What to Do With Your Child With IDD Over Break

There are numerous things to do with a child with Intellectual or Developmental Disabilities over holiday break. You can throw a holiday or themed party for them, depending on the severity of disability, make things seem as normal as possible, or keep them busy with crafts and other fun things. There are also a lot of fun holiday movies to watch and enjoy together as a family.

If your child with a disability is in best buddies or some activities outside of school where they meet other people and have a lot of friends, you can throw a themed party. My friend actually threw an awesome holiday party based on the movie Elf. We had to do all sorts of fun little activities, and of cores dress up like an elf. We ate spaghetti covered in syrup, sang Christmas carols, had an Etch-a-Sketch competition, which I won, a candy tasting competition and more. Everyone had a ton of fun! There were people from his church there, from best buddies, and family friends. There were people with all sorts of ability levels there too. Some people that were invited had disabilities, while others didn’t or had very  mild ones, almost not noticeable.

 If you decide to throw a party make sure there are plenty of things to do there, so people will want to stay as long as they can. Also make sure your child is comfortable having all of those people over at the house, for many it would be the first party they will have been to and there are a lot of different people in the house that they aren’t used to in that setting. Make sure a lot of guests will come. This will make your child feel very special. Make sure your child has fun and doesn’t fade into the background.