How to Tell If Your Child Is Old Enough for a Haunted House
A child’s first trip to a haunted house can be a thrilling test of childish courage as fears are overcome and defeated … or a terrifying disaster, depending on whether they are ready. Here’s how to traverse a miniature minefield this Halloween.
Know the limits of your child’s terror
As with most things involving children, there is no specific age to be ready for a haunted house. “That doesn’t mean being willing to enter a haunted house is a milestone in development,” explains Dr. Heather Bernstein, a clinical psychologist at the Mood Disorders Center at the Institute for the Child’s Mind. “All children are different and they are all ready for anything at different ages.”
The best way to determine if your little snowflake is ready for the haunted mansion is to listen to it. “I would start by getting the child to show interest,” Bernstein said. “If they walk by a haunted house and get curious or ask for an advertisement for one, talk to them about it.”
Of course, kids sometimes go a little overboard with skiing when it comes to how much seasonal dread they can actually handle, so it’s up to you if they’re really ready, not just thinking they’re ready.
“See how they react to other things that can be intimidating, like a mask or a scarecrow,” Bernstein suggests. “How do they seem to respond to these weaker signals? This is some indication of what they are going to do when they are completely in the haunted house. “
Know your haunted house because they are different
Haunted rides, from hayfields to dark rides, range from kiddie rides like the kid-friendly (and adorable) Griffith Park ghost train in Los Angeles, to “extreme” haunted houses for adults only, so before you buy a ticket for your little one, make sure you know what he is getting into. Visit the rides webpage, give them a call and ask for the recommended age. You can also ask other parents what their children think of this.
Share the experience with your child
If you have decided that your child is ready to be afraid, you should probably go with him, especially if he is young. If not, allow them to invite brave friends or siblings with them. A haunted house is so much more fun when you share it.
“If you worry together, then you laugh at it and kind of laugh at each other at it. I think it can be a link, ”Bernstein said.
When do you need a little nudge at the entrance?
If your child is excited about visiting a haunted house but is bumping into the entrance, you need to think a little about whether you should encourage him to face your fear or just hang it all up and be back next year.
“You have to ask yourself,“ Why am I asking my child to do this? “Am I pushing them to do what they might not be ready for?” “- said Bernstein.
“If you know they really want to do it and they’ll be very disappointed afterwards if they don’t, then maybe you can teach them and say something like, ‘We will go, but we can always.’ go away “or” We’ll come in and I’ll hold your hand the whole time, “Bernstein said.
What to do if there are too many haunted houses
If you and your child both underestimate the amount of fear they can handle and your child gets scared, don’t panic: kids are resilient. The result is more likely to be more nightmares than full-blown trauma, and there are ways to help them deal with their fear.
“Do they need help understanding what the hell they just went through? In this case, it could mean going back to the haunted house, exploring it in the afternoon, or talking about impending fears, ”Bernstein said. “Maybe we can meet with some of the actors who are in the house so this kid starts to realize that this was more like a play than where they were really in danger.”
It is important to remember that you cannot underestimate the experience of a truly frightened child. “We have an adult brain that understands everything that happens, so we can say, ‘It wasn’t that scary.’ You’re being ridiculous, ”Bernstein said. “But understanding that it was something really scary from their perspective, and not understating it, will help you go much further in helping them grasp what happened.”