Watch commercials
The ad break cuts in mid-story without warning and lasts a different length every time. The visual support below shows what happens during the break and what to do until the programme continues.
♂Man watching adverts on screen
A man sits in front of a screen full of adverts while thinking about money and shopping.
About this visual support
An interruption in the middle of something ongoing is harder than it sounds, especially when the interruption cannot be predicted. The adverts start without warning, run for two minutes or six, and meanwhile the child has to remember where in the story they were. For some children it feels as though the programme simply vanished.
With pictures the break becomes a small event of its own instead of a hole. One picture for the adverts starting, one for something to do meanwhile, fetching water or stretching your legs for instance, and one for the programme coming back. The child gets a frame around the waiting and does not have to hold the thread alone.
Practical tip: decide in advance on one single thing that belongs to the ad break, the same one every time, so the pause comes with an occupation rather than a decision. With Routined, screen time can be built with both pictures and a timer, and the app can be tried for 14 days at no cost.
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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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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