About ten minutes if useful. Pause, repeat, change or finish anytime.
Say this, or use your own words
What new thing could happen in our pretend place?
More words, only if useful: A pretend place can change. Perhaps a new visitor arrives, a room gets another use, or the story moves somewhere else. Which part would you like to change? We can keep the rest, change everything, or leave it as it is.
Ready in a moment
An actual available earlier drawing is helpful but unnecessary. Name or draw a fresh first version now, then choose whether to alter it. Optional change-panels aid.
A loose play path
- 0–2 minutes: Offer the short opening: a new arrival, a room getting another job, or any event the child chooses. Use an earlier drawing only if available and wanted; otherwise make a fresh first scene now. Ask permission before changing their creation.
- 2–5 minutes: Choose one change: a new destination, job, room purpose or character. Use ‘before/now’ only for the two genuinely made versions or the child's clearly described fictional sequence.
- 5–8 minutes: Play a short moment in the changed scene. Ask ‘What stayed, if anything?’ A child may say nothing stayed; continuity is a possibility, not a completion rule.
- 8–10 minutes: Decide which version to keep, or keep both. A second version does not have to be better. Stop without tidying the story into an adult ending.
Choose the useful route
- Draw or arrange: Make one scene in the first blank panel and a chosen variation in the second. Use broad marks or direct an adult. Point to something that stayed if wanted; copied appearances alone do not prove that the child intended the same story meaning.
- Tell, sign or point: Describe a room's first purpose, then ask whether to keep it or choose a different use. A familiar sign or AAC choice can change the story. Repeat the child's selected versions clearly without claiming two physical constructions were made.
- Small start or no materials: Play a fresh scene where an imaginary visitor was waiting and now chooses to enter or leave. The adult narrates the child's choice. One clearly agreed fictional change is enough; no memory test or retelling quota.
Two ideas to borrow or change
- Weather fiction: A cloud room in a made-up story becomes a sheltered waiting room when imaginary rain starts. No real weather observation is supplied; the child can reject the rain and keep another story.
- Community: An invented meeting room becomes a drawing room. The child keeps its doorway but changes the purpose. The adult asks what stayed rather than assuming the unchanged line has the same meaning.
Notice, then choose the next move
Notice the child's chosen change and any stated continuity. Keep fictional sequence, actual available versions and adult suggestions clearly attributed.
Later, with or without this session: Return to either version or invent a new first scene. The child does not have to remember what changed today.
More play, only if wanted: Ask an invented visitor which version it chooses, then let another visitor choose differently. These are fictional preferences, not feedback from real people.
Optional aid: Keep a part, change a part · exact text alternative
Adult intention: Make and describe a chosen story change while keeping any wanted continuity.
All starts · Parent guide · Play helper · Sources and limits
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