How to Help Children with Transitioning

Transitioning from one from activity to another activity is a problem for many children and sometimes can be a trigger for tantrums or meltdown. Transitioning includes everything from getting up in the morning all the way to going to bed at night.  There are so many ways that parents and caregivers can help children with transitioning from one thing to another. This blog post will provide strategies for parents on how they can help their kids transition better through various aspects of the day such as making sure the bedroom is calm and dark before trying to sleep or using an agenda planner when scheduling time with friends or family members so that transitions are less stressful.

1. Create routines to Help Children with Transitioning

Transitioning can be rough in any circumstance, but when a child wants to transition from one activity or game to another the process shouldn’t feel like it takes twice as long because there’s no structure. Creating routines will help break down your child’s time so they know what to expect and look forward to. This detailed guide covers how you can implement routine-making for feeding, getting dressed, baths and bedtime so that transitioning becomes not only easier on your family but also develops positive a habit before life is fraught with stress too!

2. Use Visual Cue to Help Children with Transitioning

The use of visual cue to help children in transition can be beneficial to children. Whether you are using a visual timer or visual schedule, the child know what to expect as it is very clear and makes transitioning from one activity to the next activity ease activities or if there’s an interruption in their day.

3). Use Transition Song

Using a transition song can really be effective for younger children because there’s no better way to get a child ready for the next activity than by using transition songs. The use of song helps the child prepare to move to the next activity because they know it is time for another activity. This is an opportunity for parent and caregivers to be creative with their choice of song to use for transitioning. With many children able to sing along with these popular “clean up tune”, getting them out to the next activity will be quick or entertaining.

4). Give Extra Time to Help Children with Transitioning

Giving extra time when transitioning a child can be very beneficial for children. Parent and caregiver do not leave things till the last minute and then asking your child to transition to the next activity can be trigger behaviours.

Emem Iniobong, CCC is a Canadian Certified Counsellor in Brandon, Manitoba. She specializes in working with children and adolescents experiencing various mental, behavioural, and emotional challenges.  Passionate about helping children and teens find their unique strengths, she develops skills, so they can overcome whatever challenges they face and bravely navigate the world around them.