Suggestions for autistic 8 year old

[Curious2468]

I’m struggling to know where to start for my son this year. He has very narrow interests (mainly minecraft and robot wars). He already has all the hexbug robots (for his birthday) and other robotic toys tend to be tricky as he has very hypermobile hands so can’t do fiddly things (and has a poor frustration tolerance too).
He likes bigger construction toys but has quite a lot already, he doesn’t do small world play. We have some physical toys like a door swing and some sensory toys. Basically I’m running out of new things to buy as he already has a fair bit and doesn’t really grow out of things in quite the same way as other children his age. His sister is way easier to buy for and I don’t want there to be a big difference in their present piles but also don’t want to just buy for the sale of it. Does anyone have any cool suggestions I might not have thought off?

What about Minecraft merchandise like the soft toys, weapons, clothes, wall decals, caps, pjs, duvet cover, etc? He might appreciate a subscription to one of the Minecraft magazines.

My autistic hypermobile DD loves Minecraft Lego. She can't build it but we do it together - she has to follow the construction booklet and pass me the right pieces.
She also has a shed load of Minecraft tat.

My DS1 is also a problem to buy for in these ways. For his last birthday, I bought every book that related to his interest - cartoon strips, there was a choose your own adventure - just anything I could, because there was nothing else that really fit. It wasn't a very interesting birthday heap, but he was so pleased with it all.

We’ve tried with the minecraft Lego but he gets bored half way through building (or impatient and bouncy). His attention span isn’t great.

General minecraft tat is a good plan though, ordered him the enchanted bow today

Mine appreciated Minecraft T-shirts and cuddly toys (look online) - they make cuddly everything now and they are very cheap if you don't mind 3-6 weeks shipping time. Also Minecraft Lego and books about Minecraft...

Could try cool toys that are also sensory-satisfying, like an infinity ring or a rock'n'hopper or stomp rocket. Or a lava lamp or mood light?

There’s loads of Minecraft books with hacks and stuff, DS1 loved them!

Also, are Roblox toys an option? Less fiddly than Lego but still robot-y.

YY to a lava lamp or sensory light, all of mine love them (they’re autistic too)

Can he manage Lego? What about Lego wedo? It's Lego robotics, aimed at that age group.

My two, who are a bit older like magnetic building things like Magnetic rids, and magnet tiles.

Also stikbot toys, with stop motion software.

Plants vs zombies figs, and Mario mega bloks were a hit too, along with walkthrough books.

Does he enjoy music / stories? My ds have loved their amazon echo. It can be linked to music and story accounts and then ds can chose and listen to different things.

Oh yes, like loris we have a google home. It tells feeble jokes, and sets alarms and plays games.

Amazon echo is a great idea but my husband has paranoia over devices listening to us 🙈

Haven’t heard of Lego wedo so will have a look. He struggles with Lego because his fingers are like rubber

At that age, my DS loved the Vtech robot transforming dinosaur things. He also liked some imaginext stuff as it has a lot of cause and effect actions on it.

My nine year old autistic child sounds very similar. He has rigid interests but he is dyspraxic which limits his ability to access even things like lego.

DS had a lava lamp for his birthday and adored it...so I definitely second that!

He has asked for a rad robot this year. It's only £15 , it looks like total tat....it's a small ball that can record your voice and play it back with funny voices...anyway totally rubbish but he thinks he'll like it!

He will have a nerf gun which he loves.

He also loves minecraft, but has been into it for years, so like your son has tonnes of the merchandise already, but I found the Minecraft mobestiary book for 3.60 at the works so he's getting that too.

He quite likes board games and played labyrinth at a friend's and enjoyed it so that's also on the list.

You don't mention if he likes video games, but my ds adores his Minecraft Xbox controller. I'm also considering a gaming chair as I think he will love that.

Hope that helps - I have four children and he is by far the most difficult

Does he like making patterns with things like this?
www.amazon.co.uk/Learning-Resources-Wooden-Pattern-Blocks/dp/B000F8T8U0?tag=mumsnetforum-21
Would he like something like this? They're amazing.
www.amazon.com/Laser-Stars-Hologram-Projector/dp/B0085VXH1U?tag=mumsnetforum-21
anything here any good?
www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/245868460879203482/?lp=true

DVDs of the robot wars series
Tickets for extreme robots the live version of robot wars (totally fantastic)

The domestic version of LEGO we-do is Boost, we-do is more aimed at schools.

However would the Cosmos robot be more appealing to him? My friends autistic 8 yo go one last year.

At 8 my ds still loved his vtech robot Dinosaur car transformer things.

Ds1 enjoyed the sensory room st school, so we made him one in his bedroom in a tent thing, bean bags, fairy lights , lava lamps, fake colour changing candles, sensory toys, we got a lot of stuff from very cheap shops like fluffy dusters and stuff. He really liked it.

My daughter has loads of minecraft soft toys. We got them from Sainsburys and Argos so I don't know why someone earlier said about waiting 3-6 weeks for delivery! There is often minecraft clothing in Primark. She also has roblox figures. You can take them apart to mix and match but it is fiddly so she just has them as figures to line up etc.

Hi I have a 9 year old son with asd. It's hard as he really doesn't know what he wants. He wanted to spent his birthday money on various chilli peppers! The winter Morgan minecraft books are good and would second mobestry. What about something like a games convention or go ape? We are getting the murderous maths book set, horrible science books, a football table and trivia pursuit for kids. Computer games are a waste as doesn't play them or only minecraft. What about a bop it? We've also done a minecraft wallet and bag and lunchbox.

impatient and bouncy

Indoor trampoline?

Do they do indoor trampolines for his age? We got a door swing for his birthday and he loves it so a trampoline would be pretty cool!

Just a normal indoor exercise one. You can’t do tricks but it’s good for when they’re bouncy.