Creating Joyful, Sensory-Friendly Holidays for Neurodivergent Children

The holiday season is often filled with excitement, joy, and meaningful traditions. Well intended celebrations can bring overwhelm and overstimulation – the pressure to attend gatherings and events, maintaining the carefully arranged decorations around the house, and upholding traditions that may or may not align with the unique needs or preferences of a neurodivergent child.

For many neurodivergent children or those with sensory differences, the holiday-related pressures can feel overwhelming and may impact a child’s ability to manage their emotional, sensory, and behavioral responses. The holiday season can bring both excitement as well as special challenges - changes in daily routines, bright lights, unfamiliar foods, new clothing, crowded spaces, and so forth. For many, these changes can often feel more overwhelming than festive. The good news? By recognizing these common stressors and planning ahead with strategies that support sensory regulation, you can create a holiday season that celebrates connection and feels affirming for the whole family.

Fostering an inclusive and supportive holiday experience doesn’t require giving up those cherished traditions or skipping celebrations – it’s about making space for everyone’s needs. Small but meaningful adjustments can create a holiday environment that highlights your child’s strengths and supports their sensory needs.

Remember, the goal is to make the holiday season work for your family… not to make it perfect! Here are some ways you can advocate and accommodate your child this holiday season. 

Supporting Sensory Needs During the Festive Season

Decorations: It’s important to be mindful of how lighting, noises, and displays might affect your child within the home environment. Help ease the transition and feel less overwhelmed by the changes.

1. Gradually decorate 

2. Leaving parts of your home undecorated

3. Allow your child to participate in choosing where certain decorations go 

Planning for Holiday Outings: Festive activities like light shows, holiday parties, or community events can be exciting, but they often come with sensory challenges and unpredictable changes. Help your child feel confident and ready to enjoy the experience by: 

1.  Communicating event details and expectations 

1. Video modeling and visual schedules may be helpful. We like using the app CHOICE WORKS for an interactive and customizable visual schedule. 

2. Choosing an optimal time of day to go

3. Packing a “sensory toolkit” with items to support regulation 

1. noise-canceling headphones, weighted blankets, fidget tools, familiar snacks, and so forth.

4. Plan regulation and retreat

1. A quiet room they can retreat to

2. A hand signal or phrase to tell you they need a break

3. A backup plan to leave early

Holiday Foods: Introducing new foods works best when a child feels safe, which usually means outside of holiday events or high-pressure occasions. Plan ahead and offer less familiar food options alongside familiar favorites in everyday, low-pressure settings. Give plenty of time for sensory preferences and objections - trying something new is easier when it’s not tied to a big event. Encourage curiosity without pressure and celebrate choice as part of the experience.

1. Fun ways to introduce new foods during holiday play and decorating is a great low-pressure way to incorporate foods without the pressure of putting foods in their mouths 

1. Dried orange, cranberry, and popcorn strings 

2. Decorating a snowmen with carrots, berries, and pickles 

3. Helping prepare holiday treats in the kitchen 

Changes in Routine: Holidays often bring many changes to our daily routines, which can feel quite unsettling for those who rely on structure. These disruptions in routines, environments, or expectations can quickly lead to dysregulation - making it harder for your child to manage their emotions and overall response to the environment around them. 

1. Build in preferred sensory breaks and packing comfort items/predictable anchors 

1. favorite foods, videos, toys, etc. in efforts to provide your child with a sense of stability and control if/when routines change this holiday season. 

2. Supporting choice and honoring individual needs can help make the holiday transitions feel safer and more manageable for everyone!

3. Giving autonomy as often as possible 

Recovering: After even short periods of masking and dysregulation neurodivergent children can show signs of burn out and post restraint collapse. They may already be experiencing this at the start of school breaks due to chaos from class parties and big end of semester assignments. Burnout is real, especially after social or sensory-heavy days. Recovery time isn’t avoidance—it’s regulation.

1. Allow them time to:

   1. Rest

   2. Engage in a preferred interest

   3. Play alone

   4. Watch a favorite show for longer than normal

   5. Reconnect with their comfort items

During holiday breaks, your child isn’t “failing” if they need more support, more quiet time, or fewer events.
They are listening to their body and trusting you to keep them safe.

By supporting their sensory needs, validating their feelings, and offering predictable structure, you are helping them enjoy the season in a way that feels authentic and empowering.