Social story template (free, printable)

This social story template is ten blank frames plus a free PDF, so you can hand-write one real errand tonight. Put a single situation in the blanks, add one photo per frame, and cross out any frame that will not happen. The idea behind the frames, and why describing beats coaching, is in what a social story is. Carol Gray's 10.2 criteria are the source for that ratio (PDF). We checked the PDF on October 30, 2026.

Download the free printable social story template (PDF, 3 pages). Cover, then ten picture boxes with writing lines.

Copy these frames, or write on the PDF

Each frame is one picture and one or two lines. Cross out a frame that does not fit.

Cover: ________ at the ________

1. Who is speaking: I am ________. On ________ I ________.

2. Getting there: The place is ________. We arrive by ________.

3. Who does the job: ________ stays with me. ________ runs the ________.

4. What I notice: I may notice ________, ________, and ________.

5. The order: It begins with ________. After that, ________. Near the end, ________.

6. The reason: We do this so ________.

7. A hard bit: ________ can feel like ________. I might ________.

8. Something I already do: I already ________.

9. Closing: When it is finished, ________.

10. Who hears about it: ________ hears one thing that happened.

Count the sentences that describe what happens against the sentences that coach. In the 10.2 PDF linked above, Carol Gray's formula is descriptive sentences divided by coaching sentences, and that number has to be at least 2. When a draft has no coaching sentence, the denominator is 1. Frame 7 is the coaching sentence on this sheet. The rest describe. If you add a second coaching sentence, add two more descriptive sentences or cut one.

A filled-in example

The frames below are a car wash, so you can see ink on the lines. It is a sample of the worksheet, not a dental visit and not a restaurant meal. Trim or cross out anything your wash does not do.

Cover: The car wash on Saturday

I am the kid in the back seat. On Saturday we wash the car.

The wash is on the edge of the grocery lot. We drive there. Windows go up before the tunnel.

Dad stays in the front. A worker at the entrance waves us onto the track.

I may notice stripes of cloth, soap on the glass, and a loud dryer at the end.

It begins with the car moving slowly. After that, water and soap cover the windows. Near the end, the dryer blasts.

We do this so the car is clean.

The dryer can feel loud. I might cover my ears. The blast stops when we roll into the lot.

I already buckle my own seat.

When it is finished, we unbuckle and the windows can come down.

Dad hears one sound I noticed.

One coaching line (cover my ears). The rest tell what the tunnel does. If your wash is a hose in the driveway, rewrite frame 5. Do not leave the dryer in.

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Tips for filling it in

Pick one errand. "Be good in town" will not fit the frames. "The tunnel wash on Saturday" will.

Walk the errand in order before you write. What is the first thing your child sees, hears, or smells? The detail they care about may be the buckle, the dark tunnel, or the way the wipers start by themselves.

One photo per frame. The real entrance, the worker's wave, the soap on the glass. Phone pictures are enough. A stick figure is fine on a frame you cannot photograph.

One sentence per frame for a preschooler. Older kids can take the second sentence on frames 5 and 7.

Hedge with "may" and "on some days" when the wash is not identical every time. A line that promises a quiet dryer will be wrong the moment the blower starts.

Leave out anything you have not seen. If you have never been to this wash, go once without the booklet, then write.

Read the finished pages on a calm afternoon, not as the car is already rolling toward the tunnel. Let your child turn the PDF pages or tell the booklet to a stuffed animal. If the worker handed you a receipt and your frame 9 said something else, fix frame 9 before the next wash.

A two-box card is a different tool. Make one on the first-then board when you only need "first the wash, then home."

If you are worried about how your child is coping, beyond one errand, talk with their pediatrician, teacher, or therapist. A worksheet prepares one predictable moment. It is not a diagnosis.

Subscribe to Social Stories and the Tuesday letter will bring another situation to write.

FAQ

Is this social story template really free?

Yes. Copy the frames above, or print the PDF. No account and no payment.

Can I cross out frames?

Yes. Ten is the sheet, not a quota. A toddler may only need frames 1, 4, 5, and 8. Cross out the rest in pencil so you can put them back if the errand grows.

What if two caregivers write different versions?

Pick one and share it. Two booklets that disagree teach a child that the pages are guesses. If Dad drives and Grandma does not, Grandma's copy should still name Dad in frame 3.

What if the plan changes after I write it?

Change the frame that went stale. A receipt instead of a dryer, a different entrance, a closed wash: fix that frame before you read it again. Gray's criteria treat a wrong detail as a reason to revise, which is why the PDF above stresses accuracy.