What’s in My Bag: Holiday Overstimulation Edition
It's the holiday season, which means lots of fun things, but also a lot of schedule changes that can cause a lot of dysregulation for the kids in your life. With that, I want to share with you the things I always keep in my bag to help regulate my neurodivergent kids when we're out to dinner, at a holiday gathering or any other event. I like to keep these things in a separate small bag. I have one in my church bag, diaper bag and an extra I can put in any other bag I take. I also do my best to rotate things in the bag so they don't get bored of the same items.
Starting off strong with my Petunia Pickle Bottom diaper bag. I've got a few key chains on it, which the kids love to play with and make it easily identifiable. Along with the typical diaper bag stuff, I have a set of mini magnet tiles, an erasable drawing tablet and then the bag of toys. In the bag of toys, I keep a variety of fidget toys and a bunch of toy cars for my son. I also like to bring my daughter's tablet and headphones, especially if we are going out to eat. We usually keep a few things she loves to watch downloaded and the headphones are great for both noise cancellation and for watching shows. Everything fits really nicely inside the diaper bag and it doesn't get super heavy when you add it to all of the typical diaper bag stuff that’s needed for a toddler. This is actually my second of this same bag because the strap on the first one broke after we wore it out.
In my separate church bag, I also have a bag of toys. I have another magnetic block set and drawing pad in this bag. I stopped carrying around snacks in the diaper bag because both kids have gotten pretty good about eating snacks wherever we go, but for church, I like to keep snacks in a separate little snack container. For the toy bag, I have chewable items, and sensory toys the kids can play with. I have more fidget toys, fun key chains, and things to keep them entertained and busy. Often, I will pull stuff out one at a time just to keep them engaged. My daughter doesn't tend to need headphones at church, so we normally don't bring the headphones or the iPad, but if she is having a particular sensory overwhelming day, she is welcome to bring them. She participates pretty heavily in the child centered activities at our church, so she really doesn't need a whole lot to distract her. My toddler son, though, needs the distraction and rotating toys to keep him interested is a must. I also keep a tablet from Fat Brain Toy Company in the church bag that we love. This tablet allows you to take the pieces on and off, you can move them around. They have so many different versions of the little squares so it keeps him very stimulated.
Like I said, every bag is different and I actually change them up fairly regularly, especially when I notice my kids are bored with them. My son is little enough that he is still discovering new things he likes daily, but my daughter is pretty set so I can predict things that will be appealing for her to go in the bag.
I know its not a ton, but I hope this is helpful to someone who is mitigating the holiday overwhelm with kids right now. I hope you can enjoy a fun and peaceful holiday season!
