Christmas parties are one of children’s favourite parts about Christmas. But, when your child has autism, this can be a whole other ball game. Rocking up to any old Christmas party could be a recipe for disaster. But, all is not lost. Just because your child has autism – doesn’t mean that they can never go to a Christmas party. The trick is, finding an autism friendly Christmas party that your child will love. And, if you can’t find one to go to.. think about teaming up with friends/family to throw your own ‘Autism Friendly Christmas Party.’ You may be surprised how much your community would LOVE for this to happen.
1) Have a committee – don’t go it alone!
Parties can be hard work to organise – especially in the lead up to Christmas when our lives get that extra bit crazy. Put together a committee – this can be of parents in local autism groups, friends, family members, etc. Once you have your committee, meet up and assign jobs to one another. If meeting up in person may be too much for some people to manage – set up a group WhatsApp – or email. That way everyone is getting the constant updates and communicating with what is happening. Play to people’s strengths. If someone has good knowledge of music, don’t put them on food – put them on music.
2) Find a suitable venue
There are many different things that make a venue suitable. One of the most important is cost. How much is it going to cost? Is that affordable for you and your party? You may or may not be charging for tickets. Community renters are usually the best option as they don’t charge much. Or speak to local business owners/friends who may know someone who would let you have the venue free for a few hours. Make sure the venue is easy to access – especially via public transport as this may be how some travel, as well as lots of room to park. Try to see if you can have a large room – or even rooms – so party attendees can split up if needed. It’s always great if you can have a little side room for a quieter area for attendees to go to.
3) Find a Santa who has good experience
There are SO many Santa’s available for hire now. Do your research and find out about the best Santa’s in your area. See if there are any with Special Needs or Autism experience. This will make the whole session that bit friendlier for your attendees. I’d recommend meeting up with ‘Santa’ before the party as well to discuss any possible amendments he may need to make to suit your attendees.
Are you going to provide presents from Santa? If so, what are you going to get? Sensory toys usually go down very well in most parties, and you can get them for good prices online now, on places such as Amazon. If you’re buying in bulk, you may get a discount too. Also, don’t forget about local businesses. You may find one who is willing to donate you some gifts. If you’re giving a gift, be sure to either charge entry or to see Santa to help cover your costs – if you incur any.
4) Create quieter areas
Even in an autism friendly party, it can still get too much or too loud for some of our individuals. Try to have a quieter area – or even better a quiet room – where attendees can ‘escape’ to for some down time. You could have calm, soothing music on in here, blankets, bean bags, calming light etc. to give that calming, sensory feel.
5) Survey possible attendees
Who is going to be attending? Can you find out about them before hand? It’s always great to find out if any individuals who may be attending have specific needs. Do any have an issue with music? Lights? Decorations? Allergies? All of these things will be a lot easier for you and your organisers to deal with in advance, not at the time of the event.
6) Have sensory activities
Parties can be a bit boring for our children if the only options are – dance or sit and eat. Try to include some sensory activities around the room. They don’t need to be expensive and you may be able to get some bits donated from local businesses. Think bubble machines, bubble wands, sensory trays. We even attended one party where they had a gingerbread decorating table for children who like to bake. This went down a storm.
7) Food
Are you going to be serving food? Or do you want to ask people to fetch a plate of food for their child to eat at the party so that it is easier to cater for everyone’s needs? You could have snacks for sale to raise some extra funds towards the cost of the party. Or, if hiring a venue with a bar/cafe/restaurant you could ask families if they’d like to buy food from here instead. Serving buffets can be tricky for our children because there can be so many dietary needs, intolerances and allergies.
8) Drinks
Parties are thirsty work – especially if the venue is likely to get hot with everyone in the room. Think about having some drinks on hand. Most parents these days don’t agree with fizzy pops, so try to remember this when investing in drinks. We find it safest to go for water and juice. Most children are happy with these – and if they’re not, they’ll probably fetch their own drinks with them – we all like to be prepared for our children!
9) Advertising and Tickets
Is this going to be an open to the community event? Or is it going to be for close friends/family/autism group? Are you going to need to advertise it in the community? Think doctor surgeries, schools, local radio stations, shops, social media and even the venue itself. Talk to local autism groups and see if anyone is interested in attending from here. Are you going to allow free entry or charge? If charging, how are you going to keep track of who is paying? Are you going to provide tickets? Who will design them? Who will print them? And most of all, make sure they aren’t able to be photocopied.
10) Rules
Are you going to have any rules for your party? There is the potential for a lot of autistic individuals to be attending your event, and like any other party, this may come with barriers. You may have children who don’t get on, have trouble sharing etc. Make sure to let parents/families know of any rules before hand so that they don’t get confused on the day. Having clear rules will help your party to run smoothly. You could also ask for volunteers to help keep the party under control and man different stations to ensure that everything is going according to plan.
Free Downloads
We’ve included some free poster templates for you here to use for your Christmas event. You can also grab some great Christmas activities to download here. Have a Merry Christmas!
