Visual Christmas Schedule for Special Needs Kids

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Christmas is such a fun time of year! Even if you choose to do a simple holiday season like we do, there is something going on just about every day. And even on days when we’re not going somewhere, there are still things that we like doing. Christmas movies, stringing the popcorn garland, baking cookies and finally opening presents. This is a lot for any child to understand, but when you have a special needs child who, at five years old, still has no idea what “tomorrow” means, having a simple visual Christmas schedule is so helpful.

Materials Needed for the Visual Christmas Schedule:

Paper or cardstock

Laminating Pouches (optional)

Laminator (optional)

Magnet strips

Magnetic surface

Rustic Wood Premium Surface Magnetic Chalk Board- 18 Gimars Anisotropic Strong Magnet Magnetic Strip Tape with Prime Sticky Adhesive – Ideal 1 Inch x 10 Feet Magnetic Roll for Craft and DIY Projects Umbra 035515-410 Bulletboard Magnetic Bulletin Board, Large, Gray

My daughter loves Christmas! But even at five years old, she still thinks that snow=Christmas. Fun when there is actually snow on Christmas day. Not fun when I have to convince her at the beginning of November that Christmas is still two months away. And convincing her not to open presents that have been set under the tree…. not a chance.

I made this visual Christmas schedule to help her understand what we will be doing each day and know when it is the right time to open her gifts.

Side note: We learned a long time ago not to actually put presents under the tree until the kids are sleeping on Christmas Eve. We don’t do Santa, but it makes a fun surprise on Christmas morning. Now we only have issues when we visit other people’s houses and they have gifts out…

To make the visual schedule, print the download below, laminate and cut apart the cards. We have a small magnet board in our creating space, so I opted to put the schedule there since we spend so much time there. (And our fridge is not actually magnetic.) I suggest putting the schedule someplace that you can point to often.

I put the extra cards around the edges of the board, so that we can talk about future activities that we will be doing. Such as my kids favorite tradition: decorating marshmallows! And I put the cards that didn’t fit into a small bucket for safe keeping.

You could also hang the cards in the order that you will be doing the activities on a string to make a garland that can be used for an Advent calendar.

The Sweet Smell of Christmas (Scented Storybook)Bear Stays Up for Christmas (The Bear Books)Little Blue Truck’s Christmas

Each day, put up the date and the main activity for the day. As most kids thrive on patterns & consistency, I would suggest doing the activities around the same time each day or as close as possible.

With my daughter, if I do one activity in the morning, she will expect future activities to happen in the morning. So doing them after supper or after all the kids get home from school is a better option for us.