Author: S. J. Little

Smoother Transitions: 8 Helpful Tips

Posted on by S. J. Little

 

What is a Transition?

In the preschool and childcare world, a transition is any time children are switching between activities. This could include moving from the classroom to a gym space or the bathroom. It could also include changing from free play to circle time or snack time. Arrival and departure times are transitions as well.

These parts of the schedule are often difficult for young children because they have to leave something they are enjoying (such as free play) or they have to wait. Waiting is hard. It is a skill for young children to learn.

So how can we make transitions smoother? Check out the tips below.

1. Give a Warning

Two minutes before you need to transition, briefly get everyone’s attention to let them know that they have only two minutes left in the current activity.

Typically this can be done for the group as a whole, but some children need to be individually told. Get down on their level, touch their hand. Make sure they’re listening when you tell them.

2. Explain What’s Next

Children don’t want to leave the fun thing they are doing, therefore, give them something to look forward to. Briefly tell them what’s next. If the next activity is not one they enjoy, mention the following thing as well. For example, “First we will go to the bathroom, then it’s gym time.”

3. Praise Good Behaviour

What can we adults do to help transitions go smoother? Do you see a child doing what you want? Let them know with a quick high five and a “Good job.”

At times we get so caught up redirecting undesired behaviour that we forget to praise the good behaviour. Not only does this lead to the children not knowing what you want them to be doing, but it also can result in even more undesired behaviour. Why? Because children need attention. When they aren’t getting attention for good behaviour, they begin to mimic the undesired behaviour because that is what gets them the attention they crave.

Sometimes, though not always, ignoring undesired behaviour while praising desired behaviour can work wonders in making transitions smoother.

4. Sing a Transition Song

Preschool age children tend to respond well to songs. Using a song to let them know it is time to transition rather than simply telling them is a long standing strategy that works.

The classic example of this is the Cleanup Song.

Other transition specific songs can include:

  • Line up songs
  • Stand up songs
  • Sit down songs

5. Sing General Preschool Songs

If your transition includes waiting or lining up and walking to a different room, singing regular preschool songs can be a huge help in keeping the children focused and in line.

These songs could include:

6. Assign a Job

Some children respond well to responsibility. It makes them feel important. Therefore, give them a task to do.

When walking in a line-up, tasks could include:

  • Leader of the line
  • Caboose of the line (their job is to make sure no one gets left behind)
  • Hold a younger child’s hand
  • Carry something for you

When cleaning up, tasks could include:

  • Look around for any pieces of toy food that need to go back to the kitchen
  • Hold the bucket so the other children can put toys in
  • Clean up a certain area of the room

7. Play a Game

When waiting, simple games can help everyone have a better day, even the teachers. Some of these can be done while walking as well.

Try one of these games:

  • I spy
  • Find the Body Parts (pat your head, etc.)
  • Pretend to be… (can you walk like a giraffe?)
  • Stretch (copy me while I touch my toes)

8. Smile

As you are transitioning, don’t forget to smile. If you are uptight and irritable, the children will sense it. If you are smiling, everyone will enjoy the experience better.

I hope these eight tips help make your transitions smoother. What are your favourite transition strategies for preschoolers, toddlers, or other young children?

Need more help with clean-up time? Check out the article: 3 Clean-up Strategies for Toddlers and Preschoolers

Throw Out the Box

Posted on by S. J. Little

 

There they are, sitting in the corner of the room. Yes, they are tucked away, but still I see them. The boxes from two gifts I received recently.

Entering the living room, I settle on the couch and my eyes wander back to where they sit.

“Is it time to throw them out?” I wonder.

Both the mixer and the humidifier that came in the boxes have been opened and used. They appear to work well.

They have found homes elsewhere in my house, yet still the boxes sit there. Should I throw them out?

From the couch I convince myself that, yes, it is time to throw them out. Next time I’m standing, I will throw them out.

Still, doubt rises. I have not yet had them for 30 days. What if they malfunction and stop working? I could take them back, but I would need the box and all the packaging.

I shake my head. The boxes are cluttering up the space. The items have worked just fine. Besides, the store may not be willing to receive them back now that I’ve used them.

But, what if…

I’ll ask my husband what he thinks when he gets off work. That will settle things.

