Halloween is here!
Cooler weather.
Pumpkin spice latte.
Candy corn.
Bright flashing lights and hard to open costumes?
Halloween is here!
Eeeek!
For many people, especially children, Halloween comes with its own host of challenges, both sensory and physical. It’s important to manage the overload that they can feel during this time. Let’s discuss some of the small changes that you can make so that their Halloween experience is fun and accessible at the same time.
Tips for an Accessible Halloween
You can take small steps to keep all the fun in Halloween – without all the sensory overload.
- Pictures – Use pictures to help kids better understand what to expect when it comes to Halloween.
- Conversations – Keep the lines of communication open with children to ensure they feel heard and understood.
- Practice makes perfect – It might sound strange, but doing a test run before Halloween can help children become more comfortable when it comes to the big night.
- Stay close, stay small – You just might have to skip the large parades and stick to the local neighborhood trick-or-treat or trunk-or-treat event.
- Stickers rule! – If the gooey-ness of pumpkins becomes an issue, try decorating the outside with stickers or swapping out for a fake pumpkin instead.
- Comfy – For costumes, try using soft materials that they are used to wearing. Lean into your creativity and see what cool ideas you can come up with.
- Keep a low profile – The massive decorations, flashing lights, pounding music, and overpowering scents might have to take a backseat when it comes to creating a sensory-friendly Halloween environment.
- Stay sane – Even after making all these changes, Halloween may never be like “other people’s” Halloween. And that’s perfectly OK. Just make it yours.
Keep the fun – Ditch the Overload
Use these tips to make sure you and your children get the most out of their Halloween experience.
Trick or Treat!