Holiday Routines for Kids: Free Visual Supports and Token Boards to Support Behavior

The holidays can be busy, chaotic, and bring significant changes to daily routines, which can be challenging—especially for children who thrive on consistency. Visual supports are helpful tools that can make transitions and changes easier to manage.

For example:

• Token boards can be used to encourage participation in non-preferred activities by offering a clear reward system.
• Visual schedules help outline the sequence of daily events, which is especially useful when routines are different from the norm during the holidays.
• First-Then boards are great for helping with transitions—by showing that a non-preferred activity is followed by a preferred one. For instance, “First, take pictures with Santa, then play with toys.”

To help navigate the holiday season more smoothly, here are some free visual supports you can use when things get a bit hectic:

A Free first, then board:

 A free editable visual schedule:

Holiday visual schedule:

Holiday PECs