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Find out how to use tips from the ESDM for early social-communication skills important to life-long learning, behavior, and health with your child or with families whom you support in an early childhood learning environment.
Click the video icon (to the left) for the latest Quick Tip video.
Read monthly research about intervention outcomes for children with or at risk of autism; coaching supports for their families; and/or family-centered, culturally inclusive coaching tools to help early childhood professionals support families. Each monthly article is publicly available for free access.
1. The majority of studies recruited children between 12 to 59 months of age with a clinical diagnosis or higher likelihood of autism.
2. Intervention intensity and duration was approximately 1 to 2 hours-per-week over 12 weeks.
3. Children whose parents received coaching in the ESDM improved in cognition, language, imitation, attentiveness, and social initiations; although so did children in comparison groups who received other interventions.
4. Parents highlighted benefits from their coaching experiences with the ESDM that included access to useful information and guidance for how to intervene and create natural moments with their child for learning, as well as feeling less parenting stress and greater confidence in their capacity to care for their child.
5. Most interactive strategies taught to parents from the ESDM fidelity checklist appeared to contribute to children's progress; however, the amount of change varied across each parent-child dyad.
The above impressions reinforce the power of parenting interactions for strengthening children's development and the ESDM as one parent coaching approach to support this relationship. Click the article (to the right) to read more.
This month’s theme repurposes spray bottles into a novel toy and fun activity for children to play with water. They will work across several levels of play and as an opportunity to model and encourage language and new play ideas.
Pay attention to what children like (or seem curious about) and follow their lead as long as you are a part of the action, too. Remember, the most important thing is for children to have fun doing this with you! Fun means engagement and that excites children's brains and bodies for meaningful learning to happen.
Simple water play that encourages children to explore, use their senses, and movement:
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Fill up the bottle with water. You can help children hold the open bottle under the faucet, dunk it in a bucket, or practice their fine motor skills of pouring from a cup. (“The bottle is full.”)
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Spray children’s hand lightly with water. If they enjoy it, try spraying other body parts. If you pause between spraying, they can request continuation of the game by pointing to or holding up the next body part they want sprayed. (“Your hand is wet. I sprayed your belly!”)
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Help children take a turn to spray the water on you. (“We’re spraying the water. My face is wet!”)
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Spray a sponge or wash cloth and watch as it gets wetter. Squeeze it out and start again. (“The sponge is very wet. It’s dripping. You squeezed the sponge. The water came out.”)
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Put animal or vehicle stickers on a surface you can hit with the water sprayed from the bottle. Other toys can be targets, too. (“Garbage truck!” Let’s get the police car now”)
Pre-symbolic water play that encourages children to construct and accomplish goals and use their imagination:
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Incorporate the spray bottle into a pretend washing routine. First, spray a toy animal or figure with water, pretend to wash them with a washcloth, toothbrush, or rag, rinse, and then dry them off. You can use a toy bathtub or even a Tupperware. Incorporate shaving cream or foaming soap to make it extra fun!
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Give children a spray bottle and a rag and have them help you pretend to clean (or maybe actually clean!) surfaces around the room or even water plants.
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Use window markers to draw on the window or glass door for children to spray and wipe off as you name the letters, numbers, dots, shapes, or other drawn symbols (“Dot, dot, dot. Let’s count. 1, 2, 3 dots. Spray and wipe.”)
Symbolic water play that encourages children to make-believe and role-play:
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Pretend a dollhouse or building they made from magnet tiles or blocks is on fire. Drive a firetruck over and use the spray bottle as a hose to put out the fire.
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Set up a pretend car wash! You can use streamers or a duster for the brushes, the spray bottle for the rinse, and a hair dryer for the dry stage, and a towel for the buffing.
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Spray water into the air and pretend it’s raining! Time to get out the rain gear!
