We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand. ~Isaiah 64:8



Wednesday, May 14, 2008

WFMW: Kids Visual Schedule

On Monday, I blogged about getting a summer routine in place. One of the ideas I came across was a "visual schedule". These schedules are often recommended for kids who have Autism, but I think they work well for any family with young kids (and not so young).

Well, I went ahead and made one for our family and it worked really well!

Here's a picture:













And one up close:













And here it is in use:



I found the images in Microsoft's clip art and dropped them into a Word document. I just printed and folded the pages in half. Finally, I taped them all together and up in a central location (our kitchen pantry door - we are in the kitchen ALL DAY).

You'll notice the orange stickies - these I added to highlight extra events for today only (Ballet and a meeting I had). I also decided to cover each image with a yellow stickie as we passed that event, so that we could easily see where we were in the day. I'll reuse those stickies until they loose their stick.

I could have done this much fancier and "smarter", but I just wanted to get on with using it. If it continues to work so well, I'll make a bit more permanent one (laminated and maybe with some other way to mark our place in the day).

A Visual Schedule - it works for me!

Check out the other "Works For Me Wednesday" tips at Rocks in My Dryer.

5 comments:

Tania said...

Great idea. I think this is just what we need at our house right now. Thanks

JanMary said...

Great idea - I should really use this for my son. Thanks.

Linds said...

I've done something similar to this, but I like this way much better. On the door always visible. Thanks for the idea!

christinethecurious said...

I've been looking for some ideas on this matter, my 6 year old is sketchy on time, and a little anxious about - well, lately, everything.

Kerry said...

Well, Christine, give it a try. I found it worked really well with keeping everyone on the same page about what our day was going to look like. Sometimes just knowing what to expect helps relieve their anxiety, too. :)