Snap toy

[Isawthathaggis]

Reception going ds has been snapping things in class 🤦‍♀️ Turns out, he loves the sound things make when they break. Teacher finally had enough when he snapped his white board. Fair enough.

So I’ve struck a deal with ds that if I can get him stuff to snap at home he’ll leave the teachers stuff alone.
We’ve also spoken about having respect for other people’s things.

Is there such a thing as a toy that you can snap and put back together and snap again?

Has anyone else dealt with this? Is there a better way?

I guess you need to work out exactly what it is about the snap that he enjoys. Is it the noise or the pressure etc?

I always find the noise of slap bands satisfying. Ds love them too. It makes a sort of crack noise then you can straighten it out and snap it again.

If it's breaking things apart and putting them back together ds loves magformers (magnetic building shapes) which you can pull apart as many times as you like. Or how about snap/pop beads, although they make a popping noise rather a snap.

I usually find displacement activities work well with ds. So if he's chewing something he shouldn't be then I swap it for chewlery and he's usually ok about it as he gets the same sensory feedback.

There’s a Ruler that has 2 halves and you can snap that off.

If it's the noise, try different sizes of bubbles on bubblewrap.

What about snap cubes?

Try mathlink cubes. School will probably have some though, so he could try them in class. Worth trying a fidget cube I guess, as it's so portable.

Also snap circuits and Trio (a discontinued construction toy) both have the snap together and apart thing, but whether that hits the spot for him, who knows? I think the Trio might be worth a punt as there are different combinations of pieces to try. We had another construction kit that had little orbs popping in and out of sockets, but I can't remember the name.

It might be worth them having something at school too rather than expecting him to wait all day. Maybe some lolly sticks? I assume tearing paper isn't similar enough?