10 ways Christian parents can provide an alternative Halloween for children with additional needs

Halloween poses specific challenges for youth and children with additional needs - Mark Arnold proposes 10 ways to deal with the issues that arise at this season

Halloween is a time of the year that, whether we like it or not, many children really look forward to. It’s a time for fantasy and fun, a time for dressing up and scary stories, a time for ‘trick or treat’ adventures and lots of sweets!

The advertising and marketing around Halloween seems to ramp up to greater and greater heights every year, with major supermarkets dedicating whole aisles, sometimes several of them, to their Halloween merchandise. Advertising supports this with lots of TV adverts featuring images of ghosts, ghouls, pumpkins and spiders’ webs.

Whatever your feelings regarding Halloween, and these vary widely across the Church, as parents we can at least help children to avoid the worst excesses, provide an alternative, have appropriate fun, and stay safe.

While Halloween can be a fun time of year for many children, it can be a really difficult time for some, including many children with additional needs. For them it can be a confusing, anxiety-inducing or even utterly terrifying time.

But it doesn’t have to be like that; if we ……