Halloween and Kids Who've Been Impacted by Trauma

You probably can FEEL the anticipation in your classroom. And if you’ve been to your neighborhood big box store lately, you know it’s coming.

Aisles of candy. Aisles of costumes…from the cute ones to the scary, gory ones. Aisles of decorations. Halloween is just around the corner. 

As a trauma-informed teacher, you know holidays are times you need to be intentional. Halloween is one where you REALLY need to be intentional, especially with students who've been impacted by trauma.

The bottom line is trauma and Halloween do not go well together. 
 
Children who’ve been impacted by trauma don’t manage anxiety well. They don’t manage transitions well. They don’t manage sensory stimuli very well. 
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Throw in Halloween and all the things that go along with that and you throw TRIGGERS into the mix. Frightening triggers.  

How Triggers Affect a Child

Halloween can be FULL of triggers for kiddos who've been impacted by trauma. 

• Lots of transitions
• Sugar
• Stimuli overload
• Strangers
• Scary costumes and decorations

For our students who have been impacted by trauma, these triggers can send them right to survival. 

Once in survival, they tend to go to FIGHT, FLIGHT, or FREEZE. And we all know, that is not a place we want to send our students. We want them to feel SAFE! 

When they are in survival, there is no frontal cortex thinking going on. They are triggered. And any logical reasoning has gone out the window! 

Triggers at Halloween for Kids Impacted by Trauma

For neurotypical students, they usually can determine the difference between and reality. Students who've been impacted by trauma, often are not able to do so.

What does that mean when it comes to Halloween?

It means that when the child sees a scary movie, sees a scary or gory costume, or hears scary sounds such as shrieks and scary music, they are not able to see it as reality. They sense fear and are triggered...sending them right into FIGHT, FLIGHT, or FREEZE.

While they may not show it on the outside, adrenaline has kicked in and they are now operating out of survival.

They no longer feel safe. 

How to Celebrate Halloween Without Sending a Child to Survival

So...if your school celebrates Halloween, there are some things you can do to still make it fun, but ensure that ALL of your students continue to feel safe.

• Only allow fun costumes...no scary costumes at all.
• Have students keep masks at home. This helps students know who each child is, rather than seeing the mask.
• Keep decorations and activities centered on pumpkins and such instead of any spooky stuff such as cobwebs, spiders, and monsters.
• Keep some regular routines throughout the day. 
• Limit the amount of sugar.
• Stations work well for activities with smaller groups. Be strategic about who you pair your students who've been impacted by trauma with. 
• Keep your student who've been impacted by trauma close to you. You are often the one who can calm and help regulate.
• Communicate with parents ahead of time about how the day will look and be clear about guidelines. 
• At the end of the day, paint a verbal picture of how the next day will look. "Tomorrow we will start the day by..."

It can still be a fun day, and one where your students still feel SAFE and CARED FOR. It takes planning. It takes intention. It takes a mind shift. But it is possible...and worth it!