As we approach the end of the Christmas season, whether for you that is ‘12th night’, ‘Epiphany’, ‘Candlemas’, or some other date… (maybe you just want to keep the Christmas vibe going as long as you can, or perhaps you need a return to normality as soon as possible!) the time will come when we take down all the Christmas decorations and put them away for another year.
But is there something else we can use some of them for? Another way to benefit from all those different Christmas decorations? Perhaps even a way to keep that Christmas feeling going a little longer but in a smaller way, or to ease the transition back to ‘normal’? How about a post-Christmas fidget box?
There are loads of decorations that we can turn into fidgets, here are just a few ideas:
Tinsel
Tinsel is a lovely fidget item, crinkly, sparkly, bright, and tactile. Lovely to run through your fingers or to just bunch up and squeeze!
Light up baubles
Do you have a plastic light up bauble? Great to look at and safe to hold. Make sure the battery compartment is secured. If you don’t have a light up bauble, how about a battery tea light?
Bells
Maybe your tree, like ours, has Christmas bells on it? Save these for your fidget box as a auditory based fidget, as well as being nice to touch and hold in your hand.
Battery powered lights
These can be strung up to help make a sensory safe space, or kept in the box to shine out brightly! Again, make sure the battery compartment is secure.
Piece of Christmas tree
If you have a ‘real’ Christmas tree, save a short length of branch that hasn’t dried out too much, and spray it with some fixative, varnish, or glue to make sure the needles stay on and once it is dry it can be a tactile fidget. You could even spray it silver, gold, or whatever colours you like!
Cards
Old Christmas cards can be recycled as fidgets in lots of ways. Maybe re-using them to make new cards, or cutting out the pictures, laminating them, hole punching a hole in the corner, and putting them on a cord as a flip-view pack.
Wrapping paper
Christmas wrapping paper can be used for scrunchy fun, or if it is plain white on the reverse side, used for colouring paper.
What else do you have?
We all have lots of other different Christmas decorations, what else do you have that you could add to your post-Christmas fidget box?
Box
All you need then is a box to put it all in! Maybe you’ve got a delivery box still at home that you could use, or maybe like us you’ve got a Christmas Eve box that can be re-used for your fidget box. If someone had slippers for Christmas (lucky them!) maybe there’s a shoe box that can be re-used.
Whatever you’ve got, make your post-Christmas fidget box together and have fun playing with it! It may also help the transition from full-on ‘deck the halls’ to ‘back to normal’ again, by keeping a few nice Christmassy items to hand.
If you make a post-Christmas fidget box, why not tell us about it in the comments below, or send me a photo to markjarnold@gmail.com and I’ll add a gallery!
Happy New Year!
Mark
All text and images © Mark Arnold / The Additional Needs Blogfather
See also:
Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer: A Story Of Additional Needs Inclusion
https://theadditionalneedsblogfather.com/2023/12/07/rudolph-the-red-nosed-reindeer/
12 New Year Resolutions For Inclusive Children’s And Youth Work
https://theadditionalneedsblogfather.com/2022/01/07/12-new-year-resolutions
Fiddles And Fidgets: Meeting Sensory Needs
https://theadditionalneedsblogfather.com/2021/08/31/fidgets-and-fiddles/
The Additional Needs Blogfather 