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3 Autism Skills to Work on This Halloween Season: Real vs Pretend, Sensory Play, and Social Skills
- Autism-Talk
- Oct 19, 2023
- 9 min read
Updated: Oct 2
Quick Takeaways (TL;DR)
🎃 Halloween is a natural chance to build autism social skills.
🧩 Practice real vs pretend through books, art, and games.
👻 Try Halloween charades and trick-or-treat practice to support pretend play.
🕷 Sensory bins can help with sensory sensitivities.
🧡 Visual supports and costumes tied to special interests make Halloween easier.
Halloween is just around the corner; a time traditionally filled with thoughts of trick-or-treating and pumpkin carving. It's also a great opportunity to focus on some autism skills you may already be working on in your therapy or classroom.
Navigating the world of pretend and real, engaging in imaginative play, and overcoming sensory aversions are common goals in an autism curriculum. In this blog post, we'll delve into fun ways to incorporate these goals in your autism therapy or classroom while you enjoy the fall fun. Let's have a look at some autism skills you can target this Halloween!
Table of Contents
Teaching Real vs Pretend to Autistic Children
For children, understanding the difference between what is real and what is pretend is a developmental milestone that paves the way for imaginative thinking and creative play. This distinction serves as the cornerstone for building social skills, empathy, and cognitive abilities. For children with autism, who often experience challenges in play skills, social interactions, and communication, grasping the concept of real and pretend is often more difficult.
Children on the autism spectrum often find abstract concepts challenging, and distinguishing between reality and fantasy can be especially perplexing. Teaching them the difference between real and pretend provides a structured framework for understanding social situations and interpreting the intentions of others. This skill equips them with the ability to engage in imaginative play, which is essential for cognitive and emotional development.
Click here to purchase a real or pretend interactive book that is a fun way to practice this skills.
Books
Reading children Halloween or Fall-themed books offers an easy opportunity to reinforce the distinction between real and pretend. As you read together, point out characters and items, prompting them to identify whether they are real or imaginary. You can expand on this activity by printing pictures, holding them up and having your child give a thumbs up for real elements, such as a black cat, and a thumbs down for pretend ones.
Halloween Art
Engaging in Halloween-themed art activities provides an excellent platform for children to express their creativity while simultaneously honing their understanding of real and pretend concepts.
Encourage your young artists to draw "spooky" pictures. After they've finished their masterpieces, sit down with them and initiate a discussion. Ask questions like, "Is the monster in your drawing real or pretend?" or "Is a pumpkin real or pretend?" These queries prompt critical thinking, helping them differentiate between the imaginary and the tangible.
Alternatively, you can provide a hands-on activity by providing children with Halloween-themed pictures to cut out. After cutting, they can glue these images onto either a "real" or "pretend" column, depending on whether the object or character they've cut out exists in the real world or only in their imagination.
This physical sorting process reinforces their understanding of the real and pretend categories, making it a fun and interactive learning experience.
Also discussing their creations in a group setting encourages social interaction. As children share their artworks and explain their choices, they not only practice communication skills but also gain insights into how others perceive the real and pretend elements in their drawings. This collaborative learning increases their social understanding, making the art session not just a creative endeavor, but also an opportunity for meaningful conversations and cognitive development.
Why Pretend Play Matters for Autism
Pretend play is not just fun for kids, it can be a great educational tool that can be particularly timely during the Halloween season, when the season is all about dressing up and pretending.
Halloween Charades Game for Autistic Children
One fun way to practice pretend play skills and gain familiarity with Fall vocabulary words is by playing Halloween charades. Encouraging your child to act out Halloween-themed words or phrases is a way to make pretend play a bit more concrete for kids that may not be drawn to imaginary play.
It may be helpful to put out several pictures and have children pick the picture of the Halloween action that is being acted out as a beginning step to this traditional game. You can begin by modelling how you would act out the card that is chosen and then encourage the child to act out in any way they would like.
This game becomes a gateway to improving communication skills, as they learn to express themselves using body language and gestures. You can print off pictures and cut them into cards or just download this free Halloween Charades game.
Trick-or-Treat Social Story Practice
Dressing up and acting out the trick-or-treating experience at home or in the classroom is a great way to work on pretend play skills while helping children become familiar with the new sights and sounds associated with Halloween. This practice can significantly reduce the anxiety that often comes with unfamiliar activities like trick-or-treating.
You can introduce this topic with a social story if your child is unfamiliar with the holiday expectations or has anxiety around Halloween activities. You can purchase stories on sites like ETSY or TPT or make your own with photographs of your own child or even hand drawn pictures. See this previous blog post if you want more information about using social skill stories with autistic children.
If possible, have children choose real costumes and go through all the steps, such as knocking on the door or ringing the doorbell, reaching for candy, and saying "trick or treat." Practicing these steps ahead of time helps children feel more comfortable and confident when the big night arrives.
For many children with autism, sequencing is a skill they are actively working on. Any time you can connect a skill to a real-life experience, it makes learning more meaningful and effective. Halloween trick-or-treating offers a fun and relevant way to practice sequencing by breaking down the steps involved, like "knock on the door," "say trick or treat," and "thank you."
Visuals can be helpful for children who might struggle with remembering these steps or have difficulty with verbal communication. Picture cards showing each step provide a clear structure, and communication cards can help children express phrases like "trick or treat" or "thank you."
To support this, my Halloween visuals bundle includes visual schedules that outline the sequence of activities, as well as communication cards designed for trick-or-treating. These tools make it easier for children to understand what to expect, helping them feel more at ease and making the experience more inclusive and enjoyable.
