12/17/2025
Read below for tips to reduce holiday stress and set your family up for a fun and relaxing winter break!
❄️Have conversations with your children before the holidays to discuss what to expect, including potential new people, visits, or activities.
❄️Talk with other adult family members and friends about expectations and set boundaries with regard to visits, gifts, and other interactions.
❄️Prioritize stability: Maintain routines as much as possible and provide advance notice when there will be changes. Try to keep 2-3 anchors each day (for example, wake up, family meal, bedtime story).
❄️Schedule time each day for movement activities (i.e., a walk, a trip to the playground, or a game of hide-and-seek) and guard against too much screen time.
❄️Create a sensory survival or “calm down” kit that can travel with you in the car and to events that may pose challenges (i.e., long services, performances or dinners). Stuff the bag with items such as headphones, a chewy snack, a coloring book, a small blanket, fidget toys, therapy putty, and a favorite book.
❄️Incorporate downtime and don’t overcommit: Prioritize events and schedule downtime throughout the holiday season so everyone has a chance to relax and recharge.
❄️Provide quiet spaces: Offer a designated quiet area where kids can retreat and decompress if they feel overwhelmed. Establish the area and practice the 'escape' routine before it's needed.
❄️Encourage open communication about their emotions and experiences. Validate their feelings of sadness, grief, or anger. Your child can have many different feelings at the same time (i.e. they can feel joy and excitement with you and miss their first family and traditions.) Journaling, drawing, or creating holiday crafts can be a way for kids to express big feelings.
❄️Embrace new traditions: Create new traditions together that are meaningful to your family and the children in your care. Try a pajama breakfast, gratitude jar, cookie decorating, or a holiday light walk.
❄️Look for warning signs that your child is becoming overwhelmed and head for the exit to take a break.
