Feasibility of an intervention to facilitate time and everyday functioning in preschoolers

The purpose of the study is to investigate whether it is possible to improve how kindergarten children (some with and most without special educational needs) understand and manage time using the ‘MyTime’ intervention programme. The programme is designed to make it easier for children to carry out regular activities, and the study focuses on how kindergarten teachers and the children experience the programme.

The results of the study showed that the intervention programme worked well in the kindergarten environment. The findings indicated an improvement in both children’s time processing ability (TPA) and their ability to perform daily activities. Out of the 19 children who completed the pre- and post-intervention evaluations, 13 of them showed an increase in TPA after the eight-week intervention. This applied to both children with special needs and typically developed children. The children’s ability to manage time also improved, as supported by assessments from both parents and kindergarten teachers. The kindergarten teachers reported that the programme was easy to implement, and they noticed that the children became more independent in terms of time orientation and performance of daily activities.

The study uses the ‘MyTime’ intervention programme. The participants were 20 children, 16 with typical development and 4 with special educational needs. The children were between 5 and 6 years old. The programme consisted of daily exercises over a period of eight weeks, during which the children were introduced to various activities in order to learn and understand the duration of time. This was done using simple support material such as a whiteboard clock and a schedule. The children also documented the time spent in their own notebooks.

Wallin Ahlström, S., Janeslätt, G., & Almqvist, L. (2022). Feasibility of an intervention to facilitate time and everyday functioning in preschoolers. Scandinavian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 29(4), 337–352.

Online year: 2021

Issue year: 2022

Review year: 2022