Christmas and New Year holidays are a time when many families relax and take a break from their daily routines. Adjusting to these activities, different from the usual routine, can cause some distress for children with special educational needs due to autism, ADHD, high-functioning autism (Asperger’s syndrome), or sensory processing disorder.
To maintain a sense of stability and bring a little festive mood during your time together, prepare in advance for the holidays and plan games or activities to include the whole family!
Here are 10 tips to maintain a calm atmosphere and add some holiday cheer:
- Countdown the days until the holidays!
Many children with SEN need additional visual support. Consider using an advent calendar, which is popular with all children, including those with SEN, to visually count down to the big day. Opening and closing the small windows each day is also good practice for developing fine motor skills.
2. Prepare for the unknown and unexpected
Remember that situations where children with SEN are outside their routine can cause distress or anxiety. If you’re hosting guests or visiting friends or relatives you haven’t seen in a while, ask if they can send a photo to help your child visualize who to expect. Allow the child to ask questions about them in advance. To reduce confusion, try to visualize the answers, such as drawing and explaining a family tree or printing a map to show where they live.
3. Create a holiday schedule
Many families have traditions they follow each year. To help your child understand the day’s events and reduce their anxiety, create a visual schedule. Depending on your child’s abilities, it can be written or use pictures (e.g., PECS) or a combination of both.
4. Play fun language games
Games and puzzles are commonly played during the holidays as an easy way to spend quality time with family members of all ages. Children typically learn more effectively when their brain is active, so engaging in these activities can help develop learning skills and support re-engagement in learning after the holidays. Language and communication skills are vital for all of us to express our desires and needs and build relationships. For children with SEN, this doesn’t come as naturally as it does for their peers. Schools provide a rich language-learning environment, and holidays offer a fantastic opportunity to maintain that environment at home.
5. Work on puzzles
Puzzles help children develop three main skill sets:
• Physical: Through holding and turning puzzle pieces to figure out where they fit.
• Cognitive: The thinking process needed to solve the puzzle.
• Emotional: Learning patience and the satisfaction of completing the puzzle.
Children can naturally build social skills when solving puzzles with others. Puzzles also help develop working memory and processing skills.
6. Be creative
The creative process helps children develop physical, social, cognitive, and emotional skills. Christmas offers a great chance to make homemade gifts and decorations from recycled paper and other materials. Here are some ideas to start with:
• Make paper snowflakes.
• Create snowmen from cotton balls.
• Make gift tags from old Christmas cards – and encourage your child to write messages for the gifts.
• Make personalized Christmas ornaments.
7. Sing and dance!
Christmas is a time for celebration and fun. Singing and dancing can often be an emotional release for children, including those with SEN. Studies show that positive effects can be long-lasting, so play some upbeat Christmas music and celebrate freely!
8. Try different foods
Your child might be picky about food or have aversions to certain items, but Christmas is a wonderful opportunity to explore different tastes and sensory experiences. Consider introducing your child to holiday spices like cinnamon or making, for example, a fruit Christmas tree, ensuring that your child keeps up their intake of essential vitamins and minerals during the holiday season.
9. Watch and discuss films
You might think that sitting with children in front of the TV won’t benefit them, but actually, if done correctly, this can be a great opportunity to help develop their understanding and language skills. Ask them to summarize the movie at the beginning, middle, or end, or pause the film at certain moments and ask them to predict what will happen next. Discussing emotions and feelings this way can be particularly helpful for children with autism, who often face difficulties with social communication, expression, and understanding emotions.
10. Read and relax
It’s so nice to sit on the couch with a good book and read together with your child. But there may be a challenge in getting the child to put down their phone or tablet. Fortunately, many Christmas-themed books are available for children of all ages and abilities.
Happy Holidays!
Source: SENsational Tutors Ltd. Published with abbreviations.
https://www.sensationaltutors.co.uk/10-tips-for-enjoyable-christmas-children-with-sen
