Like Halloween, Christmas can be an extremely overwhelming holiday for many kids, autism or not.
There are changes in routines to start with. Then there's the parties and the concerts and the Christmas activities. The blinking lights everywhere. The same Christmas tunes on repeat everywhere you turn. Santa Clauses ringing bells outside store doors. And so on.
It's also one of those holidays that never seems to end. You start to see signs of the Christmas holiday season in stores as early as September, when Halloween and Christmas decorations start to take up the same shelves. Then before Halloween's even done, you find yourself humming Christmas tunes while browsing aisles at Costco even though Christmas is many weeks away.
Now, there are lots of different things you can do to help reduce the sensory overwhelm that comes along with Christmas and prepare your child for the holidays. For instance, you can use one of these free Christmas social stories to talk about Santa, opening presents, concerts, and more.
This collection of Christmas and holiday social stories was last updated on November 4, 2022. New stories were added (including video ones), dead links were removed, and more details were provided to make sure you can find what you need quicker.
Free Printable Holiday and Christmas Social Stories for Kids
If you've been looking for a social story about Christmas or a simple holiday social story, then look no further than this list. Some of the stories below do require you to have a Teachers Pay Teachers account (which is free!) before you can download them.
I've rounded up a few different options for you to explore. That way you can (hopefully!) find a Christmas social story that's a good fit for you and your child. Or you can always use ideas from a few of the different stories below to write your own custom story (free social story templates here to help).
Please note that just because a social story is listed here does not mean I endorse its content. After all, many social stories tend to be poorly written and/or teach autistic masking. Besides, I haven't read all of these stories word for word myself. So please read through the stories carefully before using them with your child.
1. Seeing Santa Social Story - Written by yours truly, this social story about visiting Santa is incredibly detailed and uses full color photos.
2. Receiving Gifts Social Scripts - Okay, it's not technically a social story, but I think it's important to include this little book of things to say when receiving gifts on this list of holiday social stories.
3. Christmas Social Story from Little Puddins - A surprisingly detailed social story considering how few pages there are. It uses bright colorful clipart.
4. 4 Social Stories for Christmas from Positively Autism - You'll find four social stories on the following topics: what to expect at Christmas, getting presents, going to visit Santa, and visiting family at Christmas. One of the stories also comes in PowerPoint format so you can edit and customize it however you'd like.
5. Social Story about Santa from Little Puddins - This social story uses bright colorful clipart and describes who Santa is and what his role is, if that's your thing.
6. Seeing Santa Social Story from The Deane's List on Teachers Pay Teachers - This social story rhymes, which is fun and different. It also appears to feature lots of diversity in the clip art, which is always appreciated.
7. Social Story About Being in a Christmas/Holiday Concert from Kara Johnson on Teachers Pay Teachers - A short story about participating in Christmas or holiday concerts.
8. Presents Social Story from Exceptional Resources for Special Needs on Teachers Pay Teachers - This social story talks about our reactions when we receive gifts that we may or may not like at Christmas.
9. Thank You for the Present Social Story from Fabulous Room 6 on Teachers Pay Teachers - This story looks like it might not be super great, judging by the preview, but it may still work for your needs.
10. Christmas Day Social Story from The Autism Page - A simple one page social story about Christmas Day. You'll also find some other visuals available here too.
11. Christmas Party at School Stories from Sped and Sprinkles on Teachers Pay Teachers - There are two versions of this one page social story available, one is quite simple and the other more detailed. It also comes in color or black and white.
12. Christmas Break Social Story from Ish Mom - A simple one page story that outlines how you will spend the Christmas break. It includes a blank one that you can simply fill in, which is nice.
13. Santa Social Stories from Happy Learners - There are two text only social stories here. One is about believing in Santa and one is called Is Santa Real?
Video Social Stories About Christmas for Kids
Here are a few video social stories that discuss various Christmas social scenarios. You can use these videos in teletherapy sessions, social skills groups, and/or classroom settings. Videos are always a great alternative to printing off a story.
Like the stories above though, some of the wording in these videos might not be that great. But considering it's surprisingly difficult to find good video social stories about Christmas, I wanted to make sure you had some options.
The first video below is specific to visiting Santa at the library and receiving a gift after. That's probably not a super common experience for many, but I'm sure you could easily adapt this story and make one that better fits your needs. The other videos, on the other hand, apply more broadly.
Preparing a child for the upcoming holiday season doesn't need to be too complicated. Thankfully these Christmas social stories can help you get started.