With that I push the thoughts away and turn to the task I am supposed to be working on.

— — —

That evening, I forgot to ask my husband his opinion, so the boxes stayed put.

Several times this debate took place in my head as I eyed the boxes. I didn’t like the space they were consuming, but what if…?

With the empty boxes still sitting nearby as I type, I ask the question, are there any boxes I need to throw out in my life?

For me, some of those boxes still kicking around in my head and heart might be the “that’s not how it used to be” comments.

True, there may have been good in how things used to be done. Still, holding onto those thoughts creates clutter that steals from my ability to enjoy the new ways of doing things.

An example cropped up in my life recently related to my pregnancy.

I used to be a morning person. Before 9am used to be my best time for writing. During pregnancy, however, my mind was sluggish most mornings. That’s not how it used to be, yet if I hang onto that thought too tightly, I may slip into grumbling and bitterness.

Indeed, with a new baby around, there are many changes I must embrace, and I can do it much better if I throw out the boxes.

Now, that might be a useful life principle, but I believe there is a more important box to throw out when it comes to following Jesus.

Throwing away those boxes that are sitting in my living room feels a bit risky because it is a commitment – a commitment that I will not be taking those items back for a refund. Once the boxes are gone, if one of the items breaks, it’s on me to buy a replacement.

Similarly, choosing to give my life 100% to Jesus can feel risky. What if I don’t like what He asks me to do? What if I want my old life back?

In Matthew 8:19-22 ESV, we see that Jesus wants us to be all in – no holding onto boxes.

“A scribe came up and said to Him, ‘Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.’ Another of the disciples said to Him, ‘Lord, let me first go and bury my father.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Follow Me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead.'” 

Elsewhere Jesus said, “For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.”  (Matthew 16:25 ESV)

So what about me? Am I following Jesus with my entire life, or do I cling to some boxes that are keeping me back?

Just like the boxes still cluttering my living room, it is time for me to get rid of those boxes that are hindering me in my walk with Jesus.

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:1-2 ESV)

P.S. I have since recycled those boxes. My living room looks much better without them!

3 Super Simple Lullabies

Posted on by S. J. Little
Child sleeping behind title: 3 Super Simple Lullabies

 

Do you like to sing to your child as you put them to bed? Want some new songs to try? Looking for a transition song to sing just before nap time? Then you’re in the right place.

Below are three original super simple lullabies for you and your children to learn.

Since these are original words, please include my name with them.

Time to Sleep

Words by: S. J. Little

Tune: Kum Ba Yah

 

Time to sleep, my child, time to sleep.

Time to sleep, my child, time to sleep.

Time to sleep, my child, time to sleep.

Hush now, time to sleep.

 

If you want to change up this simple lullaby, try singing “go to sleep”, “you can sleep”, or “let’s all sleep” instead of “time to sleep”.

Hush Hush

Words by: S. J. Little

Tune: Row Row Row Your Boat

 

Hush, hush, hush, it’s time,

Close your eyes and dream,

Quietly, quietly, quietly, quietly,

Snuggle down for sleep.

Count Slow

Words by: S. J. Little

Tune: Are You Sleeping

 

Time for sleeping, time for sleeping,

Close your eyes, close your eyes.

Lie still and count slow, lie still and count slow.

One, two, three; four, five, six.

 

Se-ven ei-ght; ni-ne t-en,

Eleven twelve; thirteen fourteen,

Fifteen sixteen seventeen; eighteen nineteen twenty.

Hush now sleep. Hush now sleep.

What’s your favourite lullaby to sing?

Newborns Crave Milk

Posted on by S. J. Little
Cute baby behind title: Newborns Crave Milk

 

I open my eyes at the sound of stirring in the bassinet beside me. A cry escapes my baby, and then another.

Yawning, I glance at the clock – 5:45 am.

I pull myself out of bed and pick up my little one.

Carrying her through the dim hallway to the living room, I talk to her.

“Did you have a good sleep? Are you hungry again?”

Her eyes drift into sleep, but then scrunch as her cries resume with renewed force.

I settle myself on the couch to nurse her.

As she feeds, my eyes droop dangerously. I shake my head to ward off the drowsiness.

