Bucket time aims to develop children’s shared attention skills in a group setting. During bucket time, the children are provided with motivating and visually exciting experiences that encourage them to focus their attention for extended periods of time and to take part in an adult-led group activity.
Stage 1: The bucket. The aim of the objects explored from within the bucket is to grab the attention of the child with visually motivating and stimulating items. The child will gradually learn to focus on the adult and the activity they have chosen, watching what they are doing more consistently.
Stage 2: Attention builder. The aim in this stage is to extend the amount of time that the child is able to focus for, introducing activities that build anticipation.
At both of these stages:
The adult is aiming to be the most motivating and interesting thing in the room. Try to remove other distractions and motivators where possible.
The child is watching the adult, not carrying out the actions themselves. Only the adult touches the objects used. At later stages, turn-taking and independent exploration are introduced.
Use minimal language, focusing on simple keywords which describe the current action you are carrying out.
