Boardmaker Pictures on the Flannelboard?!

I just knew I would have more ideas to go along with those flannelboard activities made from the milk machine filters!  Now that I know the filters can go right through the printer; I keep thinking of other things I could do with them!  (and, yes, it's driving me crazy) 

Well, wouldn't you know it; I needed to print some Boardmaker pictures for the week.  I wanted pictures to go along with exploring colored glue.  Of course I asked the logical question when obsessing over creating new things:  why not put the pictures on the milk machine filters?! 

While we are exploring the colored glue in class, I will attach two color cards and the glue picture to the flannelboard (or my flannelboard apron- can't decide yet) and the children will pull off the picture of the color they want to use!

One thing to keep in mind:  the colors aren't as vibrant as if they were printed on paper.  If you have a child with low vision, I would probably print these on paper rather than the milk machine filters. 

Of course, we are still using Boardmaker pictures along with our activity.  We aren't really adding anything new to this or changing the activity in any way.  But, I'm pretty sure the children will think it's great fun to chose a color on the flannelboard and pull it off rather than using paper pictures placed in front of them on the table! 

Besides, I have approximately 210 more milk machine filters to use...oh, make that 205.  I used a whole 5 milk filters for the Boardmaker pictures!  Hmmm...what to come up with next?!

This post is linked to Teach Preschool's Every day Flannelboard Play Link!

Ahhh...I SEE!...Visual Prompts Part 3: Schedules

Part 3: Visual Prompts-Schedules:

Feel free to read Visual Prompts Part 1 and Part 2 first if you would like to "catch up"!

In many preschool and Special Education classrooms, visual schedules are one of the most used visual prompt.  A visual schedule assists a child in understanding and anticipating the next activity or sequence of activities in the day. 

Here are some quick reminders I try to follow when creating individual visual schedules: 

1. Keep the schedule manageable!  Break up the day into smaller segments and work on one section at a time.  Cover all but one picture if the child has difficulty attending to more than one picture at a time.  
2. When helping the child use the schedule, preview the activity with the child..."It's center time"...Do the activity...Review the activity..."We're all done with center time".
3. Attach the pictures with Velcro and have the child pull the picture off and place it in a designated envelope, pocket or basket to indicate that the activity is over.  You could attach Velcro directly to a table or board to use as a schedule or use cardboard, a small lap chalkboard or a metal surface with magnets instead of Velcro. 
4. Place the schedule in an area that is convenient for you as well as the child.  If it is too difficult to find, you probably won't make use of it!
5. You can use a schedule as a starting point for conversation as well.  ex. "I saw you playing with the big yellow ball outside today!" (while pointing to the picture that indicates outside play)

I have attached 3 pages of tag board together with a metal ring.  This way we can focus on only 3 activities in order at a time.  Each picture is attached to the page with Velcro.  In this way, we can simply have the child pull of the picture after they complete the activity.

Warning! be careful about overusing visual prompts with young children!
I actually try NOT to use visual prompts in many situations!  You want the child to notice as many "natural" prompts in the environment as possible. You want them to notice that their friends have gotten up from the table and are going to wash their hands...and that it is time that they also do this.


If they have become "prompt-dependent" and do not recognize that cue, but wait for you to show them the visual prompt before reacting; it is time to make use of more naturally occurring prompts in the environment and move away from some of the visual prompts. 


If the child is unable to function without the visual prompt and you feel like you are not making progress without it, but are going backwards instead; you can keep the visual picture prompt AND add a visual gesture to indicate the need to do something (pointing to the sink etc.) then fade out the picture over time until the child is able to recognize the natural cue with the gesture only.    

Having said that, there ARE some children (especially with ASD or Fragile X) that will CONTINUE to need visual prompts in order to be as independent as possible.  There is nothing wrong with continuing to provide visual prompts; simply be aware that you need to know the child very well in order to make the determination whether to continue using visual prompts or begin to fade them out.  For these children, you would not fade out the visual prompt; you would instead fade out the ADULT prompting with the visual aid.  The child would eventually be independently using the visual prompt to complete tasks.  HERE is an article explaining why visual prompts work so well with certain children and how to use them with children specifically with ASD.

This falls somewhere in between a visual schedule and visual prompt for social cues.  This is attached to the table so a child can point to the picture rather than using a verbal response.  This can be used with a child who has very limited language. 

Keep in mind, all of these visual prompts can easily be adapted for home use!  Many children benefit from knowing what will happen each day when they come home from school.  A simple way to accomplish this is to attach old magnets to the back of simple clip art or photo pictures of the activity (example: a photo the child eating a snack, a photo of the swing set to represent playing outside and a photo of a book to represent a quiet activity).  Then simply put several activities on the refrigerator in the order you will do them.  As soon as your child comes home, go to the refrigerator and review what you will do.  After doing each activity, have your child pull off the photo and place it in a basket to show that the activity is done.   Here is an example of how one family developed a schedule to use at home!  (Scroll down the photos to see the schedule!)


At some point next week, I will have a blog post ready about how to make and use a tactile object schedule with a child. (for children who are very young and do not yet respond to line drawings or photos or for children who have a visual impairment).  

Ahhh...I SEE!...Visual Prompts Part 2: Sequenced Tasks

Part 2: Visual Prompts for Sequenced Tasks:
Feel free to read Visual Prompts Part 1 first if you would like to "catch up"!

