A huge pet peeve of mine as a parent is how many people force toddlers and preschoolers to share with others, regardless of the child's feelings. They'll direct the child to hand over the toy to their friend or sibling before the child has even finished playing with it.
Sharing is a key social skill that, unfortunately, often gets taught wrong during these younger years.
You'll hear people mutter the whole sharing is caring mantra...
Admit it, you've said that before yourself in certain social situations. Right?
This isn't necessarily the right way to approach sharing and turn taking though. There are so many problems with this approach. However, it's still important to teach kids about the importance of taking turns, sharing, and waiting.
Instead of forcing kids to share, we need to be giving them the language they need to ask for a turn. Or to tell their friends that they can have a turn with whatever they're using or playing with when they're done with it.
We can also teach them how to share some of their toys while playing instead of handing over the entire toy or set of toys. Or how to invite someone else to join into their play, if they'd like to do that. Social skills aren't unidimensional.
Social stories can be a great way to help with this area. They can outline specific phrases to say or how to pass the time while waiting for their turn. They'll explain why sharing is important. That kind of thing.
Below you will find lots of free social stories about sharing and taking turns. I've included both printable and video options so there's lots to choose from.
This collection of social stories about taking turns and sharing was last updated on November 10, 2022. Lots of new stories were added (including video ones!), dead links were removed (as well as stories that were no longer free), and more details were provided to make sure you can find what you need quicker.
Free Printable Social Stories About Sharing & Taking Turns
Have you been looking for a social story on sharing with others or about sharing toys? Then look no further than these free social stories. Some of these stories require you to have a Teachers Pay Teachers account (which is free!) before you can download them.
I've rounded up a variety of different options for you to explore. That way you can (hopefully!) find the best sharing or taking turns social story for your needs. Remember, you can always simply use ideas from different stories below to write your own custom story (you can find free social story templates here by the way).
Please note that just because a social story is listed here does not mean I endorse its content. After all, many social stories tend to be poorly written and/or teach autistic masking. Besides, I haven't read all of these stories word for word myself. So please read through the stories carefully before using them with your child.
1. Turn Taking & Sharing Social Scripts - Okay, these scripts aren't a social story per se. However, these scripts are still super helpful because they give your child the language they need to ask for a turn.
2. Social Story About Sharing (in Spanish) from Educating Everyone 4 Life on Teachers Pay Teachers - Here's a simple social story about how to share that's in Spanish!
3. Sharing Comic Strip Social Story from ModelMeAutism on Teachers Pay Teachers - A social story about sharing that's written in a comic strip style.
4. I Can Share with my Friends Social Story from Kelli Writes Social Stories on Teachers Pay Teachers - This story is all about sharing toys. It looks like it uses the exact same clip art as one of the other stories above.
5. Sharing Social Story from Elementary and Special Education Resources on Teachers Pay Teachers - What I like about this story is that it includes some sign language for the word share, which is a nice touch.
6. Social Story About Sharing Toys with Friends from Mary Gan on Teachers Pay Teachers - A simple story that uses pictures and icons to match every word. For some kids, that might be beneficial, but for others, that might be super distracting. I personally find these kinds of stories hard/annoying to read. It's like those Geronimo Stilton books...hate those.
7. I Can Take Turns Social Story from Prepping for Preschool on Teachers Pay Teachers - Not much to work with in the images here...So it's hard to describe what this story will look like other than it uses clip art and talks about taking turns.
8. Taking Turns Social Story from Speech with Alana on Teachers Pay Teachers - This story looks more like a little picture book. It's very colorful by the looks of things.
9. Taking Turns Social Story from Ellouise Radalj on Teachers Pay Teachers - This story uses those simple Boardmaker style images paired with simple text.
10. Doc Waits Her Turn Social Story from Briana Gibson on Teachers Pay Teachers - Do you have a child that loves Doc McStuffins? Then this social story might be a great fit. I remember watching this show with my kids when they were little.
11. Social Story for Taking Turns from Sam Livermore on Teachers Pay Teachers - This story is text only. No pictures are included.
Video Social Stories for Sharing & Taking Turns
These video social stories on sharing and turn taking might be useful for you. You can use them in teletherapy sessions, social skills groups, and/or classroom settings. Videos are always a great alternative to printing off a story.
Like the social stories above, some of the wording in these videos aren't always great. But I wanted to make sure you had lots of options for exploring the topic of sharing and turn taking.
Can't Find Exactly What You Need? Try this Taking Turns Social Story!
Didn't find quite the right social story above? Don't feel like writing one from scratch? Wish you could find a story that uses real photos instead of clip art? Well, sometimes the social stories about sharing (and/or taking turns) that you get for free aren't the way to go.
But perhaps this taking turns social story resource from my shop will be just what you need!
Grab your copy of the taking turns social story
