Scary decorations, lots of candy, and fun costumes. Halloween is a holiday many kids look forward to all year. But if you have a child with autism, spooky season can be stressful and overwhelming. Your child may not enjoy or be able to take part in many traditional Halloween activities, but that doesn’t mean they can’t enjoy this time of year.
Whether you are looking for activities for your child with autism to do instead of trick-or-treating or are looking for more fun Halloween activities for them to enjoy, here are seven autism-friendly Halloween activities!
- Halloween Slime: Slime can be a fun sensory activity for kids with autism. You can buy some premade (Etsy has a ton of great options) or you can make homemade spooky Halloween-inspired slime.
- Halloween Arts and Crafts: Slime isn’t the only fun Halloween craft your child might enjoy this spooky season. Paper plate pumpkins, coffee filter bats, DIY Halloween lanterns and so much more! Pinterest is a great place to search for some fun ideas.
- At-Home Trick-or-Treating: If your child doesn’t feel ready to go out and trick-or-treat on Halloween, but wants to experience trick-or-treating, you can create a fun pretend trick-or-treat experience at home. Have family (and friends) stand behind every door in your home with treats. Then have your child go door to door “trick-or-treating.” If your child does want to go trick-or-treating, this is also a great way to practice before the big night.
- Spooky Dinner: Plan and prepare a spooky, but delicious meal for your family with your child. Have your child help you prepare the menu and if they are up for it, even help grocery shop and cook the meal! You can click here for some fun spooky food ideas!
- Halloween Books: Whether your child will be staying in on Halloween or you want a fun way to prepare your child for Halloween night, reading Halloween books together is a great fun activity for your child. Here is a list of some great Halloween books for children!
- Pumpkin Patch: Whether your family will be carving pumpkins or not, visiting a pumpkin patch can be a fun activity for the entire family. Not only does it give your family an opportunity to get outside but for kids with autism it can provide many opportunities for sensory play and exploration.
- Pumpkin Decorating: Pumpkin carving is a fun Halloween tradition that the entire family can enjoy. However, the feeling of the inside of the pumpkin may not be enjoyable for a child with autism. To avoid this, you can have your child draw the face they want on their pumpkin and you can cut and remove all the insides. Or you can do things a little differently and instead of pumpkin carving, you can try painting faces on your pumpkin.
Click here for more information on how to have an autism-friendly Halloween.
