The holiday traditions you grew up with may not work for your child with learning and thinking differences.
Tweaking family traditions can help make them fun and meaningful for your child.
Family traditions work best when they include everyone and give each person something they can do well and enjoy.
Family traditions can add a lot of joy and meaning to the holidays. But some activities may not work for kids who learn and think differently.
If your child has challenges, for instance, taking pictures with Santa might be stressful. A child with might find it hard to sit through the holiday concert.
It can be disappointing when your traditions aren’t a good fit for your child. But you may not have to give up the traditions entirely. See if you can reinvent them so they work well for the entire family.
How can you make the experience something your child looks forward to year after year? Here are some questions to ask:
Are there activities you should avoid that might draw attention to your child’s challenges?
What pieces of this tradition matter most? What changes can you make while still preserving them?
Ask your child, “What do you like about this tradition? What isn’t working for you? What might make it better?”
Simple swaps to reinvent holiday traditions
Making a few changes to your holiday activities can make all the difference. Here are examples of tweaks to commonly stressful holiday activities for kids with learning and thinking differences:
The tradition
Might not work for kids with…
Ideas for reinventing it
Hosting a latke-making or cookie-decorating party
Trouble with attention (multi-step cooking processes)