First Then Board Free Printable: The Board, 40 Cards, and a 5-Minute Assembly Guide

This first then board free printable is the board from the Resource Kit (pages 44 and 45), rebuilt with its how-to and examples so you can print it tonight. The PDF has the two-panel board, 40 picture cards for common home tasks and rewards, a sheet of blank cards, and a short guide to laminating and adding Velcro so the board survives a toddler. Below is what's in it, how to put it together, and three pairings to start with. If you want the full explanation of why the board works and how to introduce it, that's on the first then board for autism guide.

What you get

The download is a four-page PDF.

• The board. One letter-size page with FIRST on the left and THEN on the right, each with a square sized to fit the cards, plus the kit's six how-to steps and its First/Then examples (first get dressed, then breakfast; first clean up toys, then iPad time; first potty, then a sticker). There's a small arrow between the two panels because some children track the left-to-right order more easily with it.
• 40 picture cards. Twenty are tasks that tend to land in the FIRST box (shoes, coat, bath, potty, wash hands, brush teeth, eat, clean up, car, medicine, and so on). Twenty are rewards that tend to land in the THEN box (park, iPad or tablet, bubbles, snack, book, swing, video, music, and others). Each card has a single word and a square for a photo or a simple drawing.
• Blank cards. Twelve empty cards with a photo frame, for the tasks and rewards specific to your house.
• Assembly guide. Four steps on making it durable, on the same page as the blank cards, summarized below.

How to assemble it in 5 minutes

Print the board and the card sheets on cardstock if you have it. Regular paper works, but the cards will curl within a week.

For durability you have two options. The first is a home laminator, if you own one; run the board and the uncut card sheets through, then cut the cards out so each has a sealed edge. The second, which is what most parents use, is clear packing tape. Lay a strip across the front of each card sheet, then another across the back, and cut the cards out. It takes about three minutes and holds up well.

Then the Velcro. Buy a roll of self-adhesive Velcro dots (the coin-sized ones). Put the rough side on the board, one dot in each square, and the soft side on the back of every card. Keep the orientation the same on every card so any card fits either square. Store the cards you aren't using in a sandwich bag clipped to the board, or on a strip of Velcro along the bottom edge.

If you have none of this tonight, two sticky notes with drawings on the kitchen counter is a first/then board. Make the real one this weekend.

Filling in the cards

The pre-printed cards cover most of what comes up, but the blank ones matter more than you'd expect, because a photo of your child's own red boots lands faster than a drawing of generic shoes. Take a photo with your phone, print it wallet-size, trim it to the card, and tape it in the frame; the kit's advice is to use real photos when possible, especially for young children and concrete thinkers, for exactly this reason. Write one word under each picture, even if your child isn't reading, because you'll be saying that word every time you point to the card.

Three pairings to start with

Begin with a FIRST your child can already do, so he learns that the board keeps its promise before you use it on anything hard.

First sit, then snack. Point to the chair card, say "Sit." When he sits, point to the snack card, say "Snack," and hand it over at once.

First shoes, then park. The classic. It works because the park is visible and immediate, and shoes take under a minute with help. Say "First shoes" with a touch on the card, then "Then park." Help with the shoes as much as needed, and leave the moment they're on.

First one bite, then play. The wording matters here, because one bite is achievable and "finish dinner" usually isn't. A child who learns that one bite reliably leads to play will often take a second one without being asked, which is a better outcome than a standoff over a full plate.

Frequently asked questions

Is the first then board template editable?

The PDF prints as-is, and the blank cards are where you add your own content by drawing, writing, or taping in a photo. Most families find the photo-and-tape approach faster than editing a file.

How do I use the board once it's made?

Set it up before the task, not in the middle of a refusal. Point to FIRST and say the one word, point to THEN and say that word, help your child start, and hand over the THEN the moment the FIRST is done. The how to use a first then board guide walks through the full routine step by step, including transitions and preschool.

What if I need more than two steps?

Then you want a visual schedule rather than a first/then board. A schedule strip holds a row of cards (start with two or three) and shows the shape of a whole routine. The free printable visual schedule for autism page has daily, morning, and bedtime templates, and the cards from this download fit it.

The board is part of the Visual Support Templates, one of twenty resources in the Resource Kit that comes with the book; the bundle page lists the rest, and the hard moments page shows which ones to reach for when a single part of the day keeps going wrong.