Treatment Fidelity Guide: Surprise Box

Description

Treatment Fidelity Guide: Surprise Box
A Core Activity of the Early Childhood Play-Based Social Learning Program (EC-PBSL)

The Surprise Box is one of the signature core activities within Mission Cognition’s Early Childhood Play-Based Social Learning Program (EC-PBSL), and for good reason. This highly engaging routine creates a natural context for building essential early social, communication, and imitation skills through anticipation, shared attention, and joyful participation.

This 7-page Treatment Fidelity Guide equips staff with everything needed to implement the Surprise Box with intention and consistency. It breaks the activity down into critical and non-critical components, helping facilitators maintain the integrity of the routine while flexibly adapting it to meet the needs of different learners and group compositions.

Targeted skill areas include:

• Early social responding

• Joint attention and social referencing

• Requesting and initiating

• Waiting and turn-taking

• Gross motor imitation

• Tolerance for uncertainty and anticipation

• Group participation and engagement

Because the Surprise Box can be easily modified, the guide offers strategies for scaling the activity across developmental levels from introducing joint attention for emerging learners to incorporating choice-making, expressive communication, and multi-step imitation for more advanced participants.

Included in the packet:

• Step-by-step implementation guidance

• Environmental and material setup tips

• Differentiation strategies for varied learner profiles

• Staff self-check tools for reflective practice

• Fidelity criteria to support consistent delivery

• The beloved Surprise Box chant

• Recommendations for expanding or simplifying the routine based on learner needs

For teams using EC-PBSL, this guide reflects the embedded training and routines already built into the program. For those not formally implementing EC-PBSL, the Surprise Box Treatment Fidelity Guide offers a research-aligned way to introduce a powerful play routine into early childhood classrooms, therapy sessions, or small groups.

Fun, intentional, and flexible, Surprise Box is more than a game! It is a core activity for helping young learners build the foundations of communication, engagement, and connection through play.