The AIM Early Years ‘My Day’ Fan is a visual aid to support and encourage communication. This fan represents the possible key elements of a daily routine in the pre-school setting and can support children’s understanding of what is going to happen next. It is important that visual aids are not used to replace language, but are used alongside it to aid language development and communication. Suitable for ages: 4+
Key learning this resource may support:
Language, literacy and communication development: The fan can support children to communicate to other children and adults, using the fan as a visual aid to provide concrete reinforcement.
Social and emotional development: An individual child can be supported to feel in control of their daily routine by using the fan to understand and anticipate what is coming next and to be able to communicate their needs and preferences to other children and adults.
Suggested starting points for engagement:
- The practitioner may use their knowledge of an individual child who may benefit from a using visual aid to understand the sequence of the daily routine within the pre-school setting.
- The practitioner can support an individual child to use the fan as a communication tool to make choices during the daily routine and to support the child in expressing these needs and preferences to adults and other children.
- Consider making a more personalised fan with the use of photographs of the child engaged in activities throughout the day.