I calculate back to the last time I fed her. I have managed an hour and a half of sleep since then.

When my baby finishes nursing, she sprawls in a milk coma, limp and asleep.

Gratefully, I gingerly carry her back to the bassinet before slipping into my own bed.

I glance at the clock. It’s just after 6:00 am.

My baby will have time to be awake and play later, but for now I pull my blankets snug and let my eyes close.

A short cry wakes me. I hear stirrings beside me.

I glance at the clock – 7:45 am.

Laying still, I listen as the stirrings increase until the cry resumes.

Pushing aside the blankets, I stretch. Time to feed the baby again.

Lifting my crying baby, I head toward the living room again. At least this time I feel more awake.

In 1 Peter 2:2, we read, “Like newborn infants, desire the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow up into your salvation,…” (CSB)

How often do newborns crave milk? Do they only want to eat once a week on Sundays? Or perhaps once a day?

No. A newborn baby is likely to want to eat every 2-3 hours, resulting in eight feeds a day.

This leads me to ask myself the question: “How often do I crave the Word of God?”

Deuteronomy 6:6-9 tells me what this can look like.

“These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart. Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them be a symbol on your forehead. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your city gates.” (CSB)

I know I have much room for growth in this area.

Newborns crave milk with a passion. When hungry, they zealously plea to be satisfied.

Their hunger is not some passive, “I can do that later.”

They exclaim, “I need food now!”

How urgent is my desire to be in the Bible? How often do I ponder the things of God?

I have one last thought to share before I wrap up this post. For it I must return to 1 Peter.

If I back up one verse to 1 Peter 2:1, I read, “Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all slander.” (CSB)

I am to rid myself of these ungodly things to help free me up to desire the Word of God.

I’ve noticed something similar in my baby.

Milk goes in and poo comes out. When the poo gets delayed and doesn’t come out for several days, it seems her appetite drops due to lack of space in her little belly.

Then comes the moment when she empties out her poo (and we hope the diaper contains it all). Once that’s done, she is ravenously hungry. Why? Because she has space again.

(Please note I am not a doctor or nurse, but simply a mom making observations and guessing at the reasons behind them.)

I suspect similar is true for me.

In order for me to rightly desire to be in the Word, in a way comparable to a baby desiring milk, my heart must be right. If my heart is full of envy or deceit, it will have no room to ponder the things of God.

Do not misunderstand. This is not a matter of salvation. Being saved and born again is a free gift from God. (To read more about this good news, check out The Gospel.) 

This, rather, is talking to those who are already saved (see 1 Peter 2:3). It is referring to how I am to be growing toward maturity in my walk with the Lord (see 1 Peter 2:2b).

So how is my intake of the Bible doing? How often am I making room in my heart to feast on the very Word of God? How often do my thoughts revolve around the things of God?

Not as often as I would like.

Lord, help me to desire more of Your Word and to be intentional to make time to read and ponder it.

Three Little Blue Cars – Preschool Fingerplay

Posted on by S. J. Little

 

Are you teaching about community helpers, such as mechanics, or is your theme transportation? Is your child simply excited about cars? If you answered yes to any of these questions then you’ll want to check out the preschool fingerplay below.

The Three Little Blue Cars fingerplay promotes learning to count to three, problem-solving, and builds vocabulary.

Three Little Blue Cars

Original words by S. J. Little

Tune/rhythm: Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed

 

Three little blue cars driving down the road,

One popped a tire and could not go.

“Oh no!” said the driver. “What shall we do?”

“Call the mechanic to make you good as new.”

 

Two little blue cars driving down the road,

One hit a big tree and crushed his bumper.

“Oh no!” said the driver. “What shall we do?”

“Call the mechanic to make you good as new.”

 

One little blue car driving down the road,

He blew his engine and smoke billowed out.

“Oh no!” said the driver. “What shall we do?”

“Call the mechanic to make you good as new.”

This fingerplay lends itself well to visuals. Therefore, I put together a free printout for you. I recommend either printing it on blue paper or colouring the cars blue after you have printed them out.

Three Blue Cars Visual – Free Download

 

Have fun sharing this fingerplay with your little one!

Interested in more preschool transportation songs?

Take a look at the 9-1-1 Song, and the Taxi Song.