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Christmas

The Best Christmas Slime Recipes

a collage of 7 Christmas themed slimes and the words "The Best Christmas Slime Recipes"

By Sharla Kostelyk

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Looking for unique Christmas slime recipes? We’ve got you covered! Thanks to years of experience (aka as the mom of 7, including 3 slime-obsessed girls!), I know what makes a good slime. These recipes make the cut. The Best Christmas Slime Recipes around #slime #slimerecipes #Christmasslime #sensoryplaySlime makes a great gift. You can either give the homemade slime in a container topped with a bow or festive cookie cutter on ribbon or create a kit with slime ingredients and recipes.

Elmer's Washable School GlueElmer’s Washable School GlueElmer's Washable School GlueElmer's Washable Translucent Color GlueElmer’s Washable Translucent Color GlueElmer's Washable Translucent Color GlueElmer's Liquid Glitter GlueElmer’s Liquid Glitter GlueElmer's Liquid Glitter GlueEquate Saline SolutionEquate Saline SolutionEquate Saline SolutionPurex Sta-Flo Liquid StarchPurex Sta-Flo Liquid StarchPurex Sta-Flo Liquid StarchArm & Hammer Baking SodaArm & Hammer Baking SodaArm & Hammer Baking Soda

Christmas Slime Recipes:

The holiday scented Christmas tree slime provides olfactory sensory input as well as tactile, visual, and proprioception. Plus, it’s just darn good fun to get the “decorate the tree”!

Our Stretchy Christmas Tree Holiday Slime is a great basic slime that’s easy to create variations for. Plus, it’s super stretchy!

I like to add an olfactory (smell) sensory element into our slimes when I can like with this Peppermint Scented Ribbon Slime.

This Jingle Bell Slime was one of our first ever attempts at making slime and it was obviously a big hit because my kids have been slime crazy ever since!

I love the simplicity of this Holiday Slime from Teaching Mama.

I’ve mentioned how I like scented slime, right?! This Glittery Gingerbread one on Natural Beach Living looks awesome!

How fun is this Grinch Slime from I Heart Arts & Crafts?!

For a pretty slime, I like the Snowflake Slime at There’s Just One Mommy.

Check out the Glitter Glue Slime for Christmas at The Best Ideas for Kids.

This Elf Snot over at Down Redbud Drive is a unique twist on slime and a fun gift idea.

The Melted Snowman Slime from Little Bins for Little Hands would make an adorable gift.

My girls would go nuts over this Sugar Plum Fairy Glittery Christmas Slime on No Time for Flashcards. It would make a great gift or party favor.

For a unique gift idea, consider this edible glitter snowman slime or edible chocolate reindeer slime from Kimspired DIY. They both use empty K-cups, so they make a great re-use project too.

More Christmas Slime Recipes:

Candy Cane Fluffy Slime Recipe from Little Bins with Little Hands

How the Grinch Stole Christmas Slime at Schooling a Monkey

Candy Cane Slime Recipe on The Best Ideas for Kids

Santa Suit Slime from Schooling Active Monkeys

Christmas Slime from The Typical Mom

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Filed Under: Christmas, Crafts and Activities, Sensory

Peppermint Scented Slime Recipe

By Sharla Kostelyk

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I’ve been wanting to try to make a scented slime for awhile now. This peppermint scented slime is just the kind I was hoping to make. Peppermint Scented Slime #slimerecipes #sensoryplay #sensoryactivities #sensoryprocessingexplained

Slime is already such an intense sensory experience. It engages the visual, tactile and proprioception sensory systems. Adding scent to it engages the olfactory sense as well.

Be aware that peppermint is an alerting scent, so this is not a good pre-bedtime activity! Alerting scents can be extremely useful though.

If you find that your child is in a state of their “engine running low”, an alerting scent combined with the proprioceptive input of playing with slime can “wake” them up. This can help them maintain attention and be more engaged. 

Peppermint Scented Slime:

  • 16 oz. Elmer’s washable school glue
  • 1 cup liquid starch
  • 3-5 drops of peppermint essential oil
  • lime green acrylic paint
  • raspberry pink acrylic paint
  • light pink acrylic paint

Mix together the white glue and drops of peppermint essential oil in a large bowl. Add the liquid starch slowly, a bit at a time and stir as you add. When it starts to pull away from the sides, divide it in equal parts into three smaller bowls.

