
Daily Routine Explorations with Your Young Child: Doing Laundry
Description
Doing the laundry is a wonderful opportunity for young children to build feelings of independence. It is also a wonderful opportunity to embed STEM learning opportunities, such as matching, or categorizingwhile exploring colors and textures through comparing and contrasting.
Environment
- For children with low muscle tone, use a pillow or rolled up towel to support their trunk and body
- Place basket and laundry within reach
Materials
- Place an anti-slip mat below the basket so it does not move
- For children with physical disabilities with fine motor/grasping needs, consider using tools/assistive devices (e.g., grabber, reacher)
Instruction
- Provide hand-over-hand or hand-under-hand support to help your child sort laundry
- Narrate/sign your child’s actions
- Model and demonstrate how to do laundry
- Allow longer waiting time for child to respond and/or process this activity
