How Can You Help Your Child Process All the Sensations They May Experience Over the Holidays?
By: Erin Anderson OTR/L
As adults we realize how fun and yet stressful the impending holiday season can be. Over time we have developed strategies to make it a more enjoyable time and to find ways to decrease our stress in order to increase the fun the holidays can offer. We may schedule to take a quick walk on a lunch break, or treat ourselves to an extra coffee or maybe get up a little earlier to enjoy quiet time in the morning. Our kids unfortunately are not always able to come up with strategies or have the resources to implement them.
Whether it is Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, or Hanukkah, the holidays pose several obstacles, especially for children who have trouble processing sensory information. A few things to keep in mind that everyone is experiencing as we celebrate:
- Change in schedule and routine which demands increased flexibility
- Different diets and sleep habits which affect our emotional regulation
- More noise and visual stimulation
- An increase in the number of people present at events in your house
- The adults increase in stress to make the holiday special for loved ones
Here are a few helpful hints to get you and your loved ones through the holiday season:
- Establish a quiet area in the house with some comfy objects (headphones, pillows or bean bags, book and puzzles)
- Do pre-teaching – tell them a story of what they may see or do while trick or treating. You can write it out and your child can illustrate it
- Check out books from the Library on the topics of the holidays so they can learn more about them
- Write a daily schedule. Although it may be different from a typical day, write down the events of the day and if possible give your child some choices as to when certain events occur. Build in some free time for them. This can be done on a dry erase board or the iPad or iPhone
- Have your child participate in animal walks such as crab walk, bear walk, snake crawl. Deep pressure to the muscles is calming
- Prepare a travel pack for your child when visiting friends and relatives. This can include fidgets, calming ball, chewy snack, a book, or a few small toys
- Exercise with your children
- Try and keep one meal the same in terms of food choices and location in order to make sure they are getting some routine nutrition
Enjoy the holidays!
This is a guest submission from Erin Anderson of Erin Anderson & Associates. Erin graduated from St. Louis University in 1998 and has been practicing as an Occupational Therapist specializing in pediatrics for over 14 years. Erin has worked in various clinical and educational environments and in 2004 she established her own private practice. Click here to learn more.