Routine and Transitions
Young children, especially children with special needs, thrive on routines to help them know what to expect next. They also need time to process a change that is going to happen. An example of this could be a verbal 5 minute warning that an activity is going to end, plus what’s coming up next. Young children don't have a great sense of time so visual timers and schedules can be useful in making the time and transition concrete.
Tips for Transitions:
•Try to transition from non-preferred to preferred activities
•Give lots of advanced warning before transitions (e.g., give a FIRST-THEN statement before an activity starts and then a few times throughout – supplement with pictures when possible).
-
First clean up blocks then color
•Have a box where you can put things a child wishes to come back to later
•Use transition objects (e.g., take part of the toy a child was playing with to the next activity, or bring the new activity to the old activity so the transition involves less movement)
•Use consistent symbols when transitioning (e.g., lights on / off; a transition song; a bell)
•Use transition signals in different modalities (e.g., visual – lights on/off or a symbol; verbal – saying “5 more minutes”; audio – a bell, a song, etc.)
•Give choices about the next activity,just remember the choices have to both be something you are ok with. E.g. After dinner do you want to color or play a board game?