Visuals are great, once again, and when paired with a reinforcer you’re golden.
To give kids advance notice of an upcoming transition (for example, when its time to come out of the pool), show a VISUAL timer. Â At the least, count on your fingers down from 10. Â Saying “five more minutes” is too abstract for most kids who don’t have an understanding of what that means.
After you’ve given the visual preparation of when it will be time to transition, present the transition in a “First, then” format so it’s not a situation in which the child is going from a preferred activity (pool), to a non-preferred activity (coming out), but instead follow coming out with another preferred activity. This can be very brief. Â For example, “First you need to come out, then you can play with your trains (for a few minutes).” Â Alternatively, you can use snack time or a preferred drink as a motivator/reinforcer for complying with your direction to come in.
For those of you that have behavior charts, transitions such as these are a great time to reinforce “following directions the first time” with a ticket, star, etc.