Everyday activities—like getting dressed, playing outside, or helping with household chores—may seem simple, but they play a vital role in a child’s development. For children with intellectual disabilities or other developmental disorders such as autism spectrum disorder, participating in these routines can be especially challenging. However, with the right support, these everyday moments can become meaningful opportunities for learning and growth.
Engaging in daily tasks during early childhood supports many areas of development, including physical development, speech and language skills, cognitive understanding, and social and emotional wellbeing. These activities also help children build independence, confidence, and a sense of belonging within their families and communities.
Parents and caregivers often wonder how to encourage participation in everyday routines when their child faces developmental challenges. This guide offers simple, practical strategies to help children with developmental disabilities take part in daily life, enjoy new experiences, and build essential life skills along the way.
The "Promoting Participation" handbook by Dolly Bhargava provides valuable insights into how parents can support their child’s development through everyday home activities and accompanies this article.
Why Participation Matters
Participation isn’t just about showing up—it’s about being involved in a way that supports a child’s cognitive development and builds the skills needed for future success. In early childhood, particularly around the ages of four and five years, taking part in daily routines helps children grow across many areas of development, from physical coordination to attention span, communication, and social understanding.
When we talk about participation, it’s helpful to break it down into two key parts:
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Attendance. This means being physically present in an activity. For example, a child sitting at the table during mealtime or standing beside a parent while laundry is folded.
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Engagement. This goes a step further. It means the child is interacting meaningfully with the activity—helping to set the table, choosing clothes to wear, or asking questions about what’s happening. When a child is actively engaged it helps strengthen problem-solving abilities and encourages greater independence.
Children with developmental disorders may be present but not yet fully engaged. Encouraging both attendance and engagement supports a child’s ability to learn from everyday experiences and connect more deeply with family members and peers.
Participation in everyday tasks not only supports immediate developmental gains—it has long-term benefits too. Children who regularly take part in home, school, and community activities are more likely to develop the confidence and skills needed to do well at school, build friendships, and eventually pursue further education or careers. These everyday routines lay the foundation for making choices, solving problems, and taking responsibility as they grow.
On the flip side, when children do not participate in everyday activities alongside adults, they may miss out on important learning experiences. Over time, this can contribute to increased risk of social isolation, delays in speech and physical development, difficulty managing emotions, and reduced independence. It can also impact family life, as parents and siblings may struggle to involve the child in shared routines, leading to frustration and stress.
Supporting participation doesn’t mean pushing a child to do everything all at once. It means finding ways to involve them in small, meaningful steps—helping them feel valued, included, and capable of contributing to daily life.
Particular Challenges Engaging in Everyday Activities for Children With Developmental Disabilities
For children with developmental disabilities, everyday activities that others take for granted—like brushing teeth, putting on clothes, or joining in play—can be complex, confusing, or even overwhelming. This isn’t due to a lack of willingness or interest, but often because of how their brain processes information and responds to the world around them.
Children with developmental disabilities may experience difficulties across various aspects of functioning. These can include delays in communication, differences in sensory processing, challenges with motor coordination, and difficulty understanding instructions or social expectations. For example, a child might struggle to follow a multi-step routine like getting ready for school or may feel anxious when their environment changes suddenly.
These challenges can make it harder for children to engage meaningfully in everyday routines without support. As a result, they may be at higher risk of withdrawing from activities or becoming overly reliant on others to complete tasks for them. Over time, this can impact their ability to build independence and contribute to a sense of frustration or low self-esteem.
Without early and consistent intervention, there’s also an increased risk of negative long-term outcomes. Children who are not supported to take part in daily life may face difficulties with mental health, such as heightened anxiety, low mood, or difficulty managing stress. They may also miss out on crucial learning experiences that support physical, emotional, and social development—key building blocks for success in school and later life.
How Participation Supports Development
Participation in everyday activities supports children's development in a range of positive ways. These benefits work for children that do and don't have intellectual disabilities or other cognitive development challenges. We have categorised them into five areas that we can explore in more detail:
Physical Skills
Participating in daily tasks like getting dressed, climbing stairs, or helping with cooking strengthens gross and fine motor skills. These activities support balance, coordination, hand strength, and dexterity. For children with developmental disabilities, even small tasks—like fastening buttons or carrying light objects—can become opportunities to build independence and physical confidence in a familiar, supported environment.
