Handling Behavior Problems in Halloween Activities
- Use Pre-task Rehearsal to teach kids acceptable behaviors on the trick or treat routes and during parties, and other Halloween activities.
- Use positive reinforcement for appropriate behavior.
- Use negative reinforcement to reduce problem behaviors.
- Try to reward appropriate behavior and apply consequences to problem behavior as soon as it happens and as consistently as possible. It takes a lot of mental and physical energy to keep up with impulsive children, but if you fall behind, your interventions will be less successful and may not help at all.
- Consider time-out for misbehavior.
- Avoid lectures and criticism of the child. Focus instead on simple, factual statements of the problem behavior and the consequence. "Jason, don't walk into the road. Stay on the sidewalk, or we will go home." Be prepared to act on your consequence if your child does not comply. It may be inconvenient, but it is important to follow through on consequences to improve your child's compliance in the future.
- Ignore minor inappropriate behaviors and focus on the most important problem behaviors.
- Set a time limit for trick or treating, and plan your route ahead of time. Tell your child what to expect, how long the trek will last, where you are going, and when you plan to return home.
- Plan an activity for after trick or treating such as a favorite snack and an age-appropriate movie. Before you begin trick or treating, tell your child about your plans. Remind him when it is time to go home about the fun activity awaiting. This may reduce the possibility of a tantrum.
