Tap AAC

Free visual schedule maker

Make a picture schedule for a routine, or a first-then board, free in your browser. Open a ready-made routine, like the morning, bedtime or toilet steps, or start blank with 2 to 10 steps. Change the pictures and words, add photos of the real things, then print it on US Letter or A4, save a PDF or download a picture. No sign-up, and nothing you add is uploaded.

  • Free
  • No sign-up
  • 15 routines ready to open
  • Photos stay on your device

Need a communication board or a choice board instead? Use the free AAC board maker.

The schedule maker needs JavaScript.

Turn JavaScript on for this site to make a schedule, or print one of the free printable routines and schedules, ready to use. The routines below show every step.

Page options

5-step schedule (across), US Letter landscape

Page

Kind of page

Layout

Layout

Steps go

On the screen, tap a box to tick a step off. Prints and downloads always have empty boxes.

Words

Paper

Page

Behavior

Reset

Open a routine:

Or start blank:

Right-click a square (or press and hold it) for more: copy, paste, hide, move. Drag a square onto another to swap them.

Step 1 of 5

Empty

Tap the square to hear it. The arrows open the one beside it; every change is kept as you make it.

Words

Leave the second one empty to have the voice say exactly what is written on the square.

Quick picks:

Type a word, or choose a group.

When pressed

When pressed

The square says its words. Choose “Opens a page” to make it a folder: it shows a folder tab, on the screen and on paper.

A hidden square keeps its place but does not show when the board is used, and prints as an empty space: the Vocabulary builder’s “not yet”.

After it speaks

Go back suits a word on a page reached through a folder; going to the first page suits a word that ends a visit, like all done.

Voice

Sound it out says the word in parts, then whole: el - e - phant, elephant. The board talks in your browser when you try it out. A recording plays instead of the voice; it stays on this device and goes into “Save for Tap AAC”.

Photo

Your photo stays on this device. The schedule maker reads it in your browser and never uploads it.

Square colors

The color key: yellow for people, green for actions, blue for describing, orange for things, pink for social words, purple for questions, red for no and stop. How it works.

Word size (1×)

Saved squares

Keep a square you use a lot, with its picture, words, colors and recording, to put on any board.

Move and copy

Takes the picture, words and recording off this square and leaves an empty space. Undo brings it back.

My boards

These are saved in this browser only. Clearing your browsing data removes them, so use “Download board file” to keep a copy.

    Pages in this board

    A board can have several pages. A square can open another page, like a folder. The first page is where the board starts; each page prints on its own sheet.

      New page

      An empty page with the same layout and paper as this one.

      Saved squares

        From routine to printed schedule in 5 steps

        1. Open a routine, or start blank. Choose one of the routines above the schedule, like the morning or the toilet steps, or a blank schedule with 3, 5 or 8 steps. Under Board settings, choose whether the steps go across the page or down it.
        2. Make the steps match your day. Click a step to change its picture or its words. “Take out this step” removes a step the person already does without help, and “Add a step after this one” puts in one that’s missing. “Move earlier” and “Move later” change the order.
        3. Use pictures the person knows. Search more than 2,500 pictures by word, or use a photo of the real thing: their toothbrush, their school bus, the door of their classroom. Photos stay on your device.
        4. Choose how steps get checked off. Numbers show the order, and a tick box beside each step can be ticked with a pen, or on the screen. For one hard moment, a first-then board may be all you need: there’s more in the tips below.
        5. Print it, or keep it on a screen. Print it on US Letter or A4 and laminate it, so the tick boxes wipe clean with a dry-erase marker, or open it on a tablet and tap the steps off. “Save” keeps it for tomorrow.

        Once it’s made, the guide how to make and use a visual schedule covers the teaching part: choosing the routine, walking through it together, and what to try when it isn’t working.

        Routines ready to open

        Each routine opens in the schedule maker with one click, with its pictures and words in place, ready to change. Each one also comes as a free printable, many with picture cards or a talk board, if you’d rather print one as it is.

        Morning routine

        Eight steps from waking up to putting on the backpack, one to a row, with a box to tick beside each. Take out the steps the person already does without help, so the ones that are left get the attention.

        1. A child waking up in bed next to a ringing alarm clockwake up
        2. A child walking to the toiletbathroom
        3. A child pulling a shirt on over his headget dressed
        4. A breakfast plate with a fried egg, toast and a glass of orange juicebreakfast
        5. A child brushing his teethbrush teeth
        6. A girl brushing her long hairbrush hair
        7. A pair of sneakersshoes on
        8. A red school backpackbackpack

        Open “Morning routine” in the maker

        Or print the free morning routine chart, ready to use, with cut-out cards.

        Bedtime routine

        Bath, pajamas, teeth, the bathroom, a story, a hug, good night and sleep. The calm steps come last, so the schedule ends on something to look forward to.

        1. A child in a bubble bath with a rubber duckbath
        2. Blue pajamas with yellow starspajamas
        3. A child brushing his teethbrush teeth
        4. A child walking to the toiletbathroom
        5. An adult reading a picture book to two childrenstory
        6. Two children hugginghug
        7. A child in pajamas waving good night under the moon and starsgood night
        8. A child asleep in bedsleep

        Open “Bedtime routine” in the maker

        Or print the free bedtime routine chart, ready to use, with cut-out cards.

