Halloween can be an awful time for those with Sensory Processing Disorder – a change of routine and additional stimulation. But it doesn’t have to be such a negative experience as long as you are prepared and have some ideas up your sleeve. Remember the most important thing is to ensure that each individual has the right Sensory Diet for their needs – making sure they get just the right amounts of input for each of the senses – whether that be trying to reduce or stimulate it.
Halloween and Sensory Processing Disorder
I have previously talked about a Scooby Doo Halloween Party the Sensory Seeker attended, how Halloween can help Sensory Processing Disorder and how an overnight trip to LEGOLAND Windsor on October 31st was great for The Sensory Seeker. This year, however, we are keeping it more low key and staying at home.
The Sensory Seeker is absolutely loving Ghostbusters currently and he has the new, Year 2 Wave 6 LEGO Dimensions Ghostbusters Story Pack. Or the Girl Ghostbusters as he calls it. He is so good at it and best of all this little boy, who I feared may never be able to talk when he was at preschool, was explaining all about the game and the new packs he has at the Family Playstation event we attended last weekend.
Not only have games helped him with his communication but in so many other ways including being more socialable. I like to take his interest off the computer as well, and have previously looked at Ghost Crafts. This time I wanted to really have him focused and this is where the idea for Slimer Biscuits came from – just perfect for Halloween.
How to make Slimer Biscuits
I have talked about the Benefits of making Biscuits with Sensory Processing Disorder when we made them as Christmas Gifts . We again used the same all in one method – and The Sensory Seeker felt really confident in himself that he made them “all by himself.
Of course he absolutely loved getting his hands in the bowl with all the lovely textures mixing the ingredients in. He still hasn’t managed to be tempted by licking the butter though!
Ingredients for the biscuits:
250g Softenend butter, 140g castor sugar, 1 egg yolk, 300g plain flour (plus extra if it is to sticky and for the surface/rolling pin) and vanilla essence.
Method for biscuits:
Mix together ingredients, roll out the mixture, cut into shapes, cook in the oven until golden.
The idea for the Slimer biscuits came from Simpsons Doughnuts. You know the ones which are literally pink with hundreds and thousands on. We had originally wanted to buy plain doughnuts but could not find any. To make Slimer biscuits we simply to the same but needed to make it green. We bought some lemon icing and simply mixed in blue food colouring.
Then we spent ages sorting out green hundreds and thousands! Once the biscuits had cooled we spread the icing on the top and added the green sprinkles. The Sensory Seeker then decided he wanted a couple of different coloured stands for the eyes and nose. The boys actually ended up doing some with multi-coloured sprinkles too. Guess what the biscuits didn’t much look like Slimer, and they weren’t difficult to make – but to my little boy they were the BEST biscuits in the World. AND HE had made them!
Other Posts of Interest this Halloween:
- Simple Spider Web Craft – Jennifer at Jennifer’s Little World
- Carving a different Kind of Pumpkin (hint it is great if your child does not like Pumpkins!) – Cass at The Diary of a Frugal Family
- Fun Non-Scary Monster Crafts – Cat at Yellow Days
- Alternatives to Trick or Treat Ideas – on Pinkoddy
- Healthy Spooky Meal for Halloween – Maggy at Red Ted Art
- Witches’ Cauldron Cake – Jenny from Mummy Mishaps
- Leaf Ghosts – Becky at Simple Parenting
Halloween definitely is a time to embrace dressing up. My Sensory Seeker loves nothing better than dressing up. All those different textures, and I think it really is where he is comfortable at using his imagination. Letting them get themselves dressed will also help them with orientation, textures, fastenings (zips, buttons, bows, laces etc). We also have a mirror for him – so that he can see what he looks like. I find that when he uses the mirror he also uses different expressions – and he can see what that looks like too. Or you can use face paint – which is fantastic for tactile stimulation.
My boys loved this game. Basically get into two teams with the child with Sensory Processing Disorder (or any child) to be the Mummy. Then get the other children to wrap them up. We used toilet paper but you could use bandages or any other white material for a deeper pressure. The winning team can either be the one who has their Mummy all wrapped up the quickest, or have a time limit and the winner is the one who is the most wrapped at the end. If you wanted to add more sensory experiences to it the Mummy could have to run around too.
A number of children are scared of the dark, and at Halloween ghosts and monsters are even more likely to frighten them. The Go Away Ghost game can also be beneficial to the child who gets upset when something messy touches them (something in their shoe, a cobweb, a wet leaf, a grain of sand, wet paint); Or the child who is worried about something touching them; the unresponsive child who does not react to what is going on around them; the child who has trouble focusing on an activity, or has trouble making the transition between activities; and when they have trouble with an activity and needs removing. This game is good for their imaginations too.
Sometimes he will not even try touching something just because of its appearance or smell. Putting some coloured water in a bowl and throw in some apples is a great way to encourage him to try putting the apple in his mouth because he knows it is a game and he is not expected to eat it. I think this takes the pressure off him. This could be used with black, red and green water – maybe have the 3 different bowls. Rewarding with sweets for participating is always a useful incentive I find too.
If they are not quite ready for putting their face in what about a game of scary spaghetti – where you place the cooked spaghetti in some jelly with some Halloween toys (eyes, spiders, etc) – and the idea is to put your hand in and pull out a particular Halloween toy to win. This will help them develop their sense of what things feel like, and what shapes they are without their sense of sight. You can do this with or without a face mask – depending on how comfortable they are with it.
