TomTag – I Know What To Expect Early Years Kit

TomTag is a flexible visual support and communication tool that can be used to create personalised visual timetables, schedules, prompts and checklists helping children with daily routines or situations they find difficult by providing them with structure, predictability and reassurance– at home, at school and when out and about.

With the I Know What To Expect Early Years Kit, you can create personalised visual timetables, prompts and choice lists to support your child in a care setting, nursery or preschool

A versatile kit to help young children understand the structure of their day, support their communication and develop their self-care skills.

Everything’s ready to go with TomTag’s colourful, sturdy tags, click-in buttons and symbol stickers. All you need to do is personalise it – just pick, stick, click and off you go. Most children love stickers so let them join in the fun! Helping set them up will encourage them to use it too!

Key benefits

• Creating structure and routine so your child knows what to expect during their day reduces their anxiety and meltdowns
  • Communicating personal care routines using easy-to-follow step-by-step sequences helps teach your child essential self-care skills
  • Encouraging your child to make simple choices of things that matter to them such as a preferred snack or activity strengthens their communication skills
• Showing your child what they need to do and in what order using simple First/Then/Next prompts reduces their anxiety and potential negative behaviour
• Communicating behaviour expectations helps your child understand and remember how to behave
• Durable and wipe clean water-resistant stickers means your child’s timetable, prompt or list can easily be kept clean

Kit contents

• 6 TomTag Button Holders
• 40 blank buttons to give you the flexibility to create multiple timetables and prompts
• 1 attachment loop to fasten TomTag to a hook, belt or bag
• Easy to follow instruction sheet to assemble your TomTag
• Early Years sticker pack which contains:
  • 72 different symbol stickers (2 copies of each) for:

• Activities & play: dress up, water play, games, baking, craft, sand play, painting, messy play, colouring, toys, play dough, lego, reading, park, singing, music
• It’s time for…: story time, circle time, inside play, outside play, play time, sleep time, quiet time, soft play, breakfast, lunchtime, snack time, go for a walk, choose, put away, home time
• Personal care: use toilet (sitting), use toilet (standing), wipe, flush, toilet roll, toilet, nappy, nappy change, potty, wash hands, dry hands
• Instructions and praise: welcome, look & listen, ask for help, kind feet, kind hands, teeth are for smiling not biting, personal space, share nicely, take turns, stop, wait, well done, inside voice, sit nicely, line up, reward star, now, next, first, then
• Snacks & drinks: water, juice, milk, yoghurt, biscuits, snack bar, raisins, vegetables, fruit, crackers

• 12 blank round stickers for personalisation
• 8 blank rectangular stickers to label your TomTag Button Holders

Dimensions

• TomTag Button Holder:18cm x 3cm
• Buttons: 2cm diameter

The TomTag I Know What To Expect Range 

The TomTag I Know What To Expect range was originally designed by a mum to help her autistic son, Tom. With this range, it’s quick and easy to make personalised visual timelines, schedules  and reminders which can be used anywhere in the home, at school, in care settings or when out and about.

TomTag visual supports can provide structure and guidance to the day or week ahead, helping to lessen anxieties and mange expectations about what is going to happen. This can lead to improvements in behaviour, communication and encourage personal responsibility and independence.

These are truly versatile visual supports.  Use the tags singly to highlight sections of the day or particular tasks. Work towards using just one tag to cover a whole routine or time of day.

TomTag is easy to clean and keep hygienic. TomTag’s plastic button holders and blank buttons can be washed in warm water and a little hand soap should they become dirty and dried with a soft cloth. The stickers are highly water resistant. Simply wipe over with a wet cloth or anti-bacterial wipe.

How does TomTag work?

TomTag uses symbols to show a series of separate tasks or steps involved in a task that are part of a routine, a sequence of events in a timeline or they can be used as a list to teach a new skill by breaking down a single activity into smaller steps.

Many children with autism and other additional needs have strong visual skills. They are more likely to remember and understand what they have seen rather than what they hear. Using a visual support like TomTag to present information visually and in a step-by-step manner allows visual thinkers and learners to take in information at their own pace. Visuals can also act as a reminder when children forget what’s been said or become distracted, TomTag helps to bring their attention back to the task or current situation.

Our Customers say

” I was looking for something discreet and easy to resource. A great idea! The main benefit being the time saving aspect. Everything is ready and no faffy laminating and  Velcro!. Really impressed.

“TomTag saves busy education staff time, while also providing a practical yet likely desirable tool towards independence for children.” Alison Wilcox, Head of Education, NASEN

WARNING: Please note – TomTag is not a toy. Not suitable for children under 36 months due to small parts.