Teaching Toy Box

View list of suggested toys for the Toy Drive

View Donation Information

The purpose of this program is to provide tools and educational materials to families who are implementing home based ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis) programs. Especially in the early stages of a program when the family is either in the start up stages or as the child makes rapid progress through some of the earlier programs, teaching and sensory integration materials can cost as much as the therapy itself. Examples of basic needs are: Language Builder cards, stimuli for 3D matching, blocks, inset puzzles, shape sorters, beginning and end toys, cause and effect toys, DVD player with DVDs, a table and chairs. In the beginning most of the “toys” can be purchased for under $20. However, items needed for sensory and language builder cards may run several hundred dollars.

Currently there is no money allocated to offset these costs for a family. Providers are increasingly finding themselves in situations where they are unable to adequately implement a program because a child's family is unable to provide either the basic necessities OR the child's family is unable to maintain the child's program as he moves through, thereby delaying progress for the child. By working closely with a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) who determines the child's program, BabyNet and the Department of Disabilities and Special Needs and Medicaid, the Foundation hopes to ease the financial burden to families by providing props for a successful program.

The BCBA (also referred to in public health circles as “the Provider”) will assess the child's program and fill out a request for needed materials. The request will be sent to us, we will fill the box with requested materials and deliver it back to the family.

What Types of Toys are in the Teaching Toy Box

This list is not complete and is meant to offer ideas and suggestions. Early learners particularly enjoy musical or "cause and effect" toys because they provide immediate reinforcement. Behavior Analysts stress that any toy is a good fit if it is appropriate for children ages 6 months-6 years. Favorites of your child will be enjoyed by our special friends as well!

  • Play dough
  • Crayons, markers, water colors, paper
  • Sidewalk Chalk
  • Little People/Weebles
  • Legos and Duplo's
  • Matchbox cars, dumptrucks and race cars (with or without sound)
  • Children's music CD's and CD Players
  • Cardboard books: classics, books with one picture per page (First 100 Words by Bright Baby), "lift the flap" books – such as Where is Spot?
  • Musical books
  • Knob puzzles
  • Ring stackers
  • Shape sorters
  • Balls
  • Bubbles, bubbles and more bubbles!!
  • "Cause and Effect" toys
  • Toys that have a beginning and an end
  • See and Say Farmer Says (original)
  • Wiggle Giggle products
  • Teething toys
  • Stacking/sorting cups
  • Push & Pull Toys such as Light up Lady bug, or the classic pop-ball
  • Fisher Price Learning Tool bag or Learning Tool bench
  • Pretend food, pots, plates, cooking utensils, measuring cups, shopping cart
  • Girl and Boy Baby dolls and baby strollers
  • Dress up clothes and props
  • Children's DVD's such as: Baby Einstein, Signing Times, Sesame Street, Barney
  • Beginner games such as Candy Land and Memory, Kerplunk, and Hungry Hippo
  • Mini trampolines
  • Puppets
  • Discovery Toys such as: Extreme Loop Track, Hammer Away boat, Roll and Play square, Tangiball, recorder phones, Rainfall rattle, Hide-inside Surprise or Art Forms

Donate to the Teaching Toy Box

Winston's Wish Foundation needs your help in filling our Toy Box to the brim with toys used specifically for teaching children with autism.

You can help children with autism in South Carolina get the help they so desperately need by donating a toy to our Teaching Toy Box. Toys that most typically developing children play with are the very tools that our therapists need to teach children with autism how to function in our world. Items such as balls, blocks, shape sorters, ring stackers, Play Dough, books and Legos are used every day in therapy for children with autism who are very early learners. Little People, Weebles, Baby Einstein DVD's and children's music CD's are some other suggestions of much needed items. Older children use games such as Candyland, Chutes and Ladders, Kerplunk and Hungry Hippo to learn counting, colors and turn taking, just to name a few...all in a language rich environment. Other favorites are musical and electronic toys which provide immediate entertainment. Many times it is the musical and electronic toys which provide the initial pathway out of the darkness for our earliest learners. The positive reinforcement games and toys make lasting impressions on children with autism and enable them to learn things that typically developing children learn innately or by simply watching their peers and family members.

Please help us help children with autism in South Carolina get the most out of their therapy programs by donating a toy today. Winston's Wish is also accepting cash donations and gift cards earmarked for this initiative. This money will go toward purchasing larger ticket items such as Language Builder cards (an essential tool for every therapy program at a cost of $275 per set), mini trampolines used for sensory integration, Signing Times DVD sets (which are used to teach non-verbal children with autism and their families sign language) and television sets with DVD players (used at the teaching table and in floor play for younger children).

If you would like to make a tax deductible donation to support the Toy Drive, please click the Make a Donation button below. You will be redirected to PayPal's website where you can make a donation using a PayPal account or a credit card, and then you will be returned to this site. Thanks!

Questions? Please contact us at Winstonswish@aol.com or by using the contact form to the right.