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Party Planning for Kids with Special Needs
by Marty Barnes
Planning a party for any kid is a lot of work. Planning a party for a child with special
needs can be extra tricky. It can be done though. Each year I work very hard to try to
come up with a wonderful birthday party for my daughter. Over the years I have come
up with some great, very accessible party ideas. Hopefully these ideas, and some Special
Needs Party Planning Rules I have come up with, will help others planning a party for
their child with special needs. These are just a few ideas--there are tons more out there-but this list should get you started.
Arts and Crafts Party
Boys and girls can both have a lot of fun at an arts and crafts party. You may have to
recruit some help for kids with limited mobility. Our daughter loves arts and crafts. A
lot of the time she is just saying yes to the details and/or placement of things, but she
loves to be part of creating something. We did a princess craft party for her once. All of
her friends made princess tiaras. They had a great time. We had lots of other things
planned, but they all were having so much fun the entire party was spent at the craft table.
Boys could do something like pirate hats, treasure chest or maps. The list of arts and
craft themes is limitless. Just take what your child is into, Google that topic with “Arts
and Crafts,” and you are sure to get a bunch of ideas returned. An added bonus is that the
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crafts they make can be the party favors. You don’t have to waste time and money on
goodie bags that just end up being tossed later anyway.
Movie Party
Not all theaters are willing to do this, so you may have to do some homework on this
one. If your child is into movies, you can find a theater that will let you have the entire
theater for a showing. They will usually work with you to make it quieter or brighter as
well. The trick we have found when we did a movie party was that to get them to be
flexible without having to spend a fortune, we had to be flexible on the day and time. It
was worth it though, and everyone had a great time. We have a luxury theater in town
that only seats 40, but the seats are extra big. We are able to put a tumble forms with
wedge in the seat, or a beanbag chair. The lobby is nice for doing pre-movie parties. If
you have an iPic or similar style theater near you, it works great for accessibility.
Sing-A-Long
Many music therapy centers offer parties. The fee is reasonable (in most cases) and if
your child is into music, this can be a great party idea. The therapist will get everyone
involved, there is dancing (for those who can dance and move) and singing (or just
making noises). A great idea is to get the song list ahead of time. For not much money
you can get blank CDs and burn the song list for all the kids coming to the party. You
can make and print out CD jacket covers too. Maybe something like “Casey’s Party Mix
- 2012.” If you don’t have a music therapy center, you may be able to get a music
therapist to come to your own house as well. You can tell the kids coming to bring their
favorite noisemakers with them.
Story Time
Many bookstores have story time. Some have party rooms as well. If your child loves
stories, start calling your local bookstores or libraries. You can rent the party room and
invite the kids in for story time. We did this recently and the kids had a blast. In addition
to story time, they were also able to make bookmarks. The store we used had party bags
for the kids, but before I knew this I was working on writing up a little story just for my
daughter about a birthday princess. I was going to have it printed and give that as a favor
to the kids. You can do something like that pretty easily. I found some calendars in the
dollar bin that had wonderful pictures. I then cut the pictures out and used them as a base
for my story. You can scan those into your computer, or use drawings from your child.
There are some sites that will do professional printing/binding, or you can use a
pharmacy or office supply store for nice but not crazy expensive printing. There are lots
of ways to print it out yourself at home too. At craft stores you can find lots of affordable
ways to create your own book.
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Parks and Playgrounds
Many cities/towns are building accessible playgrounds now. Search for accessible
playgrounds in your area. These are great places to plan parties. I would suggest going
ahead though, and making sure there is a place out of the weather in case your child
needs a break. I would also suggest making arrangements with the city. Some cities
require this, but whether it is required or not, I recommend it. They can reserve the area
for you so you don’t have to worry about kicking other people off the tables. You can
usually hire face painters, balloon animal clowns, jugglers, or whatever your child would
like to meet you in the park. Balloon animals make great party favors, too.
Home Party
There is never anything wrong with a traditional party at home. Invite friends and/or
family and just focus on doing the things that make your child happy, even if that means
watching a movie on TV or just relaxing and being around loved ones. A party does not
have to be action packed. Some kids prefer and thrive on quiet, controlled environments.
If that is your child, don’t force him into a party because that’s what you think you have
to do. Make sure the birthday is special, but don’t make it torture.
Virtual Party
Unfortunately, some of our kids spend birthdays sick or in the hospital. That doesn’t
mean they shouldn’t get a special day. Hospitals are usually great about helping decorate
the rooms (nurses are often very creative). If your child is in the hospital or too sick to be
around others, have all of your family and friends take pictures. Pick a theme such as
wearing silly hats, making funny faces, or holding a stuffed animal. Get them to send
those pictures to you (email or printed). Then on the special day show the pictures to
your child to show how much everyone misses and wishes him/her a special birthday. If
you have enough time you can even put them all together with the birthday song (or any
song) and make a little slide show for your child to enjoy. Or if your child is more
responsive to sound instead of pictures, have everyone send a voice message. There are
lots of ways you can safely celebrate your child’s birthday and include loved ones,
without ever leaving the house or hospital. My daughter loves when her friends make her
pictures to hang in the hospital room, too. Personal touches like this make any day
brighter, especially birthdays.
Rules
Regardless of how you celebrate your child’s special day, be sure to do something. Just
because our kids have special needs does not mean they don’t still need to be kids. They
deserve a day all about them and what makes them happy. In my opinion, they deserve a
lot more than just a day.
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Here are a few rules to follow when planning a party for your child with special needs.
Hopefully if you follow these rules, everyone will have a great time.
1. Don’t worry about what all of the other kids are doing for their parties, focus on what
your child likes.
2. A party does not have to follow a preset agenda. Have enough things planned to fill
the time, but if an activity runs long and people are enjoying it, be flexible. You can
always save the items you don’t get to for another day.
3. Don’t focus on food. Many kids with special needs have special diets. A lot of
parties and holidays focus on food. If you have a child who cannot eat cake, don’t
center the party on the cake. You can still have one for everyone else and sing happy
birthday, but don’t make it the focal point of the event. Also, if other children with
special needs will be attending, it is a great idea to let families know in advance what
foods and drinks you will have. This will give others warning in case they would
prefer to bring their own snacks.
4. If your child is hard to buy for, be sure to either provide guest with some ideas, or
request them not to bring gifts at all. Many parties have started collecting and making
a donation in the child’s name instead of bringing gifts. We don’t do gifts because in
addition to being hard to shop for, our daughter is not physically able to open the gifts
and her friends are not able to stay focused on watching me or her dad open her gifts.
We would much rather use the party time for things she and her friends enjoy.
5. Time!!! If your child is not able to tolerate long periods of time, there is nothing
wrong with having a party for only an hour (or whatever works for your child). It’s
much more important that your child has a wonderful hour, than a good one followed
by two painful hours trying to calm her down.
Marty Barnes is mom to six-year-old Casey and founder of CLU Campaign. You can find
more articles like this and much more at clucampaign.org.