How do I provide structure to my day when stuck at home??
Feb 01, 2021We are both the kind of mums of who love outings! Cafes, toddler jam, pram walks and lots of play dates... then a year ago COVID-19 found us and within a few days we were going loopy! The usual anchors that mark the days and stopped us floating away into a swirl of feed, sleep repeat had disappeared!
We developed this resource that we want to share with you... and then 5 minutes later, for us very lucky Western Australians it was a case of COVID, what COVID?? and normal life resumed.
NOW after 10 months of freedom we are heading into 5 days of hard lockdown and so we had to dig this out and share it again with you. If you're in lockdown like us you'll love it. Or if you're about to hit the school term and all the accompanying activities it will be really helpful too.
What is this resource we are talking about?? Visual timetables! Basically just little pictures you use to make a little plan of your day - sounds simple but they are really powerful and real game changers in our houses!
Here are some uses for our powerful little friends 👇👇
Providing gentle structure to anchor your day
Plan your play. VISUAL TIMETABLES can be used to plan play time activities, everything from song time through to play dough. They help to give your baby some understanding of what is coming next. Read our guide for lots more information about how to use them at different ages and the benefits of doing so for your baby and toddler. Remember playtime can be short but sweet. It doesn’t have to be a mammoth play session. Set aside 5 minutes between chores to sit down and have some 1:1 time with your baby that you will both love! Working from home, encouraging independent play
Supporting your baby's language
Visual timetables are a great tool for supporting your baby's language for several reasons:
- They provide visual information to go alongside a spoken word, therefore helping them understand the word even better. A picture lasts a lot longer than a word!
- Your child might understand the visual cue before they understand the word, so looking at the picture will help prepare them for the activity and help them understand that word. (e.g. You say 'Time for bath!' but your child doesn't understand all those words together....they see the picture for 'bath' and it helps them realise what you are telling them!).
- They can help you simplify your own language which is such a valuable strategy for supporting your baby's language skills! As you present a picture, you will likely talk using simple words to describe the pictures (e.g. 'First playdough, then bath time'). This is so much easier for your baby to hear and understand than a long sentence such as ('Listen we have to get some playdough out first to play with then after that we'll run your bath and you can get in for a wash').
- Watch the video above to see how Chiara supports her daughter to add a word to the conversation by leading her in (e.g. 'now it's time for.....' 'eating!'). This was easier to do with the visual support to help her daughter know what to say.
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Now we would love to hear from you! Are you in lockdown with a baby? What is the biggest challenge? Does structuring your playtime help? If you love the cards and use them we would love to know!
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