Role play
Role play looks free but has many rules, and they are almost never said out loud. Who is what, what may happen, and when does the pretend part stop being pretend? The pictures below make the invisible agreements a little more visible.
♂Role play
A boy in a red pirate bandana holds a wooden sword and a teddy, with a toy kitchen and a block tower beside.
♂Role play
A boy in a red fire helmet holds a wooden sword, beside a teddy in a yellow helmet and a box with a toy steering wheel.
♂Play knights
A child runs with a wooden sword and a shield, with a toy dragon and a tower beside them.
About this visual support
Two things run at once in role play. You perform a role and you keep track of everyone else's roles, and both keep changing without anyone announcing it. A friend who is suddenly a dragon instead of a neighbour has changed the board without words, and whoever missed the switch is left standing in the wrong scene. For children on the autism spectrum that is often where the game breaks, not in the imagination itself.
Visual support gives something to point at when words are not enough. Pictures of roles and common scenes let the agreement be confirmed in advance instead of guessed while the game rolls on.
A concrete tip is to decide the ending before you start: the game stops when dinner is ready. Knowing how something ends makes it easier to enter. In Routined role play can sit as a timed activity in the afternoon, and the app can be tried for fourteen days at no cost.
Use this image in a schedule
Build your own visual schedule with this image and download it as a print-ready PDF. Completely free.
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Take the visual supports with you
In Routined you build schedules from these pictures, add timers and voice instructions, and your child follows the day on their own.
* 14-day free trial included for new users.