What happens in the story
A child is playing with a ball in the park when it rolls away under a bench. The child notices, kneels down to look, and gets the ball back. That's the whole story: four pictures, one small problem and a satisfying ending.
Because the story is so short and familiar, children can focus on the order of events instead of working out what is going on. That makes Lost Ball a reliable first story for sequencing and retelling.
Who it's for
- Parents who want to try picture sequencing at home before buying anything.
- Preschool and kindergarten teachers introducing first, next, then, last.
- Speech-language pathologists looking for a free 4-step story for early narrative and retell work.
- Children who are non-speaking or use AAC: every step can be answered by pointing to a picture.
Skills you can practise
- Sequencing four events with a clear beginning, middle and end.
- Time words: first, then, next, at the end.
- Location words: under the bench, behind, back.
- Simple cause and effect: the ball rolled, so the child looked for it.
- Retelling a whole short story in their own words or gestures.
A 10-minute session
- Sign in and download the free pack from this page, then print at 100% (Actual size). An adult cuts out the cards.
- Look at the whole story together first. Point to the ball in each picture.
- Start with three cards: playing, the ball under the bench and holding the ball again. Ask "Which one comes first?"
- Add the fourth card (looking under the bench) when three feels easy.
- Retell together with first, then, next, at the end. Then let the child "read" the cards to you in their own way.
- Stop on a good moment and keep the cards for another day.
Our step-by-step guide on how to use story sequencing cards uses Lost Ball as its example.
Make it easier or harder
- Easier: show only the first and last pictures and ask what changed.
- Harder: shuffle all four cards face down, turn them over one at a time and decide where each one fits.
- Extend: invent a different place the ball could roll and act out finding it.
Try it at home
Roll a soft ball behind a cushion and talk through finding it together: "Where did it go? Let's look behind." Keep it playful, and never hide an object that a child needs for comfort.
When you want more
- Picnic Prep and The Wet Painting are the next four-step stories to try.
- When four pictures feel easy, move on to a six-scene story like The Missing Mitten, another search-and-find story.