23 Best Toys for Children With Hearing Impairment
Approximately 2-3 out of every 1,000 children born in the U.S. have a detectable level of hearing loss in one or both ears. Children with hearing impairment, hearing loss or auditory processing disorder (APD) can enjoy playing with auditory and multi-sensory toys and devices that enable them to explore their world.
Whether at home with a caregiver or working with an SLP at school, children with hearing impairment can practice expressing themselves by playing with auditory and multi-sensory toys. Auditory toys are great for individuals who have speech difficulties or need support recognizing and differentiating sounds.
These devices can encourage vocal interaction, such as singing with the toy, repeating what they have heard, answering a question or imitating a sound. Multi-sensory toys add more layers to the experience using visual cues, tactile elements, vibrotactile feedback and movement. They can also help with the development of motor skills, visual attention, eye-tracking and language.
With these benefits in mind, we’ve compiled a list of fun and educational toys for children who are deaf or hard of hearing.
Best Toys for Children Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing
It’s important for children with hearing impairment to engage their senses with a variety of sounds, textures and lights. Students who are working on spoken language or sign language can benefit from auditory toys that help them learn about different sounds and words.
Whether your child or student enjoys music, race cars, animals or satisfying textures, the following switch-adapted and switch-activated toys will provide endless fun and stimulating sensory input.
1. Somatosensory Tubes
Children can develop grasping skills with these brightly colored tubes that provide instant rewards when the tube is kept upright. These somatosensory tubes provide vibrotactile feedback by emitting soothing vibrations, glowing lights and music, depending on the style you choose. This toy is perfect for teaching cause and effect, eye-hand coordination and visual attention. Users can also learn to localize sound with this fun toy.
2. Gel Pad Activity Center
Help your student or child improve their tactile awareness with the Gel Pad Activity Center. This brightly colored toy features three gel pad switches that offer different sensory experiences that teach cause and effect:
- The green gel pad switch makes music play and turns on a fan.
- The red gel pad switch activates a spinning light and silly music.
- The yellow gel pad switch makes music play, turns on vibrations and makes glitter swirl in a dome.
This activity center provides plenty of exploration opportunities. The gel pad textures are appealing and satisfying to the touch, allowing children to enjoy visual, tactile and auditory stimulation.
3. Mini Dome Sensory Toy
Like a party for the senses, the Mini Dome Activity Center is a wonderful sensory toy that can help increase auditory development, visual attention and tactile awareness. When a user presses any part of the dome or its plate, they can watch it come alive with catchy music, soothing vibrations and colorful confetti. This musical burst of activity features volume control to adjust to your child’s auditory stimulation needs.
4. Five Function Activity Center
For a fun multi-feature toy, try the Five Function Activity Center. This exciting five-in-one toy features various colors, textures, lights and sounds to engage children with hearing impairment for endless fun. Users can interact with each component for a new sensory awareness experience each time:
- The yellow plate turns on the built-in radio.
- The red plate produces a soothing vibration.
- The orange plate turns on the light.
- The wooden roller plays a buzzing sound.
- The pull ball activates the music box.
This activity center is perfect for exploration, language development, cause and effect and eye-hand coordination.
5. Visually and Hearing Impaired Activity Center
Children with visual or hearing impairment can experience the joy of play with this activity center, specifically designed to increase tactile awareness and sensory stimulation. The Visually and Hearing Impaired Activity Center features a fan, a vibrating plate and a soft spinning cloth to introduce a range of textures, colors and sensations. This toy is ideal for children who are deaf or hard of hearing, as they can interact with a variety of texture and touch sensations.
6. Magical Light Show
This switch-adapted visual toy will attract a child’s attention with its enchanting lights, stimulating vibration and lively music. Magical Light Show features a built-in yellow switch plate to provide an accessible target area that activates the mesmerizing colors and vibrations. This toy can help increase sensory awareness, improve listening skills and enhance visual attention. Your student or child will feel like they’re at their very own VIP rock concert!