In one bowl, stir in a few squirts of the green paint. In another bowl, stir in a few quirts of the darker pink paint. In the last bowl, mix in the lighter pink paint. Knead each one separately until it becomes the consistency of slime.

The cool thing is that if you set the colours next to each other in thin strips, it looks like peppermint ribbon candy! Just a little note to add: once you start playing with all three colours together, they will eventually mix. The colours don’t stay magically separated!

When not in use, store the slime(s) in airtight containers or sealed bags at room temperature.

Check out these other scented sensory play activities:

Calming Lavender Scented Bubble Recipe 

Peppermint Scented Christmas Playdough 

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Filed Under: Christmas, Crafts and Activities, Sensory Tagged With: sensory play, slime

Simple Christmas Sensory Bag

By Sharla Kostelyk

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This simple Christmas sensory bag was literally made with items from my craft bin. My daughter wanted a holiday themed sensory bag to include in her Christmas Calm Down Kit. I grabbed a medium sized resealable bag, threw in some things from the craft box, sealed it, and gave it to my daughter. It was so easy to make.

This simple Christmas Sensory Bag makes a delightful scrunching sound when squished. #sensorybag #sensoryactivities #sensoryWhat I like about this particular sensory bag is that it makes a scrunchy sound when you squish it. It also has a few different textures in the bag so it offers tactile, visual and auditory sensory experiences.

Simple Christmas Sensory Bag:

Materials needed:

  • medium sized resealable bag
  • Christmas coloured crinkly paper shreds
  • green sparkly pompoms
  • felt snowflakes

To assemble this Christmas sensory bag, open the resealable bag, fill it half to three quarters full with the coloured paper shreds and then add the other items. Remove the excess air from the bag and seal.

You could also add jingle bells, Christmas foam shapes, dry rice, red and green beads, pieces of holiday coloured pipe cleaner, scraps of tissue paper, or holiday confetti shapes. This is one of those projects where you can just rummage through your craft supplies and add anything.Depending on the age and ability of the child who is using this, you may want to use duct tape to firm up the seal so that they can’t open it and pull out the contents which could be choking hazards for younger kids. You can finds all kinds of Christmasy duct tape to make it look more festive. Of course, as with all sensory activities, adult supervision should be used.

Get 175 sensory activity ideas in convenient printable lists which are ideal for using in the home, classroom or in a therapeutic setting.

Christmas Ornaments Sensory Bag

I-Spy Christmas Sensory Bag

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Filed Under: Christmas, Sensory Tagged With: sensory bags, sensory play

Christmas Calm Down Kit for Kids

By Sharla Kostelyk

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The holidays can be an especially hard time for kids who struggle with anxiety, sensory issues or special needs. As a parent, it can even seem as though your child is sabotaging the holidays. For times when some of our kids struggle with handling big emotions, we have a calm down kit for them to use. It has made such a difference. One of our daughters was beginning to struggle more than usual because of the Christmas season so I decided to make her this Christmas Calm Down Kit.

This Christmas Calm Down Kit is full of suggestions and tools to help lower your child's anxiety over the holidays. #parenting #specialneedsparenting #anxietyAnti-anxiety kits help kids feel more in control of their emotions and reactions. I find that it’s best to clarify how the kit works and explain all the tools when your child is already calm. Introduce them to the holiday calm down kit and explain how each item can be used when they start to feel anxious. Reassure them that if one item doesn’t work, they can try another until they find the one that’s right for them at that time.

All of the items and ideas should be practised ahead of time. Offer encouragement and praise, but avoid the temptation to suggest which coping strategy they should use unless you see an escalation in their anxiety or it becomes obvious that they need your direction.

Remember that when your child is in a state of fight, flight or freeze, it becomes harder for them to access the reasoning part of their brain.

