Today I thought I would share our Halloween celebration from last week in our social skills groups. The kiddos started asking me in September if and when we would be having our Halloween party! The kiddos that were in my group last year told the other kiddos about it… apparently it was a big hit! They also now have expectations for holiday parties in group… so I have pressure to deliver!!
As always, I made special treats for them. This year I decided to make ghost lollipops. They were super easy and such a big hit! {Side note: I love how my kiddos get so excited and impressed with the little things… super sweet. } All I needed to make these were lollipops (tootsie pops are gluten free and nut free!), white fabric, orange and black ribbon, and a sharpie. I think the rest is pretty self explanatory!
Since our groups are “social skills” for kiddos on the Autism spectrum or have other social deficits, I always make sure everything we do is fun, yet fits in with each of their goals. We started the group with a “Toilet- Paper Mummy Wrapping Contest”. I wish I had a picture to show you, but since they were moving around so much I couldn’t get a good picture where everyone’s face was hidden. (Due to confidentiality, I can’t show you pictures of them!) Anyways, they each chose a partner and one person was the “mummy” and the other was the wrapper. They found this hilarious. This worked on skills such as: teamwork, negotiating (some both wanted to be the mummy), accepting losing/being a good sport.
Next, we made ghosts out of paper plates.
You just need: white paper plates, white paper, black crayons, white streamers and glue. I made a sample and made little hands like mittens, but they came up with tracing their hands! I love it! 🙂
We then took a snack break, where I read them Halloween Jokes I had from last year that I found from A Mom with a Lesson Plan.
They found them hilarious!
I also found a fun Halloween “Would you Rather” from Teachers Pay Teachers (a great resource by the way!).
They took “Would you Rather” very serious and were giving detailed explanations to why!
After snack I brought out the bean bag toss game… this was the big hit from the party! My wonderful dad made it for me. I didn’t have him make it Halloween themed so we can use it all year!
I blurred the bottom picture in order to protect the confidentiality of the kiddos. We lined chairs up so everyone could watch each other. It was so sweet, they were cheering each other on! (ex: KRIS-TI-NA!!!, while clapping). They decided the yellow section was worth 1 point, the orange 2 points and the red 3 points. This game focuses on skills of: motor skills, waiting, attending, turn taking, and accepting losing/being a good sport.Â
YAY for learning while having fun! They’re already asking about a Thanksgiving party! I have to get on it! 🙂
I get a lot of ideas from Pinterest, and have holiday boards as well as a work board. Check it out!
PS: I was a black cat 🙂
I hope you all had a fun and safe Halloween!!