7. Let Loose Lenny
Children will be excited to dance along with the talented Lenny, the lion toy who belts the song “Shout” while he boogies away. Users can activate Let Loose Lenny by pressing his foot or using an external capability switch. This lion toy features a wild mane that children can touch, pet or comb for additional sensory input. Musical animal toys can help teach cause and effect, improve auditory development and increase visual attention in individuals with hearing impairment.
8. Smooth Moves Sloth
Smooth Moves Sloth combines teaching and sensory experiences in an amusing dancing toy! Young people can interact with this versatile toy at home, in therapy or in the classroom. This cute sloth toy is ideal for appealing to auditory and visual sensory needs. The product’s features include:
- 85 educational phrases and groovy songs to teach counting and colors
- Colorful pulsing lights for visual stimulation
- Head-bobbing, clapping and dancing movements for entertainment
- Two external jacks for a pair of capability switches for those who need an external switch
9. Boppin’ Beaver
Support your child or student’s learning with the Boppin’ Beaver toy. This animal toy features over 25 songs, sounds and phrases that help those with hearing impairment learn:
- Shapes
- Colors
- Numbers 1-10
When the user presses Boppin’ Beaver’s head or uses an external capability switch, the toy will light up, sing and swish his tail while introducing new words. Each touch or press will change his song, keeping children engaged in play and developing their cognitive skills, auditory development and visual attention.
10. Cool Beats Penguin
Children will love learning with the Cool Beats Penguin toy. This penguin features over 80 10-second songs and phrases that teach:
- Letters
- Numbers
- Colors
- Opposites
By pushing both of his feet or using two external capability switches, Cool Beats Penguin sings, flaps his flippers, lights up and moves back and forth for an exciting sensory experience. This adorable animal toy is perfect for teaching cause and effect, improving letter and number recognition and helping children learn through play.
11. Vibrating Animals
Children with unique sensory needs can find comfort in Vibrating Animal toys. These are some of the best toys for children who are deaf or hard of hearing because they can help them relax and provide somatosensory stimulation through gentle vibrations. Users can also learn tactile awareness by continuously squeezing the soft toys to produce vibrations. These cuddly plush animals can also help keep children and students engaged during circle time or therapy.
Choose your child’s favorite animal:
- Basset hound
- Rabbit
- Tuxedo kitten
- Golden retriever puppy
- Seal
- Piglet
12. Flying Under the Clouds
Is your student fascinated by the sounds and vibrations of a jet flying high above in the sky? This Flying Under the Clouds toy is the perfect visualization of a jet flying inside a covered dome. This device can help enhance visual tracking as the miniature jet plane flies around and around inside the dome. Children can also learn cause and effect by hearing the sounds of the jet engines and music when they activate the toy’s switch.
13. Racing Around
Children who love to play with toy cars will enjoy this exciting race car toy. The Racing Around toy features three colorful, removable race cars that you can switch out with your child’s own favorite cars. By activating the switch, the cars bounce and spin on springs while race car sounds and music play. This captivating toy is perfect for enhancing visual attention and teaching cause and effect.
14. Spinning Symphony
Students with hearing impairment can participate in the joy of playing music with the Spinning Symphony. This device is perfect for enhancing musical interest, featuring six brightly colored switches on a spinning plate that each represent a different instrument:
- Piano
- Harp
- French horn
- Flute
- Violin
- Orchestra
When a user presses any of the switches, they will hear a different Mozart composition that can encourage listening skills and music appreciation. Children can layer the sounds by pressing more than one at a time to create a unique composition of their own.
15. Harbor Breeze
The Harbor Breeze toy offers lights, vibration and sound for multi-sensory appeal. This colorful lighthouse toy engages users and provides sensory stimulation with the sounds of seagulls, rotating windmill sails, a cool breeze and red light. When a user presses and sustains the integrated switch, they will delight in the action and sounds that teach cause and effect and listening skills. The Harbor Breeze toy can also encourage imaginative play and storytelling.