Our Christmas Calm Down Kit:

  • Christmas book
  • red marble fidget
  • homemade sensory ball using a Christmas balloon
  • Christmas glow sticks
  • homemade gingerbread playdough
  • candy canes
  • hot chocolate packets
  • jingle bells
  • Christmas calm down bottle
  • holiday themed sensory bag
  • bubble gum
  • printed Christmas colouring pages and markers

I created printable cards that can serve as reminders of some of her calm down tools. You can print the cards, cut them out, hole punch them and put them on a binder ring. You can also cut some extra and create your own if you have other ideas of calm down strategies that work well for your child.

Get your free printable Christmas Calm Down cards here. 

Most of the calm down cards don’t require much explanation, but to talk to your kids how to “belly breathe like Santa”, have them imagine Santa’s big belly and then breathe in to fill their belly like Santa’s. Have them put their hand on their stomach so that they can feel it fill up with air and then deflate when they exhale.

Other Items for Your Christmas Calm Down Kit:

  • noise cancelling headphones (perfect for loud holiday events)
  • Christmas punch balloons
  • Conair Sound Therapy machine (we have one included in our regular Anti-Anxiety kit and love it)
  • homemade Peppermint Essential Oil Playdough (keep in mind that peppermint is an alerting scent)
  • Rescue Remedy for Kids (natural stress relief drops that seem to really help our daughter if they are given at the beginning of her anxiety episode)
  • Rescue Remedy Gum (full disclosure – some of our kids love it and others hate the taste)
  • palm massager
  • books on expressing feelings (our list is here)
  • Christmas kaleidoscope
  • a fuzzy Christmas blanket
  • special stuffed animal
  • weighted neck roll
  • holiday coloured pinwheel
  • small plastic snowglobe (will act in a similar way to a calm down bottle)
  • Christmas tree shaped chewie

I actually had to help my daughter use her Christmas calm down kit earlier tonight. I found it ironic that I knew I would be writing about this later and was putting it to good use right beforehand. When I write about these kind of things, rest assured that it is coming from first-hand, up-close-and-personal experience!

The calm down strategy that worked especially well for my daughter tonight was humming a Christmas carol. She was having a hard time regulating her breathing and behaviour before that, but her crying stopped, her breathing slowed and she was able to start calming herself after trying that visual prompt idea.

The humming provides a lot of natural calming benefits. Humming regulates breathing which lowers your heart rate. It helps to activate the parasympathetic nervous system which also lowers heart rate. It helps you to feel more peaceful as your thoughts become clearer. Humming also releases endorphins, which makes you feel happier. It makes sense that it helped her get back to a more regulated state.

You may also want to read:

Our regular Calm Down Kit (and printable relaxation prompts)

Printable Planner and Tracker for Moms of Special Needs Kids

Parenting a Child Who Sabotages the Holidays

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Filed Under: Christmas, Special Needs Parenting

O Holy Night Nativity Sensory Bin

By Sharla Kostelyk

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One of my daughters and I were walking through the hardware store when we saw a bright yellow star shaped cookie cutter. I’m not sure why it was at the hardware store, but immediately, I thought that it would make a great nativity star in a sensory bin. It was a bit harder to find the rest of the items for this O Holy Night Nativity Sensory Bin, but it all came together once I had the star to plan it around.

O Holy Night Nativity Sensory Bin #sensoryplay #sensorybin #sensoryI’m really happy with how this turned out. I used dry black beans as the base to represent the darkness of the night when Jesus was born. I wanted to use a round container this time to make the sensory bin just as a change from the rectangular ones that I usually use.

O Holy Night Nativity Sensory Bin:

Materials needed:

  • dry black beans
  • foam wise men, shepherd and camel
  • ceramic baby Jesus and sheep (I got mine at the dollar store)
  • small angel shaped metallic cookie cutter
  • yellow star shaped cookie cutter
  • container

To put together this nativity sensory bin, fill a container with black beans and place the other items on top. You could add a Mary and Joseph of course as well. You can also add other animals or pieces of hay. If you already have a children’s nativity set or manger at home, you could add that into the bin instead of purchasing new items.

The nice thing about using black beans as a base is that you can easily stand up the foam pieces and cookie cutters within the bin. This allows kids to move things around within the sensory bin and set up the scene the way they want to.

