ABLE Featured Articles
Timer
Dad: You have been playing with the iPad for 20 minutes, it’s time to stop!
Son: That’s not 20 minutes! I just started playing! Let me play for another 5 minutes!
Mom: Come on, you always take so long to get dressed before school.
Daughter: No! I don’t want to go to school!
What are the benefits of a timer?
Reduce frustration
The timer can serve as a piece of temporal evidence to prove how long the child has actually played. Children will no longer put the responsibility of stopping playing on their parents. Instead, they rely on the timer to stop playing.
Stay Focused
Timers are especially useful for helping children do activities they don’t want to do. Once the timer is set, children know when the activity will be over, which increases their efficiency.
Easy to change activities
A timer can help children move from one activity/position to the next. If the timer is within their visual range, it allows them to track and tell them how much time is left.
Build time awareness
The timer can help children understand the difference between the length of time, such as 10 seconds and 50 seconds, 2 minutes and 10 minutes, etc.
This awareness of time will help them plan, arrange and use their time in the future.
Steps to use the timer
- Speak to your child exactly about the target behavior.
- Set the timer to the specified time. Start the timer when your child is ready.
- Put the timer aside (or in sight for young children).
- Remind them periodically before the timer expires
- When the timer expires, the activity must be stopped immediately
If the goal is achieved
If children achieve their goals, praise them and reward them with snacks, toys, etc.
If goals are not achieved (complaint/non-cooperation)
If they are unsuccessful, stay calm, explain why, help them solve the problem and restart the timer (1 second).
Example
- “You have 5 minutes left to play with the tablet. You have to give it back to me after 5 minutes.”
- Set the timer to 5:00. When the child is ready to play with the tablet, start the timer
- You can put the timer in front of the child
- “2 minutes left… 1 minute left… 30 seconds left…”
- “Okay, time is up. Please give me the tablet.”
If goal is achieved (child returns tablet to you)
“Good boy, you knew to stop the timer when you heard it go off! Let’s play with other toys.”
If the goal is not achieved (child won’t give up the tablet or says I don’t want to stop!)
“When the timer goes off, the fun needs to stop. I want you to try again and then quietly hand the iPad back. Let’s try again.” (Reset the timer for a few seconds and let it go off. You will then need to personally guide and assist your child in handing over the tablet.)
