Visual cues help us communicate with babies before language develops and long after it does.
This is especially useful for setting boundaries that aren’t absolute.
I needed to tell my baby that playing in water is fine by day and not by night.
This is an example I personally used successfully
I cut out a piece of cardboard and stuck yellow paper on one side and black on the other.
When he woke up, we flipped the cardboard to yellow while pointing outside and saying “wow! It’s morning. It’s so bright out. Everything can be seen.” In the evenings, we flipped it to black while pointing outside and saying “it’s dark outside. Nothing can be seen.”
Every time my son asked for a water play, we pointed to the cardboard and said “ok that’s yellow. It’s morning. Let’s play.” Or “oh no! See that’s black. It’s dark outside. We can’t play now”
Within few days all we had to do was to point to the cardboard and he would understand why his request was being rejected.
Let’s get creative. Design simple visual cues and use them consistently! Have you used any? How do you communicate boundaries?
Image courtesy 7-themes.com
Acceptance Parenting 