How to Use a First Then Board at Home, for Transitions, and at Preschool

Here's how to use a first then board in one paragraph: set it up before the task rather than in the middle of a refusal, point to the FIRST card and say one word, point to the THEN card and say one word, help your child start the task right away, and hand over the THEN the instant the FIRST is done. The rest of this guide expands each of those into a step, then covers the three hardest transitions, preschool, tokens, and fading. If you don't have a board yet, the free first then board printable has the board and cards, and the first then board for autism guide explains why the tool works.

Before you start

Two decisions determine whether the board gets trusted.

First, choose a THEN that your child wants nearly every time and that you can hand over within seconds: a snack from the cupboard, a toy from a high shelf, a short video. Rewards that depend on the weather, the car, or another person are harder to deliver on time, and a delayed THEN is the fastest way to teach a child that the board lies.

Second, for the first several days, put a FIRST in the box that your child can already do without much protest. The job of week one is to teach the pattern: the task gets done and the good thing arrives, every time. Once your child looks at the easy FIRST, does it, and looks at the THEN card expectantly, you can move to the task you're really after.

Step-by-step (7 steps)

1. Load the board out of sight. Put the FIRST and THEN cards on before you approach your child, because fumbling with Velcro in front of a toddler who's about to be asked to stop playing loses the moment.
2. Get down to eye level and hold the board where your child can see both cards. For a child on the floor, that means you're on the floor.
3. Point to FIRST and say one word. "Shoes." The book's simplified-language guidance applies here: for a child with little or no speech, one or two words matched to the picture carry more than "Okay buddy, first we need to put your shoes on, remember?"
4. Point to THEN and say one word, with real animation. "Park!" Your face and voice should make clear this is the good part.
5. Start the task within a few seconds. Hand your child the shoes, or guide his hands toward them, using as much help as he needs to get moving and pulling back as soon as he's doing any of it himself. If he gets distracted or resistant partway through, point back to the board. If you use physical guidance, do it with his consent and fade it fast; many occupational therapists suggest hand-under-hand (your hand beneath his, so he feels the movement without being moved) as a gentler alternative to hand-over-hand.
6. Deliver THEN immediately. Shoes on, point to the card, "Park!", and out the door. In the early weeks the gap between finishing and getting the reward should be as close to zero as you can make it.
7. Say what happened, and celebrate. "Shoes. Then park. All done!" Flip the FIRST card over or move it to a "done" pocket. Repeated daily, this small narration teaches the words your child will eventually use himself.

Using it for transitions (the three hardest ones)

A first/then board for transitions works best combined with a countdown warning, because the board tells your child what's coming and the warning tells him when. The Resource Kit's transition warning scripts start the countdown five minutes out, repeat it partway (two or three minutes), and give a final one-minute warning, with each warning paired with something visible like a countdown card, fingers held up, or a timer. For a child who doesn't yet understand minutes, count activities instead ("two more slides, then shoes").

Leaving the house. Load the board with the step that gets stuck (shoes, coat, car seat) and a THEN your child likes about the trip itself. Many children enjoy the car ride, so "First coat, then car" works even when the destination is the dentist. The kit's leaving-home script starts at ten minutes ("In 10 minutes, we will be leaving to go to [location]"), gathers things at five, and has shoes and coat going on at two; show the board at the five-minute warning and point to it again at two.

Screen time ending. This is the hardest transition in many houses because the screen is often doing real regulatory work for the child. Set a visual timer at the start of screen time. At five minutes, show the board: "First iPad off, then snack." At three, repeat the warning. At one minute, hand him the board to hold. When the timer rings, help him press the button himself, say "iPad off. Then snack," and deliver.

School or daycare pickup. The child who falls apart at pickup is usually depleted from holding it together all day, so keep the FIRST tiny: "First backpack, then car" is enough. Ask the teacher to give the warning before you arrive so the first thing your child sees isn't a surprise.

Using it at preschool or daycare

A first/then board for preschool works best when it looks like the one at home. Give the teacher a second copy of the board and cards, and tell her the exact words you use ("First sit, then bubbles") so the language matches.

Ask for three things: that the board be shown at the warning stage rather than produced during a protest; that the THEN be something the classroom can deliver right away, which usually means a small portable item rather than "then outside"; and that completed FIRST cards be flipped or removed so your child sees progress. Most early childhood teachers already know the tool.

Adding a token board later

Once your child reliably does one FIRST for one THEN, you can stretch the ratio with a token board: a strip with three to five empty circles, where each small task earns a token (a star, a sticker, a penny) and the full strip earns the THEN. This is standard practice in applied behavior analysis, described in Cooper, Heron & Heward (2020) under token economies. Start with two circles and add a third only when two feels easy; if the board stops working after you add tokens, you've stretched too fast, so drop back to one-for-one for a week.

Fading the board

The goal is a child who hears "First shoes, then park" and moves, without a board in sight. You get there in stages over weeks or months. Start by saying the words a beat before you show the board, so the phrase begins to carry the meaning. Then say the words and hold the board at your side, producing it only if he stalls. Then leave it on the counter where he can see it but you don't point to it. Eventually the spoken "first, then" is enough, and for many children it becomes a phrase they use themselves ("First clean up, then snack?"), which is a sign the structure has moved inside.

If a hard week comes, bring the board back without comment. Children who've moved past a visual often need it again during illness, a new sibling, or a change in school.

Frequently asked questions

How do you use a first then board for toddlers who don't talk yet?

The same way, with the words kept to one each. Point to the FIRST card and say "Shoes," point to the THEN card and say "Park," then help him start. Preverbal toddlers often begin pointing to the THEN card on their own within a week or two, and that pointing is communication worth responding to.

Should the THEN be a treat or an activity?

Whatever your child wants most that you can deliver right away. For many young children that's an activity (bubbles, swing, a song) rather than food, and activities are easier to repeat many times a day. Rotate the THEN when your child's interest fades, because preferences shift quickly at this age.

Can I use a first then board with a child who is melting down?

Not during the meltdown. A child in sensory overload can't take in a contingency, and showing the board then teaches him that the board appears when things are bad. Wait until he's calm, then use it on the next ordinary task. The board is a prevention tool.

The transition warning scripts, countdown cards, and the simplified-language routines that go with this board are part of the Resource Kit in the book and kit bundle. If transitions are the whole problem, the social story for transitions and the free printable visual schedule for autism are the next two tools, and the hard moments page shows how they fit together.