Behavior Toolbox
You know your child best, and you will know the best times and ways to present EXPO activities for your child.
Questions about Interacting with your Child during EXPO
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During EXPO activities, we encourage you to respond any time that your child takes a turn or tries to communicate.
For example, when your child makes sounds, gestures, or tries to take a turn, we encourage you to respond each time. Responses can include saying "great job!," smiling, laughing, and high-fiving. This kind of response to your child will make them feel more confident about trying to learn new skills.
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You can follow your child’s playful lead with smiles and enjoyment, and then direct attention to the EXPO activity. You can also decide to gently limit your child to focus on the EXPO activity before following your child’s lead. For example, if your child wants to play with toys that are not being used in the activity, you can say, “Three more turns, and then we can play with these toys over here.”
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Waiting might not feel like a natural thing to do when playing with your child. But waiting can be important when your child is trying to learn new skills and need more time to think and respond. Using waiting at the right time can help your child feel more confident and less stressed, which helps them be ready to learn.
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Signs of engagement can provide clues on how to approach future activity sessions.
Engaged: Your child may be facing you, sharing attention with an object, taking turns with you, or imitating you.
Not engaged: Your child might look away or try to start other activities. They may also move in the direction of something more interesting.
Challenges with engagement can happen for lots of reasons, like being tired or not feeling well. Other times, they may respond better to a different activity that they like more and are excited to do.
Questions about Managing your Child’s Behaviors During Expo
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A main part of EXPO is helping your child to be engaged during your sessions. You can do this by using positive behavior support. The best way to encourage your child to engage in EXPO activities is to provide positive reinforcements for trying activities or doing any behavior that you want to see repeated. Positive reinforcements are clear messages to your child letting him or her know that you appreciate their participation.
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You know your child best and, at the same time, you will be managing your child’s engagement while learning new skills yourself. Therefore, it might be useful to brainstorm three strategies for positive reinforcement before engaging in EXPO activities with your child. These positive supports can vary for families and children. Click here to view our brainstorm worksheet. Or ask your coach to learn more during your next coaching session!
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You know your child well. Pay attention to the signs they are sending you with their behavior and try to take an investigative approach. All children will need help persisting in activities from time to time. Challenging behaviors like refusing to engage in an activity can be frustrating. However, these actions are a form of communication. In your EXPO materials, we have provided a set of Behavioral Toolbox Cards that might help you think about these behaviors and how you can respond.