Top Holiday Tips for Making Fun and Safe Memories
by Caroline Moassessi, FAACT’s Vice President of Community Relations
Enjoy the season and time with your family and friends this year with savvy strategies and tools. FAACT curated our top tips and links to our best resources for the holidays, including travel, recipes, self-care, navigating family, eating out, and managing stress and anxiety. Grab a cup of allergy-friendly cocoa and reap the benefits of this sweeping list designed to help you make special memories this season heart-felt, fun, and easy!
On the Road
Traveling to see friends and family? FAACT has you covered. Visit FAACT’s Travel Section in the Education Resource Center for checklists, handouts, and tips for staying safe while adventuring away from home.
- FAACT’s Traveler’s Checklist: Designed to help with travel planning (hotels, restaurants, and emergency preparedness), including space to note medical, pharmacy, and insurance information, plus tips for grocery shopping and what to pack.
- FAACT’s Traveling with Food Allergies: A great resource to share with family. This one-pager highlights a few emergency preparedness must-knows, such as how to contact emergency services at your destination, carrying extra prescriptions, and packing insurance cards.
- Restaurant and Translation Cards: Even if you are traveling within the United States, these cards can help reduce confusion or information lost between the server and the chef.
Time To Celebrate
Making holiday memories can be fun and food allergy-safe when communication and planning are at the top of your to-do list. From tips and information about each holiday to themed crossword puzzles and word searches, there’s plenty to keep young and old busy during travel! Visit FAACT’s Holiday Section in the Education Resource Center to explore tips for each holiday.
- Hanukkah Resources and Games
- Allergy-Friendly Hanukkah Ideas (Pinterest Board)
- Christmas Resources and Games
- Allergy-Friendly Christmas Ideas (Pinterest Board)
- Kwanzaa Resources and Games
- Allergy-Friendly Recipes (Pinterest Board): When you need fresh ideas.
- Socializing with Friends and Food Allergies: Tips for adults living with food allergies.
Together at the Table
Bring everyone to the food-allergy table through inclusive living. FAACT hosts a robust Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Resource Center, which offers sections for information on activities, videos, podcasts, book selections, and more.
- Inclusion Matters: Discover short articles with powerful tips and information on a more inclusive life.
- Family Activities: Explore activities designed to support your family’s exploration of allyship, cultural competency, and how to create a culturally curious family learning legacy.
- Cultural Allergy-Friendly Recipes (Pinterest Board)
Dining Out and Eating On the Run
In addition to using restaurant and translation cards to communicate with the chefs, use the resources in the FAACT Education Resource Center’s Dining Out section to stay safe when celebrating and traveling.
- FAACT’s Dining Out Poster: Features questions to ask and items not to assume are safe or are taking place when managing food allergies in the food-service setting.
- Reduce Your Risk: Mitigating the risk of cross-contact with allergens.
Holiday Stress and Anxiety
New environments, travel, and family dynamics can quickly turn celebrations into high-stress situations. Visit FAACT’s Behavioral Health Resource Center to explore resources focused on self-care, coping, anxiety, and depression. Don’t miss FAACT’s Podcasts (see below) focused on managing challenging family situations—and how to say no with respect and kindness!
- Self-Care: Find steps and tips for caring for yourself and your family.
- Coping Skills: Develop coping skills needed for tricky situations.
- Anxiety and Depression: Learn how to tackle anxiety or depression and find the right kind of support.
- Food Allergy Resilience Kit: Squeeze in a bit of resilience work with kids when they are home on winter break. This kit, designed for students K-12, includes activities to help build resilience for times when “bounce back” skills are needed.
Listen In
FAACT’s Roundtable Podcast focuses on topics important to families, adults, colleagues, and friends of people with food allergies. FAACT hosts a wide range of experts and professionals, parents, college students, and kids who share their knowledge in a warm, friendly setting. Tune in to a few of these holiday-related podcasts:
- Teaching Parents/Caregivers and Kids How to Say No During the Holidays (and all year)
- Saying No During the Holidays without Guilt
- Taming Holiday Stress and Anxiety with Food Allergies
- Tackling Family Members Who “Don’t Get” Food Allergies – Solutions for Tough Situations
- Navigating Holiday Parties in the Workplace with Food Allergies
- Managing Holiday Stress with Food Allergies
- Celebrating Hanukkah with Food Allergies
We hope you find these resources—created by professionals and reviewed by FAACT’s Medical Advisory Board—helpful and impactful.
Whether you are staying home or traveling to see family this holiday season, please read labels and always carry life-saving medications with you. Keep your loved ones close and be kind to one another! Visit FAACT to learn more about traveling during the holidays.
FAACT wishes you and your family a safe, healthy, and
Happy Holiday season.
