Researcher Sara Wallin Ahlström has tested a method using dots over five years to improve time perception in preschool children in Dalarna. The method, which translates time into dots where each dot represents a quarter of an hour, has helped children plan their day and feel more secure. Several preschools have continued using the tool after the test period.
Sara Wallin Ahlström, a licensed occupational therapist in habilitation at Region Dalarna, has led the research project "Min tid". The project has been tested over five years in 24 preschool groups in Falun and Borlänge. The method uses dots to visualize time, with each dot representing 15 minutes. Children have measured how long daily activities take and collected the results in their own time books.
"It is about giving children control over their day," says Sara Wallin Ahlström. She explains that the method builds a reference memory for the passage of time and creates a bodily sense of how long things take. Without the tool, it is difficult for children to calculate remaining time until pickup, which requires advanced math in their heads. Now it is moved to concrete material.
Louise Hedin, a pedagogue who tested the method, noted that children began planning their day based on how long they would stay. The children were not satisfied if parents did not arrive on time according to the dots. After the test period, several preschools in Falun and Borlänge have continued working with the time tool.
Wallin Ahlström emphasizes that vague words like "soon" or "shortly" are unclear to children. Instead, she recommends tools like the dots to increase security and reduce questions about when things will happen. The method is already used in Region Dalarna's child and youth habilitation for children with diagnoses.
