As someone with a background in Early Childhood Education, I am a firm believer in Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP). Developmentally Appropriate Practice, in layman’s terms, is just a fancy way of saying that each child universally goes through certain stages (e.g. every child crawls, then walks, then runs), and caregivers support those stages with activities to strengthen them.

For the adoptive parent, knowing a little about DAP, can help with attachment and transition issues as you welcome your new child(ren) into your home. Let me give you some concrete examples of what I’ve done with the children’s rooms:

Labeling: My youngest son is a preschooler, and therefore, a pre-reader. However, he is no longer a toddler and is very insistent he do things himself. To support these developmental milestones (the emerging independence, and his letter and word recognition), I have labeled things in his room with both words and pictures.

By doing this, he gets to continue his independence, because when I tell him to “put away [his] socks,” he can do it on his own, knowing where they go!

He also learns new words. If he doesn't already know that s-o-c-k-s spells socks, he will soon begin to associate the picture of the socks with those letters in that order, thus learning that the word on the label and the picture are the same thing.

Eye level: Pictures, decorations, and all items in the room, are at the children’s eye level. Many times adults put wallpaper boarders, artwork, etc. high up. This is for our aesthetic. DAP gently reminds us that children enjoy interacting with their environment. Infants love to look at themselves in the mirror; thus in high-quality infant care programs, you will see mirrors at the child’s eye level. Quality infant toys include mirrors.

For my daughter’s room, I have all of the pegs for her dress up clothes at eye level. The mirror she will use to look at her dress-up efforts is also at eye-level. The shelf where we will keep the picture of her foster family is also at eye level. She has a fabric memo board that is at eye level.

Cultural context: DAP also encompasses culturally sensitive environments. For adoptive parents, particularly those who may have adopted trans-racially, this means providing pictures and role models that support the child’s birth culture. This also suggests that cultural diversity be pictured as well, particularly for homogenous groups. Meaning, if in the area you live in everyone looks like you (i.e. are similar racially), you will want to have books and pictures that accurately portray other cultures.

I hope these concrete examples have helped to see how using Developmentally Appropriate Practice can help you attach and transition your child into his new environment. However, just as a side note, I did these things with my biological son’s room as well when he was younger. DAP can be used to support any universal developmental milestone our children reach.

Related reading:


DAP at Growing Ideas

DAP Approaches