I don't know if I can do 12 days of these tips, but we are going to give it the good old American try! :)
Social Stories might be helpful to alleviate your child's anxiety about scheduled events coming up. Also create a calendar with the events posted so they can plan on when something will occur, not just worry "when is it going to happen".
Having your child shop and help pick out Christmas decorations may help them relax around the decorated tree and house and maybe help them understand what can be touched and what must be left alone.
What works for you?
We have our son help put the decorations up every year AND help take them down. He gets a "feel" for some of the different textures and learns what-goes-where and how to handle them.
ReplyDeleteAn advent calendar works WONDERFUL, just like a PEC schedule, especially if you put in activities you are going to do on the calendar. You can put a note on each day so your child can see the days and what is to come. Our favorites are "making/decorating sugar cookies", "decorating a gingerbread house", and "writing letters to Santa" and taking them to his mailbox. If you have an advent calendar with pockets, you can make the activities together and have your little one put them in the pockets. He/she will know what is coming and also has some say in what he/she will be doing. This will also be a good time to slip in some challenges like "try a new food." :)
I think personalizing the advent calendar with those activities is brilliant! Thanks for sharing such a great idea. Hope your holiday is "all is calm, all is bright!"
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