For me it is essential to begin to introduce something new and potentially highly exciting to our little ones without doing a previous exercise together.

1. Display all our cards.

2. Discuss all of them so that there is not so much over-excitement when they see them.

3. Leave them within reach so that they become a natural thing to work with (with supervision).

Once they are familiar with the cards, we sit down at their level, explore them together and can suggest that they become part of their daily lives.

We can add meaning to them in our home by pulling out card after card, and asking "Do you know what this one means? This can take days or even weeks. Remember that our little ones' attention spans are not the same as ours, and it's great to honour that.

Once they know the cards, we can suggest starting to organise the day with them and wait for their response. If they don't accept, that's fine. It just means we still have some more familiarisation work to do.

Once they are ready to welcome the cards into their day, we can start with something simple. What are we doing now? What are we going to do next? Shall we lay it out?

We may hope that they can start with 3 cards and be able to change them independently, but this is very rarely the case in those early years. Most likely we need to start with 1, then add what comes next and gradually support them in switching them. From there we can think about introducing 3. Similarly, if your little one needs even more, feel free to add as many as you need.

Although the purpose is not to have an "agenda" of everything that is going to happen during the day, because we need to be able to have it fresh, to be able to talk about what is expected of them, what it is going to mean for them and to evaluate together any limits, goals or extra support they need, sometimes knowing what is going to happen over a longer period of time regulates. If you make a long to-do list, don't forget to talk about what is happening regularly.

The cards and the wooden stand can travel with you, but I recommend that for the first few days or even weeks they have a fixed place in your home. The requirements? That it is at your level and that you can sit down and talk about the cards every day for a while.

And now it's your time to ritualize those little everyday tasks that may seem ordinary to us but may be full of anxieties or first times and to that we can add a layer of regulation.

You choose if you want to use them at the weekend, just in the mornings before school, when they come home from school, or all the time. They are yours, enjoy them!