In order for visual prompts to be meaningful and useful, generally, the child needs to be able to attend to some degree to the visual prompt (either line drawings as shown in these photos or actual photos of the task), the child needs to have the physical and cognitive ability to complete at least parts of the steps shown (probably with some degree of assistance at first) and the child needs to be motivated by visual stimuli!

(*NOTE: Be careful, though, even though a child may not look like they are actually LOOKING at a visual prompt, they may be internalizing it! If the child does not seem to be looking, but is able to complete the step more independently with the visual than without it, continue using the visual prompt! The child is probably attending to it briefly.)

This is a visual prompt our SLP created for the classrooms to place in front of the tissue boxes!  This works well for children who already understand the steps involved in washing hands and simply need reminders to complete each step.

There are several ways you could go about teaching the steps shown in a visual sequence.  You could begin by showing only one step at a time, cover up the following steps and prompt the child verbally along with the visual prompt to complete one step at a time.  (at first, of course, you would need to provide assistance for each step).  This works well with very young children, children who resist hand over hand assistance or who have a strong desire to complete things independently; but struggle to understand the complete sequence.

Another way to teach the sequence is to simply provide hand over hand assistance (*see note below as well as link) to complete the entire sequence.  When the child is beginning to understand the sequence (probably several days or weeks later) begin reducing the hand over hand assistance and point to ONLY the first step in the sequence and verbally prompt as you provide assistance with each step.  Continue to reduce the amount of hand over hand assistance until you are simply pointing to each step and verbally prompting the child as the child completes each step independently.  Ultimately, you should not need to provide any prompting; the child should look at each visual prompt and complete each step independently.  (Children who tend to learn in a more "big picture" way tend to do better learning the entire sequence first and then going back and filling in the "details" of the individual parts).

This visual prompt breaks down each tiny step in hand washing!  These can be covered up with paper to show only one or two steps at a time.

The final way to present a visually sequenced skill is to use "backward chaining".  Provide hand over hand assistance for all steps the first few times; then provide hand over hand assistance until you get to the FINAL step in the sequence.  Point to that step and provide a verbal prompt with the visual; then assist the child only to the point that they will then be able to complete that last step on their own!  When they can complete that last step consistently and independently, add the second to last step...and continue going backwards until the child can complete each step independently.  (This method tends to work with many children as it provides assistance up until the point that the child will be successful.  The child continues to experience success each time!)

If the child begins to struggle with multiple steps, slow down and back up.  The goal is that the child will experience success with independence!  Also, be careful; don't assume that because the child can complete the last step they should be able to complete all the other steps independently.  Go slow and make sure the child has each step down before "letting go" and allowing the child to try another step independently.   It's not a race!  The goal is independence!  For many children, especially if you teach early childhood, YOU may not see the child completing all steps independently with only the visual prompts!  Just know that you set the foundation from which the child will continue to work as he/she gets older!   Without that foundation, it is very difficult to experience success with independence!

Feel free to stop back tomorrow for Part 3 :)
 (*A Note about hand over hand assistance:  Be careful to be respectful of the child when providing assistance.  Verbally let the child know that you will help them.  Treat this as two people performing the same sequence- or working together.)

Ahhh...I SEE!...Visual Prompts Part 1: Social/Behavioral Reminders

Part 1:  Visual Prompts for Social/Behavioral Reminders:

Around my classroom I have various visual prompts placed in strategic areas (both of the photos shown here are from our group time area).  Now, for the children in my classroom currently, these visual prompts really have just become a part of the room (for most of my children, we are just getting to a point where they would be useful).  However, for children I have previously had in the classroom, those same visual prompts were reviewed and gone over daily at various points in the school day.  For many children, these small reminders help the child become more independent and confident in his/her abilities. 

*Try starting with a black and white line drawing on a colored background as these are.
Make the size relatively large at first and add the words to the picture.  Example:  "sit on
bean bag chair","hands to self", "look".

All of the prompts shown were created using Boardmaker software.  If you don't have access to a software program to create these, you could certainly experiment with various clip-art or photos. 

If you are going to use photos, remember to place the object you are taking a photo of on a solid color background; as you want to avoid background clutter that may be confusing and distracting to the child.  If you are taking photos of people, be aware of the background.  If possible, stage the photo against a solid color wall or use a solid color tri-fold display stand.  When I take photos of objects, I simple place them on top of a solid black foam board and take a photo.

I haven't used these on this board for some time- but realized as I looked at this photo
that this is not the greatest place for the picture prompts!  These would
be very difficult for a child to attend to since there is so much visual distraction
beneath the pictures.  Take this into consideration when you are placing the pictures.

I just posted the visual prompts in the first photo for a little guy in my classroom currently. We have not yet used them...but will be soon!  For this particular child...and for many children, we will need to take just ONE prompt off the board and present it to him.  We will verbally remind him of the prompt "sit on bean bag chair" as we show him the picture prompt.  When he is pretty consistently responding to this, we will then simply point to the picture prompt on the board without removing it, and verbally remind him "sit on bean bag chair".   Eventually, we will probably be able to simply point to one of the prompts on the board to remind him. 

This offers a very simple and discreet way to help children remember simple social and behavioral rules!  In this way, the child can feel competent and part of the group while still working on some of those social and behavioral rules he/she may struggle to learn.

(*If you are interested in more information on visual prompts, stop back tomorrow for Part 2!)