Strategies to Support Greetings & Goodbyes

Greetings and goodbyes can be hard for some children and adults. Caregiver support can help make this an easier transition, and help start the day on a positive note.

Some children may need extra support and targeted strategies that are unique to them.

Toddler Greetings:

Here’s a video showing a greeting routine with a toddler who knows his classroom arrival routine each morning is to tell how he is feeling, with a feeling card and with his parent. Watch for other tools and strategies the teacher uses to make greeting/ goodbye time a positive routine.

  • What did you see this caregiver doing to make the morning transition easier?
  • Do you have other ideas you use in your classroom to make greetings and goodbyes positive?
  • Did you see anything in the video that you’d like more information about or that you would like to implement in your own classroom?

Specific Strategies to Support Greetings and Goodbyes:

Here are some ideas. Some you saw in the video or are already implementing in your room, and others may be new to you.

Special Goodbye Area

  • Designate a space in the room or an area outside the door as the “special goodbye area.” In the toddler video you just watched, the teacher set up the room so the parent and child could immediately see their feeling chart and welcoming activity upon arrival.

Family Photos/Objects

  • Display family photos or favorite objects around the room so children can see their families throughout the day, especially when they are feeling scared or lonely. You can point out the family pictures, talk about how loved the child is, and remind her that her parents or a family member will be back to pick her up.

Transitional or Comfort Items

  • Allowing a child to bring their special blanket or toy may help them to transition from home to child care. As the child brings their blankie, they bring a little piece of home that is a reminder of the safety and comfort of mom, dad, or home.

Develop Rituals

  • Talk to families about creating a “goodbye” ritual that they can do each day with their child. For example, a mom might help her daughter hang up her backpack and then give goodbye butterfly kisses while saying, “Here’s my special butterfly kiss to last throughout the day, and I’ll be back to pick you up, so go and play!” Goodbye rituals become a signal to the child that it is time to say goodbye and reassure them that Mom will be back later!

Games

  • Have a fun goodbye game that you play as infants and toddlers are dropped off in the morning. It might be a song or a big hug. This is a great way to get other children involved in helping each other say goodbye as well as practice social skills.

Books

  • Create books about the young child’s day. The title of a book for a child who is dropped off by his mom might be “Mommy Comes Back.” The book goes through the schedule/ routines of the day and shows the child leaving home in the morning or leaving the center at the end of the day with Mommy. You might also involve families in making the book and have them take pictures of their morning routines to add to the book (i.e., what happens before the child comes to the center).

These are just a few ideas and strategies, but a great place to start!