Hello and welcome to our guide to Visual Schedules for Kids.

If you are looking for having more predictable morning routines, reducing stress and having better morning transitions then make sure to follow along as we discuss:

- WHY to use a Visual Schedule

- WHAT is a Visual Schedule

- HOW to make a Visual Schedule

- WHEN to use a Visual Schedule

If you are more of a visual learning head over to Adaptive Kids Youtube - where we discuss Visual Schedules and subscribe to stay up to date with our Educational Content and Kids Workouts:

I’m James Dowton, an Australian Paediatric Physiotherapist, here to help your family have more everyday success and less stress.

So what is a Visual Schedule?

Visual schedules are a very effective way to help children understand their daily routines and activities. They can be especially helpful for children who have difficulty with transitions or have additional needs such as Autism and ADHD. 

A visual schedule is a set of pictures or symbols that represent daily activities and routines. It is used to help children understand what will happen during the day, and when.

A visual schedule can be as simple or as complex as you want it to be, but the important thing is that it is easy for the child to understand and follow.

The pictures or symbols are placed in order, either vertically or horizontally, to represent the order of events. Visual schedules can be used at home, at school, and in therapy settings, we will often use a visual schedule within a Physiotherapy session to provide structure to our session, clarity for the children we are working with and a sense of order.

Let's take a closer look at how this can help:

It can reduce anxiety and stress.

Kids can often feel anxious and stressed when they don't know what to expect. A visual schedule can help to reduce anxiety and stress by providing a clear outline of what needs to be done, and when with better predictability.

It encourages independence.

Visual schedules can encourage kids to take ownership of their morning routine. By following a visual schedule, they can learn to complete tasks independently, without constant reminders or prompts from their parents.

It can promotes organization and time management skills.

Executive functioning skills, such as planning, organizing, and prioritizing tasks, can be challenging for children. They may struggle to understand the steps involved in getting ready for school, or to remember the order in which tasks need to be completed.

Visual schedules can help kids to develop important organizational and time management skills. By following a routine, they can learn how to prioritize tasks, understand what tasks need to be completed and managing their time effectively.

As well as improving communication

Visual schedules can also improve communication between parents and kids. By creating a visual schedule together, parents can discuss the morning routine with their child and make any necessary adjustments. This can help to ensure that everyone is on the same page and can reduce misunderstandings.

Why does this help?

Children can have challenges with organising all of the activities and events within a given day, mornings with clear routine and a common reference point can create brain calm with what can often be an overwhelming time.

For example, they can help children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) understand and follow routines. A study published in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders found that children with ASD who used visual schedules had fewer behavioral problems and were more engaged in activities than those who did not use visual schedules.

Similarly, visual schedules can be helpful for children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) who struggle with organization and time management.

Visual schedules are important for kids because they provide a sense of predictability and routine. Children feel more secure when they know what to expect, and visual schedules can help them anticipate what's coming next.

They can also reduce anxiety and frustration by making it clear what is expected of the child. For children with special needs, visual schedules can be especially helpful in breaking down complex activities into smaller, more manageable steps.

Children take time to manage and understand multiple steps activities and routines, with a visual schedule we can break down each activity into its parts. For example a visual schedule for one child may include “brushing your teeth” with a symbol of a tooth brush.

This may be enough of a prompt for this child, however, for another child who is still learning the steps involved in brushing your teeth we may need to have a series of images. Starting from selecting the tooth brush that belongs to you, identifying the toothpaste, applying the toothpaste, wetting the toothbrush, brushing our teeth, rinsing our mouth and washing our toothbrush. Extra steps may also be having a timer for how long to brush our teeth or turning water off. Over time as children’s skills improve we may begin to shorten this visual schedule as our ability to process multiple steps improves.

The next step is to understand how we can create a visual schedule for a child?

First, parents should identify the daily activities and routines that are important for their child. This might include getting dressed, eating meals, going to school or therapy, playing, and bedtime routines. We can make a list of all the tasks that need to be completed in the morning, and identify which tasks are the most important to include.

Next we need to Determine the order of these activities

For example, getting dressed may come before having breakfast, or packing a backpack may come before putting on shoes. This can be different for every family, and it may change over time as we determine what is most realistic and practical.

We then Choose a format

There are many different formats for visual schedules, so choose one that works best for your child. This can include:

Picture symbols: Use simple pictures or symbols to represent each task.

Written words: Write out each task in simple language.

Personally, I find that a combination of pictures and words to represent each task, and can help with our understanding of words and language connected to each task.

 Now it is time to make the schedule!

We need to take pictures or find symbols that represent each activity. These can be printed out or drawn by hand. It can be a nice activity to make this together, to give a child a sense of control with their schedule, but also importantly because this schedule is for the family, and these symbols need to make sense and be understood by all members of the family.

For some a color coding system can work really well and make it easier to follow You can use different colors to represent different types of tasks (e.g., green for self-care tasks like brushing teeth, blue for getting dressed, and yellow for breakfast).

Once you have created the visual schedule, review it with your child. Talk them through each task and explain what they need to do. Encourage them to ask questions if they are unsure about anything. And you can practice the first time on a day that is not as busy such as a Saturday or Sunday morning when the time pressures may not be as intense.

What are some tips for using a visual schedule with a child?

There are a few things to keep in mind when using a visual schedule with a child. First, it's important to place the schedule where the child can easily see it, such as on the wall or on a bulletin board that is within reach, because it needs to be accessible! We can include a way to tick off activities, whether it is a symbol we place next to each activity or a whiteboard we can write or draw on to indicate a step has been completed.

It's also helpful to review the schedule with the child at the beginning of each day, so they know what to expect. It's a good idea to use consistent language when describing each activity, so the child knows what to expect. For example, instead of saying "time to eat," say "it's time for breakfast."

Lastly, it's important to be flexible and make changes to the schedule as needed, you can always have a section for special events which may be occurring on that day.

Consistency is key, it's important to use the schedule every day, so the child can become familiar with it. We also don’t want the schedule too complex or overwhelming. It's important to start with a few basic activities and add more as the child becomes comfortable with the routine. For example if our goal is to build our teeth brushing skills we can begin with this one activity, or if our goal is packing our bag we may have our lunch box, drink bottle, hat and pencil case included in our visual schedule.

Importantly The schedule should be used as a tool to help the child understand their routine, not as a way to control behavior. it's important to celebrate successes and milestones with the child.

Now let’s talk resources that make life easier to create a visual schedule.

Apps that allow parents to create and customize visual schedules, such as Choiceworks and First Then Visual Schedule. There are also websites that offer free printable visual schedules, such as Autism Speaks and Boardmake, 

If you found this helpful make sure to subscribe to Adaptive Kids Youtube, Instagram Adaptive_Kids or recommend to a friend who this may help! If you ever have any questions reach out, you can email James, info@adaptivekids.com.au