Effective Strategies for Early Childhood Intervention

By Mackenzie McIntyre, ProviderSoft

There are many effective strategies and techniques in early childhood intervention programs that help children during their formative years. This article, Professional and Parent-Implemented Early Intervention Strategies by ECCM addresses some of these strategies that parents can implement. 

Sitting in a Chair
A straightforward approach for parents to enhance their child’s attention span is by using a sitting activity. Invite your child to sit with you, offering praise when they comply. It’s important not to punish them if they don’t stay seated for long or choose not to sit. Over time, introducing engaging activities will help extend their sitting duration and help their ability to focus on a single task at a time.

Look at Me
This activity is especially beneficial for children with autism, but it also benefits children in developing their social interactions, relationships, and language skills. Hold an engaging object close to your face, and encourage your child to make eye contact with you. When they do, offer praise as positive reinforcement. 

Sorting by Color
Sorting and association activities are valuable for cognitive skill development. Begin by gathering items such as toy cars, crayons, socks, and more. Choose one item from the assortment and ask the child to locate other items of the same color. If they have trouble, you can help by doing the first few together

Guess the Emotion
Parents can engage in emotion recognition games to enhance a child’s socio-emotional development. Start by printing out emojis depicting various emotions. Act out the emotion or narrate a brief story that conveys it. Then, encourage the child to identify the card that corresponds to the expressed emotion, and praise their correct selections. If they have trouble, talk it out to help them understand and identify the emotion together

Step-by-step Skills
Using cards to illustrate step-by-step processes, like tooth brushing, is a valuable tool in early intervention for children. It helps them learn structured, visual methods for mastering essential life skills by teaching them how to organize and sequence tasks effectively. To use this approach, shuffle the cards representing a particular activity, discuss the task or tell a brief story about it, prompt your child to arrange the cards in the correct order for completion, and acknowledge their success with celebration and praise when they correctly sequence the cards.