Social Stories for Kids

I was introduced to the idea of 'social stories' for kids by my therapist when I expressed anxiety about my oldest son starting at a new school. Social stories are essentially just a simple story that describes what to expect from a social situation. Typically they are visual with lots of pictures and easy to understand for young kids. It's a concept that many children's therapists and educators recommend to help kids learn self-regulation and give them a guide for how to react to new scenarios.

I started creating social stories for my son whenever we would have a big change coming up or he'd be doing something new, whether it be an actual move to a new house or trying out a new day-camp in the summer. They worked really well to ease his worries about the unknown, and I realised it would be a really great tool to use on a big vacation.

I love a beautifully curated itinerary, so I figured my kid might enjoy one as well if it were more tailored to his level of understanding. The first travel story I created was for a big family trip to London. I printed it out and we went through in the week before the trip. He was so excited to show it to everyone to tell them about the amazing things he was going to do on his trip. When the trip actually arrived, he loved consulting the itinerary each morning to see what he had to look forward to that day and our flow for the day went so much more smoothly because he knew what to expect.

Elements of a Social Travel Story

Visual Imagery
Story templates made with little ones in mind with visual clues to help kids of any reading level visualise themselves in each part of the trip.

Flexibility
Traveling with kids can pretty much guarantee something will go off the rails at some point. Itineraries should be flexible so that when things inevitably do go awry, it won't throw off your whole trip.

Choice
Choice is so important for little ones to feel empowered. So much of their day-to-day is dictated to them, so giving them choices can be a game-changer in getting them excited for an activity. I like to have one big-ish thing planned for the day and then give choices for what else to do. It's usually relatively simple like a choice between 2 parks or taking a short hike vs. pool time. It's important to use options that you are happy to do no matter what they choose so they can feel like they get full autonomy.