I've found that she's a lot more willing to cooperate when she knows the day's schedule and has some warning, rather than, "Hey, get some clothes on. We're going to the store." So I decided to make up a simple schedule board for her. I wish I'd thought to take "in progress" photos, but it was pretty simple.
I started out by making a list of her daily activities (meals, care of self, etc.) and activities we do frequently (story time, grocery shopping, play with toys, read books, art, etc.). I searched free clip art on the internet for pictures to represent each activity. (You could draw the pictures yourself if you're skilled in that area.) I tried to make sure each picture would be easily recognizable to her (so I used a teddy bear to represent story time rather than a picture of a library, since singing "the teddy bear song" is her favorite part of that activity). I printed them out in "coloring book" and colored them in with colored pencils. Then I laminated them with contact paper and stuck the "hook" side of Velcro dots to the back of each picture.
I used a sheet of foam board I had laying around (I think it came from the dollar store) for the board. I wrote out the hours of the day she's awake for (7 am to 7 pm) with a chalk marker and added the "loop" side of Velcro dots beside them. The hours are mostly for my own reference, because she can't tell time yet. On the back, I glued a piece of felt to hold the pictures not in use.
Anyway, here are some pictures that are probably a lot easier to interpret than my sleep-deprived descriptions.
Ride in car to have lunch with Daddy and go grocery shopping. |
In the evenings after she's in bed, or the mornings before she wakes up, I fill in the board with any "non-negotiables" (meals, errands, etc.). At breakfast, we decide what activities we'd like to do that day and fill in the rest. We've been using this board for a week now, and I'm really happy with it. I think it'll grow with her, and it's super-easy to maintain.
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