16. Band Jam
This five-in-one switch-activated toy is perfect for increasing auditory development in children with hearing impairment. With Band Jam, users can press any of the five large buttons at the toy’s base to hear a variety of musical instruments, including:
- Drums
- Cymbals
- Maracas
- Tambourines
- Triangle
Your child or student can feel like a rock star as they learn how to create exciting sounds. Band Jam can enhance sensory input with its multicolored LED lights and provide auditory stimulation.
17. Textured Carousel Busy Box
The Textured Carousel Busy Box is a cause-and-effect teaching toy for children with hearing impairment. Users can engage their senses with this brightly colored toy that helps with:
- Color recognition
- Auditory development
- Tactile awareness
- Visual attention
This fun toy features six textured pads that vibrate, light up, pop and play music on a spinning Lazy Susan base. The possibilities are endless as users activate each pad to experience:
- Rainbow lights
- Buzzers
- Melodies
- Popcorn balls
- Vibrations
Pressing each pad in different orders will provide unique combinations that create a spectacular show.
18. Wheelie
Children with hearing impairment who have unique language and communication needs can learn through play with the Wheelie toy. This plush toy bus encourages users to sing and build language skills. When the switch-adapted toy activates, Wheelie lights up, dances and sings “Wheels on the Bus,” providing a fun sensory experience that can help teach children cause and effect and improve their auditory development.
19. Musical Twister Light Toy
Watch your child become fascinated by this exciting Musical Twister Light Toy. When activated, children will get to watch multicolored glitter swirling in a twister as enchanting music plays along. The interior light illuminates the dazzling glitter and base, making this toy perfect for calming spaces. This toy can help improve listening and visual attention skills and focus hearing.
20. Misty the Whale
Toys with different sounds and melodies can help children engage their senses and improve visual attention. The Misty the Whale toy is a plush blue whale that lights up and emits soothing ocean sounds. Users press her left fin to activate the four-minute melody or her right fin to adjust the volume. This toy is also perfect for cuddling and hugging, helping your child relax while teaching them new sounds.
21. Ring Around Bells
This bright musical toy enables those with hearing impairment to make and enjoy music. Ring Around the Bells is excellent for increasing auditory development, listening skills, grasping, eye-hand coordination, music appreciation and cause and effect.
Users simply press the attached yellow switch and watch as the colorful bells spin around and play a musical scale. They can also exercise their motor skills by spinning the bells manually in either direction. This toy provides plenty of visual and auditory stimulation by awakening a variety of senses. The bright colors, twirling movements and smooth metallic bells offer dazzling effects.
22. Bongo Drums
A set of drums is an excellent toy for boosting listening and hearing skills for your child. These Bongo Drums can help users discover new sounds and have control over creating different ones. This toy features high-quality drums that produce great sound and can be tuned if necessary. The Bongo Drums are perfect for improving auditory awareness and providing remarkable sensory satisfaction.
23. Music Machine Set
The Music Machine Set is perfect for music lovers! This toy allows users to start a band featuring a maraca, cluster bells, tambourine and drumstick. Once they activate the switch, the machine will beat to a set rhythm at the speed you choose.
Your child can increase their auditory development while experiencing the joy of different sounds and the fun of playing music. The Music Machine Set enables children to engage with four instruments that offer a wide range of benefits, like developing cause and effect and eye-hand coordination.
Encourage Auditory Development With Toys and Tools From Enabling Devices
Some children or students with hearing impairment may experience differences in learning, communication, sound perception and understanding of speech. Auditory development toys can engage their senses and help them learn essential skills through play.
At Enabling Devices, we carry a wide range of sensory, tactile and musical toys for individuals of all abilities, including auditory toys. Explore our product selection or contact us to see how we can meet your child’s needs.