Through pretend play and practical applications like this, children can develop creativity, communication, and social skills in a way that feels relevant and fun.
Halloween Sensory Play Ideas for Autism Navigating sensory sensitivities can be challenging, especially during the excitement of Halloween.
For children with autism, certain textures, such as sticky or slimy substances, can be particularly distressing. Occupational Therapists (OTs) often encourage children to engage in sensory play as a tool to help children work on tolerating these sensory textures.
One fun and easy way is to incorporate sensory play is a sensory bin where the contents are frequently traded out for objects of a variety of sizes, textures, temperatures, etc. Sensory bins can be helpful way to work on desensitization toward different textures, such as slimy or sticky, increasing emotional regulation, and increasing tolerance to unfamiliar textures. All of these skills later help children tolerate sensory experiences they come across throughout the day.
By integrating a variety of textures, including sticky and slimy elements, into the Halloween-themed sensory bin, you provide a safe space for children to explore and learn. Through guided sensory play, children can gradually overcome their sensitivities, enhancing their overall experiences and helping them enjoy Halloween.
Halloween Sensory Bin Activities for Autistic Children
White Shaving Cream Ghosts: Fill a corner of the bin with fluffy white shaving cream, allowing children to shape it into ghostly figures. They can create an entire ghost family and watch them slowly melt back into the bin.
Green Slime: Add some green slime to represent oozy, spooky swamp water. The slimy texture provides a fantastic sensory experience, and children can enjoy stretching and molding it.
Crunchy Leaves: Include dried leaves collected from outside. The rustling sound and crunchy texture provide an auditory and tactile experience reminiscent of autumn, enhancing the sensory exploration.
Pumpkin Seeds: Dry pumpkin seeds can be a wonderful addition, offering a different texture and sound. Children can scoop, pour, and sift through the seeds, enjoying the smooth, slightly rough sensation on their fingers.
Spaghetti "Worms": Cooked spaghetti noodles dyed in Halloween colors (like black or orange) can mimic creepy worms. The slippery, wiggly noodles provide a unique tactile experience.
Eyeballs (Ping Pong Balls): Use ping pong balls with drawn-on eyeballs mixed in rice or water. Children can roll them around, exploring the smooth surface and observing the visual details.
Bat Wings (Black Feathers): Introduce black feathers to represent bat wings. The soft, feathery texture provides a contrast to other items in the bin, allowing children to feel the difference between smooth and fluffy textures.
Scented Playdough: Create scented playdough in Halloween scents like pumpkin spice, cinnamon, or apple. Playdough offers endless possibilities for molding and shaping, enhancing fine motor skills and olfactory senses.
Glow-in-the-Dark It Add Halloween-themed toys or objects that glow in the dark, enhancing visual stimulation. Glow-in-the-dark stars, skeletons, or insects can add a magical touch to the sensory bin.
Cotton Spider Webs: Use soft cotton spider webs to represent the spooky lairs of Halloween spiders. Children can pull them apart, feeling the soft, stretchy texture while exploring the intricacies of the web. For an extra fun touch you can add in plastic spiders!
Remember to supervise playtime, especially with small items, and tailor the sensory bin contents to cater to the sensitives or goals of the individual child or children. If children are upset just putting hands near or in the sensory bin, consider putting spoons or other utensils so they can manipulate the materials without touching them until they are ready to investigate more.
Helping Autistic Children with Halloween Costumes
Gradually introduce your child to their Halloween costume. Start with short intervals and gradually increase the duration.
Combine this with positive reinforcement and favorite activities to make the experience positive and rewarding.
Make sure the child ultimately has control over wearing the outfit and consider outfits that incorporate special interests such as train, unicorns, or video game characters. Also consider small additions that could serve as a costume but be tolerated relatively easily like a vest and boots to be a construction worker or a headband with kitty ears to be a cat.
Conclusion
Halloween can be a fantastic learning time for children with autism. By incorporating these activities into your festivities, you not only make the season enjoyable but also help your child develop important skills. Wishing you and your family a spooktacular and inclusive Halloween!
FAQ About Autism and Halloween
How can I make trick-or-treating easier for my autistic child?
Practice ahead of time makes a big difference. Try a pretend trick-or-treat at home or in the classroom where your child can knock, say (or use a card for) “trick or treat,” receive candy, and say thank you. Visual schedules or communication cards can provide extra support. Some families also choose sensory-friendly costumes or keep visits short to reduce overwhelm.
What are sensory-friendly Halloween activities?
Sensory bins are one of the best ways to make Halloween fun without the overload. Try bins with crunchy leaves, pumpkin seeds, or soft cotton webs. Sensory-friendly alternatives to trick-or-treating, like a small home party, handing out candy instead of collecting it, or visiting just a few trusted neighbors, can also make the holiday more enjoyable. Costumes that are comfortable, tag-free, and tied to your child’s special interests help too.
How do I explain real vs pretend to my autistic child?
Start with concrete examples. Books with Halloween or fall themes are perfect—point out what is real (like a pumpkin) and what is pretend (like a ghost). Visuals and interactive activities, such as sorting pictures into “real” and “pretend” columns, can make the concept more tangible. Using art or charades can also give children a fun, hands-on way to practice distinguishing between the two.
What if my child doesn’t want to wear a costume?
That’s okay! Forcing a costume usually increases stress. Instead, look for simple or partial costumes that feel more like regular clothing—such as a favorite t-shirt with a character print, a headband with animal ears, or a comfortable vest that suggests a role like a builder or farmer.
Allowing your child to have a say in their costume choice (or no costume at all) helps them feel more in control and included in the holiday.
Are you interested in a free social skills story to work on teaching kids to take turns?
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