Toys
Toys pull a child's attention no matter what the clock says, and being interrupted right at the best part of play feels unfair. The visual support below gives the child a clear heads-up before things wrap.
Toys
A collection of toys including a teddy bear, car, duck, block, and ball.
Toys
A rubber duck, a teddy bear, a building brick, a car and a spinning top.
Pile of toys
A teddy, a block, a duck, a car and a spinning top in a pile.
Toys with letter block
A blue teddy, an A block, a duck, a spinning top and a red car.
About this visual support
Toys carry their own gravity. When a child is deep in the blocks or the cars, it is not refusal that keeps them from hearing you – it is that the play feels weightier than the voice above their head. Pulling them out without warning almost always sparks a clash, no matter how calmly it is said.
A visual schedule for toys works best as a small set of pictures rather than one: play in progress, play paused or packed away, and what comes next. When the child sees the sequence before it kicks in, the change does not happen in a jolt. You can also photograph the family's favourite toys and use them in the support, which makes it crystal clear exactly what needs to go back in the box.
A concrete tip: lay the next-card next to the child a little before play ends, without saying anything. The brain starts shifting in the background. Inside Routined you can build a short toy-to-next sequence to bring up on the phone as the moment approaches.
Use this image in a schedule
Build your own visual schedule with this image and download it as a print-ready PDF. Completely free.
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Take the visual supports with you
In Routined you build schedules from these pictures, add timers and voice instructions, and your child follows the day on their own.
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