A Candy Plan!

Orange plastic pumpkin basket spilled over with candy pouring out

You’ve planned the costume, you’ve walked the route, you’ve practiced knocking on doors… a few more thoughts to help make your family’s trick or treat evening sweet.  

What will you do with all that candy?  Once your loved one sees her/his bounty of sweetness, she/he may not want to part with a single piece. Create a plan and share that plan well before that candy is in your house.

Will your family spend the last minutes of Halloween counting and sorting candy?  Will there be a huge candy trading event in the middle of your living room? Providing a plan for the evening can make a difference in ending the evening on a sweet note. 

Create a ‘buy back’ program if you would prefer your loved ones not have free access to that much candy.  Make your program work in a way in which your loved one will receive a certain number of dollars, stars, tokens, etc. when they ‘trade in’ a certain number of pieces of candy.  Check with your dentist to see if they are offering a buy back program. 

Create a ‘decorate a gingerbread house’ program.  Decorate a box with pictures of gingerbread houses.  Put candy that could be used to decorate a gingerbread house in the box.  You now have everything you need to decorate your holiday gingerbread house. 

Create a ‘week long candy plan’.  Divide a shoe box into 7 sections. Place one or two pieces of candy in each section.  Give your loved one the opportunity to choose the candy in one section every day. 

Whatever your plan, share it with your loved ones well before the candy starts pouring in the house.  Make it very clear where the candy will be stored and what the plan will be once it is collected. It may feel like you’re taking the fun out of the candy collection, rather you are providing the framework for a fun and enjoyable evening from start to finish!

Yours in Speech, 
Lakeshore Speech Therapy, LLC.

Costume Creations!

Dressing-up, costumes, masks and make-up….some would say these are the best parts of Halloween and others would beg differ significantly.  While the stores are filled with the newest versions of costumes, consider making one that best ‘fits’ your loved one. One that ‘fits’ her/his physical body, sensory needs, and emotional needs.

Consider costumes that follow the ‘less is more’ theory.  Less different pieces of a costume, more focus on making the pieces ‘scream’ exactly the theme or character of the costume. 

  • Jeans, t-shirt, bandanna around the neck  – you have a cowgirl/boy
  • Jeans/leggings, t-shirt, bandanna around the head – depending on your fold the bandanna, you now have a rocker or a pirate
  • Larger sized white t-shirt (your going to want a pair of pants of sorts under it :)) 
    • draw a face on it – you have a ghost
    • Add black dots on it – you have a die
    • Add black lines on it – you have a zebra 

Consider costumes that do not have tags or items that will distract your loved one to the point where she/he is unable to focus on walking, the party, etc.  While adorable and fun, things like fringe, beads, sparkles, and sequins can create an entirely different issue. In this category lives masks and make-up. While both of these items bring a lot to a costume, please consider staying away from these if you know your loved one will be distracted or upset by these additions. 

Consider costumes that can go over the layers of possible winter gear that may or may not be part of your evening.  Given the weather, being prepared to add or take away a layer on a moments notice will make the difference on the stress level of the evening. 

Consider incorporating the phrase “Trick or Treat” on the costume itself if your loved one is non-verbal or might ‘freeze’ .  Somehow, someway, make the words part of the costume – add a simple button to the costume with the words ‘Trick or Treat’.

Consider practicing wearing the costume around the house – remember practice makes permanent.  This gives your loved one not only the time to become familiar and comfortable with the costume, but will give you time to troubleshoot potential issues (ie: costume too long and possibly a tripping hazard, costume too tight/loose, etc.).

Prior planning with the costume will prevent unneeded stress and potential unexpected behaviors so you can all enjoy a fun evening being together. 

Yours in Speech, 
Lakeshore Speech Therapy, LLC.

Practice Makes Permanent

children trick or treating with pumpkin baskets

We’ve shared the idea of “practice makes permanent’ in previous posts. This technique is ever important when preparing for an evening of ghosts and goblins and candy acquisition – aka, Halloween. You may think it’s too early and there are so many days to prepare before the end of the month, however we all know how quickly the days fly.

Practicing for an evening of trick-or-treating does not have to look like ‘practice’ or be announced as such. Take a walk on the trick-or-treat route you intend to follow during the day. Make sure to point out various landmarks as well as the changes (different decorations, leaves falling off the trees, etc.). Expand that practice walking the route as it begins to get dark, note the street lights turning on as well as pointing out how the houses may look different, but are the same during the day or night. If your loved one enjoys a good map, make a map of your route and fill in the landmarks together.

As the day draws closer, practice trick or treating from room to room in your house. Close the bathroom door and have your loved on practice trick-or-treating for toothpaste or a toothbrush. While it sounds silly, it’s a safe non-pressured way to practice this exchange as well as gives you a marker for future experiences (“Remember how we did this at home for toothpaste?”). Trick-or-Treating for everyday items (ie: while getting dressed or cleaning a room) may also be the ticket for ‘fun’ buy in for a less enjoyable activity.

Share with neighbors and family the ‘practice makes permanent’ theory and request a practice time that is more similar to the actual event. While your loved one may need a few rounds of practice, it will soon make sense how the exchange of events will occur and the pay-off is well worth the time invested in practicing. Note: the pay-off does not necessarily need to be candy. While candy may be a delight and preferred, practicing these skills can result in the acquisition of other items not necessarily of the sugar food group sort.

A final round of practice making permanent may be partaking in some of indoor or less conventional trick or treat options in the area. Here are a few links that may help in planning these practice sessions:

We’ve said it once and we’ll say it again, practice makes permanent which can significantly decrease unexpected behaviors which creates a less stressful situation for EVERYONE to enjoy!

Yours in Speech,
Lakeshore Speech Therapy, LLC