How to Get Your Child to Watch Gemiini
Does your child love watching cartoons but puts up a fight when it’s time to watch Gemiini? Some children love Gemiini and others just… don’t. That’s because Gemiini videos are built to be more therapeutic than entertaining.
Here are some tricks you can use to get your child to watch, even if they do everything in their power to avoid it!
1. Provide tons of attention while the videos are playing.
Sitting next to the child and pointing out the mouth, repeating what is said on the videos and giving TONS of praise (and/or other forms of attention such as hugs, high fivess, squeezes - whatever the child typically responds to).
2. Have the videos play during preferred activities.
Activities like coloring or putting a puzzle together can make Gemiini more enjoyable. For more active students, play the videos while doing an activity that requires balance (sitting on yoga ball, walking on balance beam, mini-tramp shoes, etc…)
3. Play it in the background while doing something else.
Passive viewing is effective too! Hook a tablet to a large screen TV or play on a laptop for passive viewing during free time.
4. Try playing the “Fun With Gemiini” videos.
Found under "Language Videos," Fun With Gemiini videos use humor, music, and other engaging content to grab your child's attention. Start to mix in the appropriate therapy videos. Many parents and professionals rely on these to begin a joyful journey with Gemiini.
5. Build a video that appeals to your child.
Building your own videos and playing them for your child helps target current goals and add interest. Add clips from Humor, Preschool Games or use upload your own clip and add it to any video for additional high interest content.
6. Play it in the car or during mealtimes.
No time is better for Gemiini than when a child is confined. He/she can't get away! For for younger children, during mealtimes while in high chair or booster seat works great. The car is another perfect opportunity for Gemiini viewing without other distractions.
7. Work out an incentive.
Simple intensives can really help motivate your child. For example, after watching the first ten minutes of videos, they get a preferred activity. A visual timer is very helpful.
8. Act like the video is for you.
Act like Gemiini is for you to watch. Sit in the corner and watch and laugh. When the child comes over, say, “I am watching these too!” (This is for more verbal kiddos).
9. Do you use other therapy services?
If you use other therapy services to help your child, work with the current team to determine functions of behavior and use the individualized strategies on the plan.
The most important piece with compliance is understanding the reason for the challenging behaviors. This can be for escape, attention– or if the child doesn’t feel well, the behavior may be to relieve the discomfort – this could be covering ears for noise, pressing on the head for a headache or lying down when tired. Sometimes we don’t want to see our child upset so we remove the task, such as watching Gemiini, and then shower the child with attention. Unfortunately, this shapes behaviors quickly.
By learning techniques such as the ones listed and also understanding why a child has the behavior they do, we can help our children learn more easily.