This O Holy Night Nativity Sensory Bin is an effective way to reinforce the Christmas story with your kids. It pairs well with many children’s books that tell of Jesus’ birth.

Join me for a free 5 part email series Sensory Solutions and Activities and get your Sensory System Behaviours Easy Reference Cards.

Check out some of our other Christ-Centered Christmas Activities:

Nativity Chalk Silhouette

Paper Plate Manger Craft

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Filed Under: Christmas, Sensory, Sensory Bins Tagged With: sensory bin, sensory play

Parenting Kids Who Sabotage the Holidays

By Sharla Kostelyk

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The holidays are a special part of the year that most people look forward to, but for some families, the thought brings fear or even dread. For children who have Reactive Attachment Disorder or have experienced early childhood trauma or for children with ADHD or sensory processing issues, the holidays can be hard. In fact, sometimes children who fall into those categories will sabotage the holidays.

It is not much fun walking around on eggshells knowing that your child is on a hair trigger and may be set off at any second. But holidays are not much fun for those kids either. Big days can be a reminder of all that they have lost or of how their brain works differently than other people’s do or of how far their behaviour is from what they want it to be.

Advice for parenting a child who sabotages the holidays #parenting #parentingadvice #adoptionSome of our kids have at times sabotaged big days including birthdays (other people’s and even their own), Thanksgiving, Easter, Christmas, graduations, anniversaries, family celebrations, vacations, times of accomplishment when others are the center of attention, Father’s Day, and often in particular, Mother’s Day. The root of the sabotaging behaviours is often guilt and shame, but there can be other causes as well. It’s not just adopted kids who sabotage the holidays. There are many reasons a child may do this.

Possible motivations for kids to sabotage the holidays:

  1. Feeling unworthy. Abandonment or the perception of abandonment in children who have been adopted or who have had one parent leave the family can lead to a deep sense of shame. This may make them feel as if they are unworthy of love, unworthy of having good things happen to them, unworthy of gifts or attention. With that entrenched feeling of being unworthy of truly feeling happy, sabotaging behaviours can begin to emerge. They may sabotage so that they can force what they see as inevitable disappointment. If their parent then responds in anger to their sabotaging behaviour, it only further validates their belief that they are unlovable.
  2. Triggers. During the holidays, triggers are everywhere. Smells, sights, sounds, memories of the past… the holidays can be a minefield to navigate. These triggers can cause a fight, flight or freeze response.
  3. Excitement and anxiety feel the same in the body. Read that sentence again. It’s a biggie! Butterflies in the stomach, quickening of breathing rate, a loudly thumping heart, sweating, and trouble sleeping are the same body responses whether you are feeling excited or nervous. When your child feels those body sensations, it can bring memories of times of stress when they felt that way due to anxiety.
  4. Lack of routine during the holidays can make certain children feel a lack of control. They may then attempt to assert control and take charge. The unpredictability and uncertainty can feel unsafe to them. With less of a set schedule, they may also be overtired and be eating poorly which can also affect behaviour and mood.
  5. The holidays often come with sensory overload. This can lead to sensory meltdowns which unintentionally sabotages the holidays
  6. The weight of expectations. When a child believes that he will fall short of the expectations placed on him, he may decide to just quickly blow things up to get it over with. The stress that come with anticipating the disappointment they may cause can be overwhelming.
  7. For children with Reactive Attachment Disorder, Christmas can be a nightmare because during the holiday season, relationships are usually the focus and there is more emphasis put on family togetherness and unity. This feels like a threat to kids who are putting protective walls up when it comes to family relationships.
  8. Unreasonable expectations. Even the most neurotypical, well grounded children tend to have high expectations during the holidays. This is sometimes magnified in kids who have a trauma history or have sensory needs. Some adopted children have a fantasy of what life would be like with their biological parents and nothing in reality can live up to that fantasy.
  9. Grief. Oh my. Consider a simple tradition such as decorating the Christmas tree. Our family’s collection of ornaments includes those Baby’s First Christmas ornaments and handprint ones I made when many of our kids were newborns. How must that feel for our kids who joined our family when they were 4 and 7? I can buy them ornaments to represent their first years and their milestones, but I cannot replace the hardships of their early years. Holidays have so many things that can magnify grief, sadness and loss.
  10. Protection. Attempting to protect their heart from further disappointment, a child who has experienced early trauma will put walls up and push others away. With everything being magnified during the holidays, those walls have a tendency to go higher and that pushing away can turn to an aggressive shove (literally or figuratively).

