Little Rehearsal
What happens at the dentist, in eight picture cards
Cut them out, put them in order, and turn each one over as it happens. A board for first, then and all done is on the second page.
Free PDF, 2 pages, US Letter (it also fits A4). No sign-up.
What’s inside
One page of eight cards, each with a picture and two or three words. One page with a first, then, all done board and a four-step strip.
Eight cards to cut out 
First, then, all done board
How to use it
- Ask the office for the real order.Then lay out only the cards for steps that will happen. Four cards your child can count on beat eight that might change.
- Let your child hold them.A card to carry gives small hands a job in the waiting room and a way to show you what comes next.
- Turn each card over when it’s done.Seeing the pile shrink is the point. It answers how much longer without anyone having to ask.
- Use first and then for the hard step.First count teeth, then the sticker. Put only two cards on the board when one step is the worry.
The same visit, as a game
At Wren Creek, our pretend clinic, a child says hello, packs a kit and tries the mirror, the polisher and the air on Pip. It runs in the browser on a phone. Nothing to install and no sign-up.
Play the visitRun a dental practice?
Some families bring a visual schedule with them. It helps when the office already knows the order and sticks to it.
Get this story with your practice’s name on it, free. Or see your own rooms turned into a game that families play before the visit.
More free printables
- First dental visit social story
- Brave visit reward chart
- Dentist coloring pages
- Elsewhere, and also free: the Autism Speaks dental tool kit and the University of Iowa’s picture schedule for a dental visit, which you fill with photos of your own office.