Toddler visual daily schedule / chart

[bonoriffic]

Our 2.5 year old fights with us every morning over the same routine. I think a visual schedule would help to eliminate many of these problems, and possibly make it fun for him. A simple outline for morning and night routines, brush your teeth, comb your hair type of stuff. We are looking to eliminate the tantrums over not being able to watch TV, or not wanting to change out of pajamas.

I've seen a few options online, usually a few chores or tasks listed on the left and columns for each day of the week. Maybe a sticker represents progress, or magnets, or felt based velcro items. Usually these are more focused on weekly activities that could be changing. He does the same steps each day for getting ready and going to bed so I don't need the extra hassle of dealing with days of the week.

Any suggestions? I may just make it myself. I'm not sure I need the ability to put a star next to each task as they are short milestones. I'm more concerned about establishing the activities need to be completed before he gets to play.

 

[NikiM20]

When I worked with toddlers we took pictures of them doing the activity we wanted them to do. After that we posted it on poster board and hung it up. They were able to see exactly what needed to be done. HTH

 

[disney*mom*82]

Ive made pex? I beieve that is te proper name for it, before when I use to work with special needs children who worked best when they could see their schedule.

One cheaper way to do this is as a pp mentioned. I would suggest you either take pictures of your child doing each task over the next week or so OR just look online for clip art or any picture of the task being preformed. Ide print it out, glue each picture onto individual index cards, and if possible get it laminated. We would then put a little piece of velcro on the back and then you can decide if you will just have 1 chart or several ones in the rooms that these tasks will be preformed. Here is how I woud do it daily:

When child wakes up, tell him/her that its time to look at your schedule
1. Have it all ready for the child with the tasks for the day on there
2. Talk about the schedule, if there is something out of the ordinary that is going to happen that day, talk about it EX today you will go to see Dr...
3. Pull the first card off and start with that task Ex. ok, looks like it is time to eat breakfast.
4. Once that task is done place it on a sepate chart or maybe in a done jar and go on to the next picture on the chart.

It can be a little time consuming at first to get this made, but if you feel it will work best for your child Im sure it is well worth it. If you need any help or ideas, feel free to msg me.

 

[lovesmurfs]

For DD I had a Morning and Evening Chart with pictures. I put it in a sheet protector and used dry erase marker for her - Morning on one side, cardboard in the middle (for stability--back of a pad of paper), and evening on the other. Worked out well (she still has one at age 11!).

 

[prncess674]

For DD I had a Morning and Evening Chart with pictures. I put it in a sheet protector and used dry erase marker for her - Morning on one side, cardboard in the middle (for stability--back of a pad of paper), and evening on the other. Worked out well (she still has one at age 11!).

Some people/kids work better with visual cues. I am to this day a list person. I can't seem to remember everything I need to do and get discombobulated if it isn't written down, hence visual. My list is divided into 4 sections:
Personal to dos - dry cleaners, file insurance claim, buy b-day card for friend
Work to dos - email client X tomorrow AM, etc.
Long term goals - reminders about things coming up, shop for dress for X occasions
Grocery list - milk, bread, etc.

 

[jagafen]

The proper term is PECs (if you're doing a google search). It stands for Picture Exchange Communication. You should be able to use google images to find pictures of what you're looking for, e.g a morning routine. Toilet, toothbrush and toothpaste, clothing, breakfast, etc. If you need help, PM me.

 

[stephensgary]

Does it help to improve kids’ memory? Or they get habituate with it? What I mean to say is it should help kids to remember their day schedule.

 

[jagafen]

It could help them learn their schedule, if they are cognitively able to understand and organize multiple activities. They can also be used to visually represent how many activities are between "now" and "tv time", which is a simpler concept. It's basically used in this sense as a visual cue for what your intended purpose is, whether it's learning the schedule, or helping the child to understand how many things come "before" the thing that they want to do...