Development for the Holidays

The holiday season is the perfect time to implement new, fun, therapeutic activities into your child’s routine. Since there are so many activities to be done during the season, you can aid your child’s development simply being conscious of the different ways you can positively affect their growth.

At Tilton’s Therapy for Tots, we aim to provide parents and caregivers with tools they can use to help their family succeed and nurture a supportive environment. Below are some activities you can do this December that you may already have planned! Learn about the different ways and methods these activities can aid in development of things like children’s fine motor skills and more.

(VIEW OUR PRINTABLE ACTIVITIES AT THE END OF THE ARTICLE)

Setting the Table

A great activity that kids often enjoy helping with is setting the table for a shared meal. You’re likely busy prepping things in the kitchen if you are hosting a dinner at your home, but while you’re in the process, arrange for your child to set the table for you in the meantime. Set out all the silverware you will need, along with napkins, plates, trivets, placemats, or any other table accessories you might need like candlesticks or flowers. Arrange a setting to show your child how things should look - roll up the napkin and place it in the napkin ring, for instance, make sure you have a small and big fork at each setting, and give them all the information they need to repeat the setup at each setting. They might need a stepping stool to reach all parts of the dinner table which can strengthen their lower body muscles in the process.

Your instructions can be verbal or written depending on how you will engage your child. Providing verbal instructions can facilitate growth in your child’s receptive language skills. Embracing and discussing the differences in tactile natures of all the different table components can help increase vocabulary skills, allowing you to compare and contrast the differences in descriptive language. It provides a sensory experience at the same time, as well as variances in the weight of the objects, can improve motor planning and control. For instance, the candlesticks or plates might be heavy, while the placemats and napkins are lightweight. Moreover, setting the table and engaging in the preparations for social activities will enhance their social awareness and skills.

Mealtime

Be mindful of any food-related issues, discussing with family members any particulars when it comes to your child’s eating habits. Setting the table might be fun, but trying new foods could be very difficult for struggling eaters. By having your child helping to serve food, you have the opportunity to talk about textures and groups of foods for future food chaining tasks in feeding therapy. To have a pleasant and smooth meal, understand that children with difficulties trying new foods can be overwhelmed with the different smells of a lavish meal. Provide them with extra time to process and offer foods that are more familiar to them initially to decrease their defensiveness.

Wrapping Gifts

It’s likely you’ll have a pile of gifts to wrap up for the season, and doing it together can be a fun way to get the job done while enjoying the benefits of the activity together. For the little ones, choose a few smaller-sized gifts that are lightweight enough to handle. Outline a process that can be the same with each gift. Step by step, you can follow along together and develop a pattern that they can learn as they wrap.

Each step will help them with their gross motor skills, fine motor skills, and bilateral integration via folding paper, cutting or taping, and wrapping ribbon. Engagement in the sequencing of this task and each individual step goes a long way for your child’s development. Make sure to describe each step in clear, short sentences or phrases. When wrapping together, allow your child to describe the steps to you once they feel comfortable.

Decorating the Christmas Tree

A great way to get in the holiday spirit is to put up your tree together. If you have an artificial tree, expanding each branch is a great way to help them learn how to grab and stretch, while having fun at the same time. Stringing lights on the tree and finishing with the star or angel on top is also a great exercise in spatial awareness, as they can stand on a chair or ladder or you can hold them up high. This also helps exercise functional use of basic concepts like up, down, high, low, top, bottom, etc.

Another great activity would be to design and decorate some fun ornaments for the tree. Use one of our resources to make some cute snowman or reindeer with popsicle sticks and buttons, ribbons, or other craft materials. Use whatever you have available like googly-eyes and pom-poms to make it extra fun and festive. Get the instructions here!

Make the Outside of Your Home Festive

Planning to put up lights on the exterior of your home is a great way to learn about planning and understanding the space or length of lights needed to create what you desire. Let your child come up with ideas for how to set the lights up. A way to help them learn about what they could create would be to drive and see some lights that are up on houses in the neighborhood or the surrounding area.

Be aware, however, if you choose to go viewing that the heightened visual and vestibular input could be a lot for your child to take in if they have any sensitivity to environmental stimulation. This activity provides a great opportunity to describe the decorations while your child relaxes and takes it all in rather than asking them questions about what they see. Your example as a parent is the best language model and can be very helpful and comfortable for them to hear.

Buy or Make Advent Calendar for Daily Fun

Advent calendars are fun ways to make sure your child is understanding when Christmas or holiday celebrations will happen by counting down the days one at a time together. An easy way to make it fun and introduce some new decorations or activities is to use an advent calendar. Find something simple, like a sheet with pockets for each day, or little boxes they can open each day.

It is less overwhelming since it is happening one at a time, but it could be a great way to help them decorate the tree little by little, or help them process the holiday with a little less stress. Small exposure to the textures, environmental input, and social expectations can help them prepare slowly and adequately for the festivities.

Baking & Decorating Cookies

Cookies are a holiday staple, and the baking process can really aid your child with some of their developmental skills. Following the steps of a recipe is great for learning instructional cues and following verbal commands. Engagement in measuring can help with their math and counting skills, as well as, fine motor and bilateral integration. The process of mixing, cutting, pouring, and arranging on the cookie sheet can help them develop needed muscle tone and motor control.

After you finish baking, the most fun part will be to decorate the cookies, which helps them establish stronger fine motor skills and exposure to a fun and tasty texture exploration.

More Activities to Do Together

There are so many fun crafts and activities you can do with your kids while aiding their development in many different areas of therapy. Check out some of our printable activities and choose some to do this year, creating new, fun memories with your little ones while helping them succeed!