Autism & Play: Themed Visual Supports

Supporting autistic children in their play skills can be both a rewarding and challenging task for parents and educators. Unlike neurotypical children, autistic children often develop play skills in their own unique way. This isn't something to fix; it's simply different, and with the right tools, we can nurture these skills in a way that encourages growth and development. That’s where this autism play themed visual supports come in—tools designed to support the child’s individual play style, while simultaneously helping them work on other important areas of development like language, social interaction, and pre-academic skills.

If you're a teacher, therapist, or parent looking for a way to incorporate meaningful learning into play, you’ve probably realized that it’s not always easy to “work on IEP goals” during free play. But what if you could target specific skills while your child or student is engaged in play? With the Autism & Play: Themed Visual Supports for Special Education resource, that’s exactly what you can do. This visual resource is designed to help you bring structure into play while fostering independence and engagement, all while targeting important skills outlined in an IEP.

What’s Inside the Resource?

This resource includes a variety of visual supports designed for both fun and learning. Here’s an overview of the tools included:

1. Vocabulary Cards & Board
   Use these to label the toys or objects your child is playing with. This is an excellent way to introduce and reinforce vocabulary while engaging in play activities. The visual board helps reinforce the language you're modeling.
2. Core Word Cards & Board
   These cards support children by giving them a visual reference for the most frequently used words in play, like “go,” “stop,” and “more.” Modeling these words during play helps children learn to express their thoughts and needs, making it easier for them to engage in conversation.
3. Exclamatory/Symbolic Words Cards & Board
   For children who are non-verbal or just beginning to speak, these cards provide a fun starting point. These are symbolic words, like “wow,” “uh-oh,” or “yay,” that children can imitate during play. These sounds are a great way to bridge the gap between non-verbal communication and early language development.
4. Imitating Actions Cards & Board
   Imitation is one of the first skills many children learn in their development. Using action cards like “clap,” “jump,” or “roll” during playtime can motivate your child to imitate actions and develop those important motor skills.
5. Prepositions Cards & Board
   For children who are ready to work on spatial concepts, these cards are perfect. The cards feature words like “under,” “over,” “behind,” and “next to,” allowing you to model and prompt the child to copy actions using toys.
6. Color & Number Cards & Board
   These visual supports help children label colors and count objects. Perfect for young learners, these cards encourage early math and categorization skills, making learning fun and interactive.
7. Sentence Strips
   These strips are a wonderful tool for helping children expand their sentence length. By adding toys or pictures to the strips, you can model simple sentence construction, like “The pig is jumping,” or “The car is red.”
8. Social Skills Visuals (Turn Taking & Sharing)
   Teaching social skills like turn-taking and sharing can be difficult, but these visual cue cards make it easier. The visuals help children understand the concept of taking turns, which is an essential social skill for all children to master.
9. 1 & 2 Step Play Visual Cue Cards
   For children who are just beginning to explore play with toys, these cue cards provide simple, structured play ideas. Starting with basic actions like “push car” or “stack blocks” can help children grasp the concept of play, and as they progress, these cards introduce two-step actions, like “build a tower, then knock it down.”
10. Ready, Set, Go Visual Cue Card
    A favorite among parents and educators, this visual cue card is ideal for introducing exciting and motivating activities. The “Ready… Set… Go” sequence encourages children to engage in play, and many times, it’s the first step to getting them to verbalize during playtime.
11. Yes/No Cue Cards
    These cue cards help children make choices and express themselves by touching the “yes” or “no” options on the card. This is a great way to encourage decision-making, and it's perfect for helping children with communication challenges express preferences.

I used it to build my future resources and had my substitute teacher use it and the comments were: ”Wow! All the kids were engaged” So YES, it's a winner -Caroline G.

Themes for Play

To make this resource even more engaging, the themed visual supports come with a variety of play themes. Each theme is designed to capture your child’s interest, and these activities are structured around familiar scenarios, which help children connect to real-world experiences. The themes include:

• Farm
• Vehicles
• Kitchen
• Vet/Doctor
• Trains
• Building Blocks
• Zoo
• Dinosaurs

These themes provide a rich variety of scenarios that allow for a range of skill-building opportunities. Whether your child is obsessed with animals, cars, or dinosaurs, these themes are sure to spark their imagination and create meaningful learning experiences.

How Can This Resource Help?

For parents and educators, this autism play visual support resource serves as a valuable tool for helping children develop essential skills during what might otherwise be considered “free play.” It’s not about making play feel like a classroom—it’s about creating opportunities for language development, social skills, and cognitive growth within play, all while making the experience enjoyable and authentic.

By using visual supports, you can model specific skills, take data on progress, and provide children with the tools they need to engage in structured play activities that support their development. Whether you’re focusing on communication, social interaction, or basic academic concepts, this resource allows you to target and track progress in a way that feels natural and fun.

Why Choose Themed Visual Supports?

The beauty of this resource lies in its ability to blend structured learning with free play. Rather than isolating the child from their natural play environment, the visual supports help bring learning into that space, encouraging authentic engagement. By using these visual tools, you can reinforce skills while allowing children to enjoy the process of discovery and play.

So, if you’re a parent or educator looking to enhance play-based learning with a focus on skill development, Autism & Play: Themed Visual Supports for Special Education might be just what you need. The resource supports a range of developmental goals, and with its easy-to-use visual cues, it brings meaningful learning into every play session.

Explore this resource today, and start turning playtime into an opportunity for growth!

I love using this resource to target expanding utterances and vocabulary with my students on the spectrum! -Julianne Q.

If you use visual supports in your classroom or home, you are going to want to sign up for this free Visual Supports Starter Set ASAP! Click here to have one sent to your inbox. Also, be sure to read more about visual supports and how they can help autistic children here.