On Friday, the Iowa City Parks and Recreation department held a sensory-friendly Halloween event on Friday ahead of its Halloween carnival to include neurodivergent individuals.
Isabella Cervantes
Families gather to take a look inside an Iowa City fire truck at the Robert A. Lee Recreation Center on Friday, Oct. 21, 2022. The center held a Halloween-friendly event where games and food were available for children .
Iowa City officials opened the doors to the Robert A. Lee Recreation Center to the public Friday for a sensory-friendly Halloween carnival. The event provided neurodivergent people, along with anyone who can be easily overstimulated, a quiet atmosphere to enjoy the annual Halloween carnival before it opened to the general public later that evening.
Iowa City Parks and Recreation Program Supervisor Michelle Wiegand organized the event in keeping with the department’s efforts to include individuals with sensory needs. The sensory-friendly carnival focused on hands-on experiences and avoided loud music.
“The full Halloween carnival gets very, very busy, which can be a little overwhelming for people who might be neurodivergent,” Wiegand said. “Because it’s such a popular event, but it can be very busy and kind of overwhelming, we wanted to make sure that other people who could benefit from that low risk could still be a part of it.”
Families began trickling through the parking lot where various booths representing Iowa City recreation departments were selling food and hosting games. One activity was a sensory guessing game in which players had to guess which object they were touching with their hands.
Kids in costumes milled around the parking lot, rolling in bubbles in the Children’s Museum booth or learning about fire trucks with firefighters and police officers. They then headed inside the recreation center for more fun activities. They were met at the doors by event staff and guided to the first floor gym.
Lining the walls of the gym were a variety of games including basketball, bowling, corn hole and hoop toss. At the far end of the gym was a large inflatable slide that the kids rolled down, screaming and laughing.
Upstairs, families engaged in numerous crafts for the ultimate sensory experience. In a room down the hall, they could make wands and pipe cleaners. For participant Yolanda Sanchez’s son, making the stick was one of the best parts.
Sanchez chose to attend the event because her son is autistic and larger crowds can be stressful for him. The event brings more awareness to the autism and neurodivergent communities, Sanchez said.
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“Smaller events are better for them instead of being in a crowd,” Sanchez said.
Calling the large social hall on the second floor, the University of Iowa Women in STEM Ambassadors set up tables. Each student at the table guided the attendees by making a different craft related to science, technology, engineering or math. One table had a craft to make Frankenstein robot hands, while another produced dazzling sensory bottles that delighted children when shaken.
The carnival also extended outside into the garden for a scavenger hunt. Players had to find three spooky things that didn’t belong in a garden. As a prize, they were given sensory-friendly toy spiders or gelatin worms.
The sensory-friendly carnival was just as fun for people who aren’t neurodivergent. Nita Bader participated in this event because her granddaughter enjoys sensory and hands-on activities.
“She loved it,” Bader said. “It’s been amazing, and the volunteers have been amazing, so she’s loved that.”
Not only did the sensory-friendly fun and games make this event so inclusive, but the volunteers and staff also made the experience a positive one to remember. Iowa City Parks and Recreation staff member Katie Bender said staff are trained to engage with individuals with sensory needs.
“Everyone here is good to work with different types of people,” Bender said.
