Choosing Costumes for Kids With Special Needs
Halloween Fun and Safety for Children With Disabilities
Sep 15, 2009
Involve the child with special needs in Halloween costume selection. The selection and preparation for the event of Halloween offers as many opportunities for vocabulary development and good old fashioned fun as the activity itself.
Consider the Interests of the Child
Even though Halloween offers great teachable moments for kids with special needs, keep in mind that it is intended to be a fun-filled time of pretend. If the child adores a certain movie or cartoon character, consider a costume of the character.
Perhaps the child does not have a favorite character. Perhaps, though, he is a huge football fan. Choosing a football costume can be simple to arrange if there is a football player relative or neighbor.
Having a costume that depicts an interest lends itself to learning new words have of having the experience of question- answer give and take with others.
Consider the Safety of the Costume
Choosing an appropriate costume for the child with special needs may include the ease of dressing if the child has a physical disability or if he is easily frustrated. It may include choosing a costume that does not present an issue for the child with tactile defensive tendencies. In addition, the costume should be one in which the child can easily see and move.
Use the Costume to Encourage Speech
Children love the idea of dressing up and pretending to be someone or something. Many love to “scare” someone. Most are easily engaged in conversation about who or what they are pretending to be. Plan questions that can prompt conversation. Suppose the child is dressed as a tiger.
- What are you?
- Tigers don’t live around here. Where do tigers live?
- What kind of food do tigers eat?
- Can you make a tiger noise?
As the child is dressing for Trick or Treating, talk about the “parts” of the costume.
- A tiger is orange. It has black stripes.
- A tiger has four paws.
- It has furry ears.
- A tiger has a long tail.
Plan for extra dress up times to encourage language. If the child hears the conversation again and again about the tiger’s description, he is much more likely to use those words as he puts on the costume or as he tells others what he will be for Halloween.
Enjoy Halloween Books to Build More Language
Plan some time to sit and read about Halloween before the big day arrives. There are many great books about Halloween traditions that help the child with a disability understand what will happen.
Halloween can be a lot of work in the preparation. However, for the child with a special need, it offers endless fun and practice with conversation and vocabulary skills.
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