Coaching caregivers to use language facilitation strategies with their child at home is a key part of effective Early Intervention sessions. Good practice involves working collaboratively with the caregivers to identify familiar routines in which they’d like support. However, this can feel daunting for therapists at times, so often the go-to daily routine for many therapists is mealtimes. In this post, I’m sharing 5 of my favourite daily routines to focus on in Early Intervention sessions that aren’t mealtimes!
5 Daily Routines to use in your Early Intervention Sessions
1) Getting dressed
This routine is one of my favourites because it happens at least twice a day (sometimes more if the child attends clubs or gets very messy!). It’s a great routine to focus on when introducing language facilitation strategies such as offering choices and communication temptations.
You can coach caregivers to offer choices of which item of clothing to wear (e.g., ‘shorts or jeans?’) or which one to put on first (e.g., “shirt or socks first?”). It’s also really fun to use communication temptations in this activity. Making silly mistakes such as putting their pants on their head or their socks on their hands can encourage connection and communication in a fun way.
2) Putting toys away/Cleaning
Parents/caregivers of young children know that this is a routine which happens multiple times throughout the day. This makes it another great opportunity to encourage communication skills in your routine-based Early Intervention sessions! I love using verbal routines during this routine; tidy-up songs are great verbal routines. My go-to song is a variation of the tune ‘Frere Jacques’, read more about how I use this song here. As well as songs, you can say ‘bye bye’ to all the toys or say “1…2..3… in it goes” as you put toys away.
New to using Verbal Routines? Check out my blog post all about verbal routines to learn more.
3) Doing the dishes/Loading the dishwasher
Young children often like to help in familiar daily routines, and this is one I love to encourage them to get involved with. If caregivers are loading the dishwasher, encourage them to give the child any child-safe items to put in too. It’s a great opportunity to work on modelling/labelling, and using the copy and add strategy. If the child names the item, add another word on. E.g., “bowl”… “empty bowl”, or “daddy’s bowl”, etc.
4) Laundry
This can sometimes feel like a never-ending task, but it’s a great daily routine to focus on in Early Intervention sessions. Coach caregivers to use language facilitation strategies throughout the whole laundry process. When sorting the laundry, coach caregivers to use strategies like modelling, commenting, and pausing. When putting the laundry into the washing machine, coach them to use strategies such as verbal routines or copy and add. When putting washing away at the end, coach them to use strategies such as communication temptations and repetition.
It’s a great routine to use when expanding utterances too! There are so many opportunities for modelling phrases such as “daddy’s socks”, “mummy’s shirt”, “blue jeans”, “two socks”, etc.
5) Feeding a pet
This is another routine which usually happens twice a day (depending on the pet, it may be more!) Coach caregivers to involve their child in this daily routine and to use strategies like linguistic mapping, commenting, and pausing. It’s also a great opportunity to focus on symbolic sounds and exclamatory words- making animal noises, eating noises, and more!
Want to Feel Confident Coaching Caregivers in Daily Routines?
Coaching caregivers during daily routines in your Early Intervention sessions can feel daunting at times, especially when they’re engaging in routines we are less familiar with. That’s why I put together the Early Intervention Handbook. It is bursting with information, tips, strategies, and practical guidance to help you feel confident coaching caregivers in both play and daily routines. Check it out in our shop here, or, click here if you’d prefer to shop on TPT.
Looking for Caregiver-Friendly Materials for your EI Sessions?
I love sharing handouts with families to support carryover between sessions. It gives them something concrete to refer back to if they’re ever unsure about what we discussed. I often share these caregiver-friendly handouts for daily routines in my Early Intervention sessions. They are written in simple terms and cover common daily routines, so they’re great for sharing with families. Check these daily routine handouts out in our website store here, or click here if you’d prefer to shop on TPT.
