Welcome back to our special Back to School series, where we're revisiting some of the most popular and impactful episodes to help you gear up for the new school year. These episodes have resonated with so many educators and parents, and we're excited to share them with you again. Let's dive into the first one!

As we head back into the classroom, understanding the developmental stages of play is crucial for supporting our young autistic students. In this episode, we explore the concept of "exploratory play"—a stage where children might dump toys, throw objects, or mouth everything. Instead of seeing these actions as a lack of play skills, we'll discover how they are part of a natural developmental process. Join me as I discuss how "put in" and "take out" activities can guide children in this exploratory stage toward more functional play. Let's get started!

Topics Discussed:

1. Exploratory play

2. Put in activities

3. Take out activities

4. Suggestions for types of activities to use

5. Next steps to expand

Links Mentioned In This Episode About Visual Supports:

1. Take Out The Toys Booklet

2. Put In & Take Out Toys List On Amazon

3. Themed Play Visual Supports

4. Podcast Episode About Exploratory Play

5. Blog Post About Exploratory Play

6. The Hanen Centre

Other Links You May Be Interested In:

1. Autism Little Learners on Instagram

2. Autism Little Learners on Facebook

You can also join my free Visual Supports Facebook Group to “hang out” with like-minded educators and parents who want to take action and implement visuals at home or school.

Be sure to subscribe to The Autism Little Learners Podcast so you don’t miss future episodes. Plus, leave a rating & review on iTunes….this will help other educators and parents find this podcast! CLICK HERE to leave a review on iTunes, then scroll down to “ratings and reviews” and click “write a review”. THANK YOU!