Checklists are a visual tool that people use as early as elementary school and most likely continue to use throughout their adult lives. However, checklists are a learned skill. For beginners, there are some essential Do’s and Don'ts that can contribute to effective time management and organization skills. It’s important to consider that an adult’s checklist will look different than a child’s. For example, your checklist may have “Do the dishes” which you know includes unloading the dishwasher, re-loading the dishwasher, hand washing/drying any dishes, AND cleaning the sink out. But for a child, these intuitive thoughts do not flow easily, so how can we guide children through the extensive thought processes of checklists and routines?
Create a Routine
Creating a routine can be an essential way for children to process their schedules and ensure consistent and fluent behaviors for a specific time of day (i.e. Morning, After School, Bedtime). Routines can be a combination of expected tasks from the adults at home and choices of activities from the child. By incorporating a mixture of must-do and may-do activities, children may not get burnt out as quickly and feel ownership and enjoyment in their daily routines.
Develop Specific Steps/Checklists
As mentioned before, children may not have the ability to process through all the of required tasks for part of a routine to be considered “done”. Using checklists and subparts can help guide children to begin thinking of these independently. For example, if a child’s morning routine includes “making the bed”, try asking your child “What is the process for making your bed? What specific steps do you need to take?”. You can guide children by prompting them to use transitional phrases (first, next, then, etc.) and reminding them of any steps they may have forgotten.
Explore Time
Children may need additional support to decide how long each item will take. You can encourage them to explore this concept by practicing their routines and timing each task. You may need to remind them that it could take a couple of tries before they are efficient in each task. Remind them to build in extra time for “unexpected” circumstances. There’s no need to cry over spilt milk, but there should be extra time built into routines just in case!
Write expectations
Children can begin thinking through each process through different writing activities. How-to writing exercises, journaling, and reflective activities can help children identify specific steps required for each task, strengths, and future areas for improvement.
Use a Checklist
Checklists can be an effective way to help children ensure they complete the required tasks of each part of their routine. It is essential to use clear language that is specific to the task. For example, a daily routine may include “clean your room”. However, cleaning your room requires sub-tasks such as “making the bed, putting clothes away, putting toys away in the correct place”. Including these sub-tasks in a checklist specific to your family’s expectations can create clear objectives and procedures for your child to follow, which will create successful completion/routines.
Routines and procedures are essential for building executive functioning skills such as organization, planning, and time management. They can be taught through guided practice so that children can begin independently thinking through small steps needed to complete larger tasks and projects. These skills can also promote problem solving and create critical thinking skills which can transfer into school activities. Routines and checklists are flexible resources that should fit your family’s needs. There are many editable checklists that you can use to create a visual reminder for your children. Include them in this process to make the most of your household routines and checklists!
Written by Ami Z.