Speech and Language Development
Many children with developmental disabilities have difficulties with communication, whether verbal or non-verbal. Engaging in routines that involve talking, listening, making choices, or even using gestures and visual aids encourages expressive and receptive language skills. Mealtimes, bath time, and shared play offer valuable moments for learning new words, practicing turn-taking in conversation, and building confidence in self-expression.
Cognitive Development
Participation in everyday activities helps children develop thinking skills, including memory, attention span, and problem-solving abilities. Tasks such as setting the table, following a visual schedule, or helping sort laundry challenge a child to think, remember, sequence, and focus. These experiences build foundational cognitive development that supports learning at school and in everyday life.
Social and Emotional Development
Being part of routines gives children the chance to interact with family members, peers, and carers in natural, meaningful ways. These social interactions teach children how to share, wait, cooperate, and recognise others' feelings. Emotional development also blossoms when children feel included, valued, and successful in their contributions—building self-esteem, emotional regulation, and resilience.
Sensory Development
For children with sensory processing differences, the world can feel overwhelming or confusing. Everyday activities offer structured ways to explore and respond to sensory input—such as the feel of water at bath time, the smell of cooking, or the sounds of outdoor play. Participation helps children gradually become more comfortable with sensory experiences, which supports their ability to focus, engage, and enjoy new environments over time.
How to Encourage Participation in Everyday Activities for Children with Developmental Disabilities
Helping your child get involved in everyday routines can feel challenging at first—but with patience, planning, and a positive approach, it can become part of your daily rhythm. In this section, we’ll walk through practical steps to encourage your child’s participation in a way that suits their individual needs. From spotting opportunities in daily life to breaking tasks into manageable steps and working with therapists, these strategies are designed to build confidence, independence, and connection.
Identify Opportunities for Participation
Daily life is full of opportunities where children can get involved in meaningful and manageable ways. The key is to start small and look for routines that naturally repeat each day. For example, your morning routine can offer chances for participation through tasks like brushing teeth, getting dressed, or helping to pack a school bag. These simple moments can become valuable learning experiences when approached with patience and support.
Household chores are another great area to explore. Children can help wipe tables, water plants, or fold laundry—tasks that build physical coordination and a sense of responsibility. During mealtimes, children might enjoy setting the table, pouring drinks, or stirring ingredients while cooking. These activities not only support fine motor skills but also offer natural ways to develop communication and cooperation.
Don't forget to include play and leisure time. Whether it’s playing with toys, reading a book together, or dancing to music, these activities can support both development and bonding with family members. Outdoor routines—like walking in the park, feeding pets, or gardening—can also be rich with sensory and social learning.
To begin, choose one or two routines your child already enjoys or shows interest in. Introducing participation gradually helps build confidence and prevents overwhelm. As your child becomes more familiar and comfortable, you can add new tasks or increase the level of engagement over time.
Break the Activity Into Steps
Many everyday tasks can feel overwhelming for children with developmental disabilities, especially when they involve multiple actions or require quick transitions. A helpful way to make these activities more manageable is to break them down into smaller, simpler steps. This approach not only reduces anxiety but also allows your child to learn each part of the task at their own pace.
Take handwashing as an example. While it may seem straightforward to adults, it actually involves a series of actions that can be challenging to remember and coordinate. By breaking it into clear steps—such as turning on the tap, wetting hands, applying soap, scrubbing hands together, rinsing, and then drying with a towel—you give your child the structure they need to succeed.
To support this process, you can use visual schedules, picture charts, or step-by-step demonstrations. These tools provide clear, consistent cues that help your child understand what’s expected and what comes next. Over time, with repetition and encouragement, your child can build confidence and begin completing the steps more independently.
Recognise Your Child’s Current Abilities
Every child is different, and their ability to complete tasks will vary depending on the activity and their individual needs. Some children may be able to carry out certain steps on their own, while others may need varying levels of support. Understanding where your child is at right now helps you provide the right amount of assistance without overwhelming them or setting expectations too high.
