# 07 · The place changes

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

1. 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. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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](../print/change-panels.pdf) · [exact text alternative](../print/TEXT-ALTERNATIVES.md#change-panels)

**Adult intention:** Make and describe a chosen story change while keeping any wanted continuity.

[All starts](../README.md) · [Parent guide](../PARENT-GUIDE.md) · [Play helper](../digital/index.html) · [Sources and limits](../SOURCE-NOTES.md)

© NeuroForgeIO Pty Ltd 2026 · CC BY 4.0. Adapt freely with credit.