PawSteps · Volume 1 · Four Stories for Tricky Moments
🙋 🚫 🗺️ 🔄
✔ 4 gentle first-person stories, A4 print-ready:
1. I Can Ask for Help 🙋
2. Sometimes the Answer is No 🚫
3. Going Somewhere New 🗺️
4. When Plans Change 🔄
✔ Short lines · one idea per line · picture support throughout
✔ "My turn to practise" page + adult guide
✔ Read BEFORE the tricky moment, calmly and often
A social story explains a situation and what usually happens, in calm, first-person language — so the child can rehearse it safely before it happens for real. They describe far more than they direct: mostly "this is what's going on", just a little "this is what I can try".
📖 How to read them
Read when the child is calm — never mid-meltdown. Little and often beats one big sitting: daily in the run-up to a known challenge (a trip, a change) works best. Point to the pictures, keep your voice light, and let the child hold the page.
✏️ Make it theirs
Personalise! Write the child's name into the story, swap examples for their real life ("my classroom" → "Badger Class"), and laminate their favourites. The stories end with a practice line — act it out together like a mini rehearsal.
💚 The golden line
Every story ends with the same message: the feeling is okay, there is a plan, and there is always a grown-up who can help.
🙋
PawSteps · Story 1
I Can Ask for Help
🧠Sometimes my work feels too hard. Sometimes I don't know what to do next.
😕When that happens, I might feel stuck, wobbly or cross. That is okay. Everyone feels stuck sometimes — even grown-ups!
🤫Staying stuck and saying nothing doesn't fix the problem. The stuck feeling just grows bigger.
🙋I can put my hand up, or say: "Can you help me, please?"
🃏If talking feels too hard, I can point to my help card or bring my work to a grown-up.
🦉Asking for help is not giving up. It is what clever learners do. Professor Owl asks for help all the time!
😊When I ask for help, the stuck feeling gets smaller — and I learn something new.
🎭 My turn to practise: put your hand up and say "Can you help me, please?" three times today — even just for fun. Tick each one: ⬜ ⬜ ⬜
🚫
PawSteps · Story 2
Sometimes the Answer is No
🗣️Sometimes I ask for something I really want. Sometimes the grown-up says "no" or "not now".
😠Hearing "no" can feel disappointing, unfair or upsetting. That feeling is real, and it is okay to feel it.
💡"No" does not mean the grown-up is being mean. There is usually a reason — it might not be safe, or it might not be the right time.
🦁When I hear "no", I can take a slow lion's breath… in… and out…
❓I can ask "why?" calmly, or ask "when CAN I?" — sometimes "no" really means "later".
💪Staying calm when the answer is no is a strong, grown-up skill. Every time I do it, it gets easier.
😊I can handle "no". The disappointed feeling will pass — it always does.
🎭 My turn to practise: with a grown-up, play the "no game" — ask for something silly (a pet dinosaur!), hear "no", do a lion's breath and say "okay… when can I?" Tick: ⬜ we played it!
🗺️
PawSteps · Story 3
Going Somewhere New
🚗Sometimes I go somewhere I have never been — a new school, a party, a new club, an appointment.
🦋New places can feel exciting AND scary at the same time. My tummy might feel fluttery. That is normal.
❓The tricky part is not knowing what will happen. My brain likes to know the plan!
🗓️Before I go, I can ask questions: Who will be there? What will happen? When do we come home?
🎒I can bring a comfort thing — my fidget, my toy, my headphones. A little piece of home comes with me.
🐢When I arrive, I can go turtle-slow: look around first, stay near my grown-up, join in when I'm ready.
😊New places usually become normal places quickly. My new school was new once — now it's just school!
🎭 My turn to practise: before your next new place, fill this in together — Who? __________ What? __________ Home when? __________ My comfort thing: __________
🔄
PawSteps · Story 4
When Plans Change
🗓️Sometimes there is a plan… and then the plan changes. Swimming is cancelled. A different teacher comes. Rain stops the picnic.
😖Changed plans can feel horrible — like my brain trips over. I might feel cross, worried or wobbly. That feeling is okay.
🌦️Nobody can stop plans changing — not even grown-ups. Weather changes, people get poorly, things happen.
🦁When a plan changes, I can take a slow breath and say: "Okay. What's the NEW plan?"
🆕There is ALWAYS a new plan. A grown-up can tell me it, draw it, or write it down so I can see it.
🎁Sometimes the new plan turns out to be good! A rainy picnic can become a carpet picnic with a film.
💪Being able to bend when plans change is called being flexible. Flexible thinkers have more good days.
🎭 My turn to practise: play "plan flip"! A grown-up says a pretend change ("the park is closed!") and you say the magic words: "Okay… what's the new plan?" Tick each round: ⬜ ⬜ ⬜
⭐
PawSteps · My Page
My Story Toolbox
🙋 My asking-for-help words are:
🚫 When I hear "no", my plan is: (breath? count? ask when?)
🗺️ My comfort thing for new places is:
🔄 My magic words when plans change are:
🏆 Story stars — colour a star each time you use one of your tools in real life!