The Fourth of July with Sensory Processing Disorder

My least favorite holiday out of the year is the Fourth of July because it can be very difficult when you have children with Sensory Processing Disorder. The key with my kids and any holiday is preparation. To prepare them for July Fourth, we talked about fireworks, read a social story about fireworks, and did firework crafts. I started by talking to them about fireworks. When we drove past a fireworks stand, I told them that people were buying fireworks to celebrate America’s birthday, and we were going to celebrate too. Then, we read a social story about July Fourth:

In July, we celebrate America’s birthday. People love to celebrate America’s birthday by eating yummy food, listening to songs about America, and watching fireworks. During the day, we will eat yummy food. We will cookout on the grill and even eat cake. When it gets dark outside, people will start watching fireworks. Fireworks are very pretty to watch, but make a loud boom sound. A lot of people listen to songs about America when they watch the fireworks. They have to turn the music up loud, so they can hear it over the boom. When the weekend is over, people will put up their fireworks until next year.

 

After reading the social story, we did three fireworks crafts.

1.     We did fireworks in a jar by filling a jar ¾ with water. Then, we added four tablespoons of oil on top of the water. Last, each child picked a color of food coloring for their fire work, and put four drops of their color on top of the oil. We then closed the lid and watched our fireworks in a jar. For extra effect we talked about how fireworks go “boom”, and we started making firework sounds.

 

2.     We made fireworks with paper. My son cut multiple strips of paper for us using a variety of colors. While he was cutting, my daughter and I hand over hand drew three circles with a white crayon onto a black piece of paper. Then, the kids took the strips and glued them along the circle lines to make fireworks. Once glued the kids would touch the fireworks and say boom!

 

3.     We made fireworks with paint. We put our hands in paint, and put them all over black paper to make fireworks in the sky. Every time they put their hands down onto the paper, they said boom!

 

After I prepared them for the Fourth of July, my son was eager to watch the fireworks. I got excited, and thought that this year might be the year. On July 3^rd, we eased them into the fireworks by watching a firework show in our car while listening to patriotic music. Both children seemed to do okay with that. They both loved saying boom and pretty. Since our car was parked several miles away from the fireworks, it wasn’t too loud. This night was a success! Yay!

 

Since they did well on July 3^rd, we thought we would try watching some fireworks outside our house (That way it would be easy to retreat if we needed to). We went outside with both kids and waited. Once the fireworks started going off, my son yelled boom with each one, laughed, jumped around, and ran in circles. He seemed to love it, and was even seeking out the loud sounds. It is always hit and miss with him. Sometimes he loves loud things and other times he hates them.

 

My daughter hates loud noises though. She started crying and screaming, “No!” and “Bye, Bye!” She didn’t want the head phones, she just wanted to go. I took her inside while my husband stayed outside with my son. Her whole little body was shaking because she was so scared. I went ahead and gave her a bath to try to calm her down. Then, we put on our jammies and cuddled while being wrapped up in a blanket. Once she was calm, I turned the television on, and we watched the fireworks go off to music. Towards the end of the show, I even got her to stand up and dance with me to the music.

 

We now have one more night of fireworks. I am not sure what our plan will be tonight. Most likely, we will watch the kids, see how they respond, and go from there.