What is a transition?

A transition is the movement from one activity, learning or play space, or environment to another. Transition routines are an established series of steps that guide learners through change. Some learners may have difficulty with transitions.

Use these steps to help you prepare your transition plan:

1. Review your daily routine to identify regular transitions that occur throughout a session, day, and week. For example, this can be from outside to inside play or from free-play to mat-time to snack time.
2. Design a transition routine appropriate for these transitions.
   • Establish a series of steps associated with the completion of that movement. For example, you can provide a 5-minute and then a 3-minute warning before learners need to switch tasks using a visual or auditory cue. You can use countdown timers for the whole group, or some learners may need a personal visual cue such as a photo or music cue.
3. Prepare/create supporting materials. This might look like a photo with the current activity with a cross through it and the second photo of the next activity, or a photo schedule board that the child can use to remove the picture of the activity that is finished and be shown what’s happening next. The child’s specialists (speech pathologist, occupational therapist) can help with these materials.
4. Ensure that supporting materials are ready and accessible for learners and the materials can be used by all children

Remember to consider the type of activity and the learner's reaction to it:

• If the child is engaged in a favoured activity the transition to something different will be harder, especially if the transition has not been communicated effectively. For example, a child who loves to draw may become frustrated when they haven't been able to finish drawing before being transitioned to the next activity.
• Moving to a less desired activity will make the transition to the activity harder, which may result in emotional dysregulation. For example, a child who doesn’t like sitting in close proximity to others and prefers not to sit together at mat time might protest about the transition to mat time activities.

Easing learners into transition routines can reduce these behavioural concerns.

It works better if you:

• provide children with prompts before a transition
• ensure there is enough time for children to calmly transition from one activity or environment to another
• use visual/auditory prompts to support the transition routine
• use the same steps in as many of the transition routines as possible, e.g., ’First pack away, then sit on the mat’, or ‘When the music plays, it’s pack away time’.
• provide positive reinforcement for learners for following the transition routine

It doesn’t work if you:

• don't use the transition routine consistently
• constantly change daily routines, or
• change the routine without warning