Preschool Transition Tips for Success

One major key to success when helping children with transitions is developing consistent schedules and routines. Most preschool classrooms already follow a set schedule, but some children continue to struggle. As you develop a daily schedule for your children and students, keep the following tips in mind:

• Provide visuals.  Include pictures or symbols in your schedule. Being able to point to what is coming next is powerful.
• Give a preview.  Review the schedule with the children each morning. Consider having a helper demonstrate moving from one location to the next to model expectations for upcoming transitions.
• Establish routines. Within each part of the schedule, establish a routine. Routines are comforting for children and promote independence. A daily arrival routine might include putting belongings in a cubby, washing hands, and then completing an attendance task like putting a magnet on their name. 
• Create rituals. Rituals help establish a connection between the child and the preschool. For example, use certain songs for specific transitions (e.g., hello song, clean up song, hand washing song) or develop a class-specific call and response clap pattern or rhyme for getting everyone’s attention, such as this popular one: Teacher: “1-2-3, eyes on me” Children: “1-2, eyes on you.”
• Limit transitions.  When possible, limit or combine transitions (e.g., plan the bathroom break on the way to the playground).
• Make a plan.  Pre-determine what children and adults will be doing during transition times, and allow time in the schedule for the transition activity. Will they sing a song, listen to a story, listen to background music, or carry an item?
• Be realistic.  Many children struggle with transitions that involve stopping an activity before it is finished. Ensure you are providing children with adequate time for them to finish projects and activities, or explain ahead of time the specific time when they will be able to finish their work if they are interrupted.
• Give advanced warning.  Give a verbal or nonverbal warning to prepare children for an upcoming transition. A verbal warning might be “Five more minutes until we clean up for a snack!”  A nonverbal warning could be turning the lights off as the five-minute warning.  Because young children do not have a well-developed sense of time, a visual timer is a great way for children to visualize how much time is remaining. You can easily find free visual timer apps in your app store or purchase a physical visual timer such as the one from Time Timer (www.timetimer.com).
• Be balanced.  Try to alternate between non-preferred and preferred activities so children can be reminded of fun things to look forward to throughout their day. 
• Keep a few tricks up your sleeve.  Sometimes the day doesn’t go as planned or children need to wait for an unexpected amount of time.  Keep a few special books on hand or memorize a few fingerplays. These activities can engage children during waiting times.
• Prepare for children who need more assistance than others.  Some children have more difficulty with transitions than others. For a child who continues to struggle, validate their feelings. Say: “I see you are sad. You love playing with the cars! You want to keep playing, but it is time to clean up and go to lunch. You can play with the cars again after rest time!” Redirect the child’s attention to the visual schedule and upcoming fun activities.  Offer choices when possible (e.g., “Do you want to put the cars on the shelf or in this basket?”), or give that child a special helper job during the transition such as “line leader.” 

• Praise Success!  When you observe children transitioning appropriately, acknowledge their positive behaviour with specific feedback.  Highlight children who transitioned properly to help all children better understand your expectations (e.g., “Sam and Beth did a great job cleaning up their snack and sitting down on the carpet!”).

Work Cited:
Zaryczny, Valerie. “6 Preschool Transition Activities & Ideas | LWTears.com.” Learning Without Tears, 13 August 2020, https://www.lwtears.com/blog/6-transition-activities-preschoolers-and-toddlers. Accessed 10 June 2024.