Parenting kids who sabotage the holidays:

  • Lower your own expectations.
  • Provide a lot of opportunity for sensory input.
  • Create a calm down kit for your child. We have a specific Christmas Calm Down Kit as well.
  • Maintain routines as much as possible.
  • Talk candidly with your child ahead of time. Speak factually about past holidays and their challenges with them. Brainstorm strategies with them to help this year go more smoothly.
  • Less presents! When it comes to kids who struggle with the holidays, less is more.
  • Simplify. Practise saying “no” to some of the invitations so that you do not over schedule.
  • Be willing to let go of things that don’t work for your child. You may need to set aside even treasured holiday traditions for a few years.
  • Some kids do not do well with surprises. Even though you may think that surprises are fun, they may cause additional stress for your child. If your child falls into this category, resist the urge to surprise them.
  • Prepare your child ahead of time what to expect. Tell them where you are going, who will be there, how long you will be staying, what you will be doing there, and what your expectations are of them. Use a calendar to give them as much notice as you can of upcoming events.
  • Make a plan with them for where they can go at an event if it becomes too much for them or a signal they can give you that they have reached their limit.
  • Talk with your family members and close friends ahead of time and explain why the holidays can be rough for your child and what they can do to minimize the difficulty.
  • Manage their expectations. If your child has asked for a gift that is out of budget or not something you want them to have, tell them ahead of time that they won’t be receiving it. Speak about how not everything during the holidays go as planned or as wished for. Come up with strategies for managing disappointment.
  • Include therapeutic and/or sensory breaks on the big day. Whether it be a birthday, Thanksgiving or Christmas, be willing to pause everything to practise some calm-down techniques.
  • Accept that there will be meltdowns (or tantrums or rages), but follow these steps to keep their frequency and intensity as low as possible.
  • Talk to your child about which family traditions are hard for them and ways you can make them easier. Gift exchanges are hard for some kids. I let one of my daughters wrap her gifts with me. She then knows what she will be getting, but it takes the anxiety out of it for her and makes Christmas day run more smoothly for everyone.
  • Make small promises and then follow through on them in order to maintain trust.
  • Talk ahead of time to your child about how excitement and anxiety feel the same in the body and then in the moment, help them distinguish which they are feeling.
  • Never equate gifts with behaviour. For children who have experienced trauma, the whole “naughty or nice list” is a disastrous concept. Do not take away or threaten to take away gifts or threaten that “Santa won’t come if…” with children who are trying to just hold it together each day.
  • Remember: “They aren’t giving you a hard time. They are having a hard time.”

The good news:

When parenting a child with attachment issues or early childhood trauma, it is important for them to hear “yes”. This does not mean buying them everything on their wish list. In fact, that would not be healthy for them, but the holidays do give you more opportunity to say “yes”.

“Yes, I will sit and do the puzzle with you.”

“Yes, I will be at your Christmas concert. I am so proud to be your mom.”

“Yes, you can have a candy cane.”

“Yes, we can drive around and look at Christmas lights. Let’s bring some hot chocolate!”

“Yes, you can help me make the gravy.”

“Yes, you can help me wrap presents.”

“Yes, you can help me plan the dinner.”

“Yes, you can hang some ornaments.”

“Yes, we can decorate cookies.”

To get your free printable sheet of ideas to say “yes” and connect with your child over the holidays, click this link or fill out the form below.

The holidays also allow opportunities for activities to increase eye contact and to promote family togetherness.

No matter how much you prepare and plan, the holidays can still be challenging. To all the parents steeling themselves for the sabotage, grieving the holiday you wish you could have, I see you. You are not alone.

Christmas Calm Down Kit for Kids

Calming a Child’s Fight, Flight or Freeze Response

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Filed Under: Adoption, Christmas, Special Needs Parenting

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