Sinterklaas is approaching again. Weeks in advance, peppernuts are in the supermarket and the toy sheets arrive in the mailbox. For sensitive children, the long run-up is already a stress factor. So how do you prepare your sensitive child for the Sinterklaas activities?

Sinterklaas stress

For small children, Sinterklaas already evokes quite a bit of stress. A strange man comes by boat from Spain, with a lot of Piets who can take you to Spain in the bag. That Sinterklaas gives gifts if you have been sweet, but how do you know if you have been sweet enough? Because you are busy quite often, don’t always listen or argue with your brother?

There are many toys, with all kinds of colors, sounds and other stimuli to choose from. Songs are sung (loud!) and the children in the class become busier and busier. There is so much hustle and bustle! Not to mention what all this is like for sensitive children, for children with ADHD or autism. Because especially for these children, all that uncertainty and uncertainty is a major unrest factor, which then manifests itself in more moments of overstimulation and difficult behavior.

In short: Stress at its best!

Incentives during the holidays

Stimulus-sensitive children have more difficulty filtering stimuli, and focusing on stimuli that are important at that moment. Stimuli come in harder, even those that are ‘less important’. It is therefore quite difficult to organize these stimuli yourself and to filter out the right information. Paying attention and listening is therefore more difficult. It is not for nothing that it helps these children enormously when situations are predictable, then they already know what stimuli to look out for! That gives you peace of mind. But with the holidays, this demands extra from your sensitive child.

The tension creates difficult behavior in your sensitive child

Because of the Sinterklaas tension, your child may not be able to sleep well, he will become busier or he will listen to you less well. If you empathize with your child, the tension is easy to imagine: petes entering your house at night, an unknown gentleman with a long beard who knows everything about you and not to mention the tension of all the presents and the Sinterklaas party.

A little healthy tension is fine for a child, but sometimes it causes so much stress that it’s no longer fun. Because of the tension, children can be very ‘difficult’. They become busy, listen less well and require a lot of attention. Children can’t tell you that they find it all very exciting. They show this tension through their behavior. Try to understand this.

7 tips for a positive Sinterklaas party

Many sensitive children find Sinterklaas extremely exciting. The Sinterklaas period is fun, but because of all the tension, your child may also feel less comfortable in his own skin or show difficult behavior. How do you reduce tension? How do you ensure that your child can enjoy Sinterklaas? After all, Sinterklaas is a special celebration.

Build in rest moments for your child during the day

Try to build in a Sinterklaas-free period by, for example, putting on a quiet music (no Sinterklaas of course) or video. You can also do yoga exercises with your child or go for a walk or other active outdoor activity to change your mind. Exercise and distraction helps your child relax. Or unwind with different sensory products, such as playing with sensory rice .

Don’t make Sinterklaas extra exciting

Don’t make the Sinterklaas event extra exciting for your child. Don’t make statements like “Would Sinterklaas know where we live?” or “Maybe Pete will put something in your shoe tonight!” That only adds extra stress. If your child finds it scary that Pete comes into the house at night, you can choose to leave a light on, put the shoe at the front door (for example, under the mailbox, so that Pete can slide the gift in) or explain that he really only comes to bring a gift or candy.

Plan the saint activities together

For example, would your child like to go to the entrance, even if it is super exciting? Or would he rather watch the entry on TV? Start with your child, discuss the activities and plan it together. If he does decide to go to the entrance, prepare him with videos and then tell him that you can leave at any time. The same applies, of course, to whether or not to shake hands with Saint Peter, or sit on your lap. Leave this choice to your child. If Sinterklaas comes to school, discuss with your child and the teacher what your child needs if your child would like to be there.

Think about when you want to celebrate pack night, and how often you’re going to do it. Sometimes there is so much on offer that you can no longer see the forest for the trees: at home, with grandparents, at work with mom and dad… it’s all a lot. Every time the excitement of Pakjesavond. Many children already enjoy celebrating parcel night once. So do your child and yourself a favor and scrap the extra pack nights with the family and invite the family to your home if necessary. Also limit the number of presents, otherwise they won’t know what to do anymore. A maximum of 5 gifts is fine. Also read this article about the gifts rule.

Try to get your child to get enough sleep

{Try to stick to your child’s normal bedtimes during this exciting time. After all, while sleeping, children process what happened that day and process all the stimuli. So keep the normal sleep times and bed rituals. That also gives him something to hold on to. Don’t break the ritual too often by shoeing; Once or at most 2 times a week is more than enough. If your child sleeps badly from the tension, talk about it together. Make use of the fill-in book Slaapklets.

Build in peace during the Sinterklaas time

Plan enough rest moments! Your child may be completely hyper. Make sure this tension is out first. This can be done by going outside and running or jumping on a trampoline. To really get rid of this energy. Does your child exercise? All right, this is important to create a good balance between tension and relaxation.

After the voltage is discharged, you can take a rest. Does your child have their own place? Let your child sit there for a while. Maybe your child likes to read or your child likes to play with sand or clay. These are fun relaxing activities to unwind your child. See what suits your child. What works for one person certainly doesn’t have to work for another.

End the day well

In the run-up to parcel night, a lot happens in a day. The Sinterklaas news, the shoe-setting etc. Therefore, at the end of the evening, go through the day. What was nice and what went less well today? End the day together with a good feeling. Does your child have a lot of worrying thoughts? Then distract him through meditation. Let him visualize that he puts all the worrying thoughts in the weighted bags of a hot air balloon and lets the hot air balloon take off to a distant land. Along the way, your child throws the bags overboard and flies back home.

Provide structure during package night

Actually, this does not only apply to Sinterklaas, but to all holidays.
You can make the preparation for package night transparent by visualizing on a weekly calendar when what is about to happen, such as putting on a shoe, the entry, saint at school, etc.. Furthermore, you can make the day of package evening at home transparent by making it visual with your child: breakfast – playing alone – eating fruit – playing games together – lunch – singing songs – package afternoon – unpacking – playing – dinner – reading a book – going to bed.

Pack night is all about the fun. So don’t make the party unnecessarily big or complicated.

Also read these articles

• Sinterklaas Gift Tips
• 10 gift tips for girls
• Tips for a relaxed Sinterklaas party
• 10 gift tips for boys
• Review Tangle

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