Tips for Working with a Child Who Prefers the Familiar

Friends, Family and Home

• Help him make new friends by inviting a new child over to play.
• When pets die, a move or changes occur, spend a lot of time talking and reassuring her.
• Warn about changes in your home, such as redecorating, before it happens.
• For birthdays and other occasions, plan small celebrations.
• Maintain family routines as much as possible.

Learning, Childcare and School

• Introduce children to new schools and teachers slowly by visiting the new place often and staying extra the first few days of school.
• Let teachers know that he needs lots of notice to prepare for change.
• Ask teachers to let her and you know ahead of time if they are planning to rearrange rooms or have visitors or go on field trips.

Activities and Television

• Watch TV shows with him in which people go on trips or to new schools and discuss the stories with him.
• Play games where she has to make choices and change what she is doing, such as card games or role play games.
• Play "What If" games and ask, "What if we went to the zoo, what would be fun, what would be scary, what should we take?"
• Provide baby with a blanket or stuffed animal, and keep it with him when you go places.

Guidance and Discipline

• Talk frequently about upcoming changes, trips or new people.
• Describe a new experience, what it will be like and what to expect.
• Take a familiar object with you to new places.
• Offer choices and encourage her to try new things.
• When routines are temporarily upset, reassure him that things will return to normal soon.