A helpful way to think about support is to use a hierarchy of prompting, starting from full independence and gradually increasing the level of support only when necessary. At the top of the hierarchy is independent completion, where your child carries out the task on their own without help. If they need a little support, a verbal prompt—such as giving spoken instructions or reminders—might be enough to guide them through.
For children who need more structure, visual prompts can be useful. This might include using gestures, photos, or demonstration to show them what to do. In some cases, partial physical prompting is needed, where you guide their hands or body through part of the task. When a child requires full assistance, full physical prompting can be used to help them complete the activity entirely.
The ultimate goal is to reduce the level of support over time. As your child becomes more familiar with the task and gains confidence, you can gradually step back—allowing them to take more ownership and move towards greater independence.
Make Participation Fun & Rewarding
Children are far more likely to take part in daily activities when those experiences are enjoyable and positive. Creating a sense of fun around everyday routines can turn even simple tasks into something your child looks forward to. Encouragement, praise, and choice all play a role in making participation feel rewarding.
Using positive reinforcement is a great way to motivate your child. Offer praise for every effort, no matter how small. Even if they don’t complete a task fully or perfectly, acknowledging their attempt helps build confidence and a sense of achievement. This positive feedback reinforces the idea that participation is valued, and that trying is what matters most.
Offering choices can also boost engagement. For example, you might let your child choose between watering the plants or wiping the table. Giving them some control makes the activity feel less like a demand and more like a shared experience, encouraging a sense of independence.
You can also turn tasks into games to make them more engaging. Try setting a timer to see how quickly they can complete a chore, or play music during tidy-up time to make the atmosphere fun and energetic. These small adjustments help shift the focus from simply completing a task to enjoying the process—making participation something your child wants to repeat.
Create a Participation Plan with Therapists
If your child is supported by therapy services, working closely with their Allied Health Professionals—such as speech therapists or occupational therapists—can make a big difference in encouraging participation. These professionals bring valuable insight and experience that can help you create a structured, realistic plan tailored to your child’s individual strengths and needs.
Together, you can identify specific skills to focus on, choose meaningful daily activities to target, and explore tools or strategies that may support success. This collaborative approach ensures your child is working toward achievable goals, with consistent support across both home and therapy environments.
One helpful framework is the PARTICIPATION model outlined in Bhargava’s handbook, which breaks the planning process into practical steps. This includes pinpointing suitable activities, analysing each task into manageable steps, and recognising your child’s current abilities. From there, you can target specific skills to teach, decide when and where to practise, and identify the materials needed to support learning.
The model also encourages phasing support gradually—from simply observing the task to eventually achieving full, independent participation. It places a strong emphasis on celebrating progress, sharing strategies with others for consistency, and finding ways to practise skills across a variety of settings. Importantly, it also reminds you to acknowledge your own hard work as a parent or caregiver and to keep track of the progress your child is making over time.
By building a plan together with professionals, you create a supportive pathway that promotes growth, confidence, and meaningful involvement in everyday life.
The PARTICIPATION model:
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P: pinpoint activities to target
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A: analyse the activity into steps
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R: recognise current skills
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T: target skills to teach
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I: identify times to teach
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C: consider location for teaching
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I: identify activity materials
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P: phase teaching from observation to full participation
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A: acknowledge progress with praise and rewards
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T: tell others to promote consistency
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I: insert opportunities for generalisation in new settings
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O: own your hard work (celebrate your efforts as a parent!)
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N: note down skills and track progress.
Final Thoughts
Supporting a child with developmental disabilities to participate in everyday activities is not always easy—but it is deeply worthwhile. Each small moment of engagement, from stirring ingredients to getting dressed, is an opportunity for learning, connection, and growth. Participation builds the essential skills children need—not just to manage daily life, but to thrive in school, relationships, and future independence.
By breaking tasks into manageable steps, recognising your child’s current abilities, and making activities fun and rewarding, you can create a supportive environment where your child feels confident and capable. And by working with therapists and using structured approaches like the PARTICIPATION model, you can build a tailored plan that brings lasting benefits for your child and your family.
Remember, progress doesn’t happen all at once. But every small success adds up—every attempt, every smile, every “I can do it!” is a step forward. With your guidance and encouragement, your child can build the foundation for a more independent, connected, and fulfilling life.