Joint attention is when you and your child share attention or focus on the same item. If your child has Autism or a significant communication disorder, then your child may have difficulty with this skill. Joint attention is an important part of language development, as well as social skills. Certain cause and effect toys can help you work with your child on this skill. Cause and effect toys are usually very motivating for young children. Below are 5 cause and effect toys that can help increase joint attention.
Cause and Effect Toys
1. BALL RAMP
A ball ramp is a great way to work on this skill. Hold the ball near your face so your child needs to look up in order to get the ball. Once your child looks up, give him the ball. Help him to play appropriately. You can even hold the ball at the top of the ramp and say “ready, set, GO”. See if your child looks up at you while waiting for you to let go of the ball. Once your child looks up, let go of the ball and together watch it go down the ramp.
2.POP UP TOYS
With this toy, you should let your child explore a few times how to move the buttons in order to let the animals out. After, you should use your hand to cover the buttons. Wait for your child to look up at you, then remove your hand and let him press the button.
3.Bubbles
Bubbles are a great activity to increase joint attention skills. Hold the wand all ready to go up by your face. Wait for your child to look up at you, then blow the bubbles. Other language skills can be worked on with bubbles as well. Check out a previous post about bubbles.
4.Shape sorter
Hold each shape up by your face and wait for your child to look up before giving it to them. If your child is able to, have him label each shape before giving it to him as well.
5. Piggy Bank 
Hold each coin up by your face and wait for your child to look up at you before giving it to him. If your child is able to, have him label the color as well. Please turn off the sound feature on the toy when playing with your child if it is too distracting.
Learn more about toys that help increase language skills.
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