to base this review upon.