Visual Checklists.

In the past two weeks, I’ve posted some pictures of the visual checklists I made for Javi on instagram and in some other blog posts — and received many questions about them. So I’m going to talk a bit about them here.

Not every child needs a visual checklist! But if you’re finding that you’re constantly reminding your child of what to do now, or next, or if your child never remembers what they need to leave the house with… it might be something to think about incorporating at home. In our home, a major trigger for me (along with noise and mess) is repeating myself! So a checklist helps him stay on task without me and my voice — which is fantastic.

The first list he has includes the things he needs to do before school each morning: eat breakfast, brush his teeth, wash his face, get dressed and use the bathroom. As he completes each task, he moves the picture from the left column to the right column. The pictures are attached with velcro which makes them movable.

The second list he has includes things he needs to bring with him to school: shoes, jacket, lunchbox, water bottle and backpack. (The night before school we typically make sure his backpack is already packed with extra masks, his bus tag, and his folder.) He knows he’s not considered “ready” until he has all these things together and on him.

I wanted both these lists to be simple but effective. Typically, a list of five (or less) things is manageable which is why I broke up these tasks into two separate lists. The first is on the fridge which is a central location between the kitchen and bathroom (where the tasks need to be completed.) The second is near the cubby area (where his shoes, jacket, etc.) are supposed to be!

These visual checklists were very easy to make by snapping some photos and putting it all into a document. If you’re interested in having these ones in your home, you can download them for free here. If you want to make your own, there are some size guidelines on the download that may be helpful to you, too.

Enjoy!