An unusual request...

[BabaYagasLittleSister]

My DS 5 is autistic and his special interest is fruits and vegetables. He loves them all but especially interested in exotic fruits and vegetables like Daikon, dragon fruit, persimmon, etc

Can anyone recommend some really realistic fruit and veg toys? Not the cheap plastic ones everywhere. He also has some wooden ones you can chop but they are a bit small and not very detailed.
Or realistic fruit or vegetable sweets or biscuits?

Thank you.

These look nice. https://eenymeeny.com/products/erzi-assorted-fruit-vegetables-xl?variant=40507952791645&currency=GBP&utm_medium=product_sync&utm_source=google&utm_content=sag_organic&utm_campaign=sag_organic&gad=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI5_Pkn873gQMVfJGDBx1DFQNaEAQYAiABEgLrUfD_BwE

Erzi is good for wooden pretend food https://consciouscraft.uk/collections/erzi

Here you go:

https://www.oskarswoodenark.com.au/search?type=article%2Cpage%2Cproduct&q=fruit**

Some unusual fruit here and all made of wood.

... and vegetables:

It's worth a look on etsy or ask a crafty friend as you can get some super realistic felt/knitted/crochet ones.

You've probably already done this but if not, you (and he) could make some from salt dough and paint them.

I'd get some nylon kids knives and let him prep real veg.

My 5 year old (also autistic) loves this and it's a life skill

This is actually such a good idea. I might do this and then buy him some vegetables to cut, like courgettes and aubergine. Thanks.

A good idea. We haven't done this yet. He doesn't like painting usually but loves Playdough

Do you think he'd enjoy planting some of the stones/seeds to see if they grow? Avocadoes are fairly easy, and I've had dragon fruit sprout - you get little cacti.

IKEA had a lovely basket of vegetables (at some point have them at work) including mushrooms.

By 5 my younger dd was starting to help cook too, I have her not such a sharp knife and softer things like mushrooms, banana etc. to chop. By 8/9 she was able to cook Bolognese etc without help.

Jellycat offer a wide range of fruit and vegetable plush toys. Here’s a nice, friendly bit of kale.

You can get mangosteens, lychees etc from Temu. It may well be plastic tat, but all the ‘reputable’ companies essentially buy the same tat in bulk and sell it for a profit. My autistic son also loves fruit, plants, mushrooms/fungi, birds. He wants an encyclopaedia of pigeons for Christmas!

You can sometimes get some very realistic fake fruit from interiors shops, intended to be artfully displayed in a fruit bowl. It’s usually ridiculously expensive though.

figs

artichoke

pomegranate

gourds/mini pumpkins

I agree Temu seems to have some almost this level but a fraction of the price. No idea what the quality is like in RL though.

Jellycat amuseables are very cute.

Try garden centres - they often have that kind of thing in their household sections.

In the past, I have had fruit and vegetables from Haba Biofino. They are lovely, as they do watermelon that you can cut in pieces, a fish with their "bone" in it etc.