        Bath time

        Eight steps from the toilet to pajamas: clothes off, into the bath, wash, hair, rinse and dry off. If one step is the hard one, like washing hair, a first-then board for just that step can help.

        1. A child walking to the toilettoilet first
        2. A child pulling off his socksclothes off
        3. A child in a bubble bath with a rubber duckget in the bath
        4. A yellow bath sponge with bubbleswash my body
        5. A child with shampoo bubbles in his hairwash my hair
        6. A shower head with water coming outrinse my hair
        7. A child drying his hair with a toweldry off
        8. Blue pajamas with yellow starspajamas

        Open “Bath time” in the maker

        Or print the free bath time visual schedule, ready to use, with cut-out cards.

        School day

        A school day from circle time to going home. Change the lessons to match the real timetable, and use a photo of the classroom or the teacher for the first step.

        1. A teacher and children sitting in a circle on a rugcircle time
        2. Three children reading a book together on a rugreading
        3. A plate of crackers, cheese and grapessnack
        4. Children running and going down the slide at the school playgroundrecess
        5. A lunch tray with a sandwich, an apple and a carton of milklunch
        6. A boy at his desk in front of a board of numbersmath
        7. A paint palette and two paintbrushesart
        8. A boy pointing to his housego home

        Open “School day” in the maker

        Or print the free classroom visual schedule, ready to use, with cut-out cards.

        After school

        Seven steps for the time between school and dinner: home, unpack, wash hands, snack, homework, play outside and dinner. Putting play after homework gives the harder step something to lead to.

        1. A house with a red roofhome
        2. A boy unpacking his backpackunpack
        3. Two soapy hands rubbing togetherwash hands
        4. A plate of crackers, cheese and grapessnack
        5. A worksheet and a pencil with a green check markhomework
        6. A boy running across the grass with a kiteplay outside
        7. A dinner plate of chicken, rice and vegetables with a knife and forkdinner

        Open “After school” in the maker

        Or print the free after school routine chart, ready to use, with cut-out cards.

        Toilet steps

        Every step of using the toilet, from going in to drying hands, in a row across the page. A strip like this fits on the wall beside the toilet, at eye level.

        1. A child walking to the toiletbathroom
        2. A pair of blue jeanspants down
        3. A child sitting on the toilet in a bathroom stallsit on toilet
        4. A roll of toilet paperwipe
        5. A white toiletflush
        6. A pair of blue jeanspants up
        7. Two soapy hands rubbing togetherwash hands
        8. A folded blue toweldry hands

        Open “Toilet steps” in the maker

        Or print the free potty visual schedule, ready to use, with cut-out cards.

        Snow clothes

        Snow pants, boots, coat, zip, hat, scarf and mittens, in the order that keeps the snow out, then out to play. Mittens come last, so fingers stay free for the zip.

        1. A pair of puffy blue snow pantssnow pants
        2. A pair of yellow bootsboots
        3. A puffy red winter coat with a hoodcoat
        4. A boy zipping up his jacketzip up
        5. A knitted winter hat with a pompomhat
        6. A striped knitted scarfscarf
        7. A pair of red mittensmittens
        8. A child in a winter hat throwing a snowballplay in the snow

        Open “Snow clothes” in the maker

        Or print the free winter clothes visual schedule, ready to use, with cut-out cards.

        Doctor visit

        What often happens at a checkup, in order: waiting, the scale, measuring, temperature, the exam table, the heart, the ears and saying ahh. Take out what won’t happen at this visit, and go through the rest at home first.

        1. People sitting and reading in a waiting roomwait
        2. A boy standing on a scaleweigh
        3. A boy standing against a height chartmeasure
        4. A thermometertemperature
        5. A boy sitting on an exam tablesit on the table
        6. A doctor listening to a boy’s heart with a stethoscopelisten to heart
        7. A doctor looking in a boy’s earlook in ears
        8. A child saying ahh while a doctor holds a tongue depressorsay ahh

        Open “Doctor visit” in the maker

        Or print the free doctor visit visual schedule, ready to use, with cut-out cards.

        Getting a shot

        Each part of having a shot, in order: wait, sit down, sleeve up, a cold wipe, counting to three, the shot and a bandage, then “I did it!” at the end. Go through it at home before the appointment, so every step is familiar.

        1. People sitting and reading in a waiting roomwait
        2. A child sitting in a big chairsit down
        3. An arm with the sleeve pushed upsleeve up
        4. A pack of wipescold wipe
        5. The numbers 1, 2 and 3 on colored blocks1, 2, 3
        6. A nurse giving a child a shot in the armthe shot
        7. An adhesive bandage on skinbandage
        8. A happy child cheering, with confetti and a starI did it!

        Open “Getting a shot” in the maker

        Or print the free getting a shot visual schedule, ready to use, with cut-out cards.

        Haircut

        Eight steps at the barber or the hair salon, from waiting your turn to all done. A photo of the real chair, or of the person who cuts the hair, can go on the second step.

        1. People sitting and reading in a waiting roomwait my turn
        2. A barber chair in front of a mirror, with scissorssit in the chair
        3. A spray bottle of waterspray water
        4. A girl combing her long haircomb
        5. A boy getting his hair cut with scissorscut my hair
        6. An orange hair dryerhair dryer
        7. A girl looking at herself in a round mirrorlook in the mirror
        8. A child putting away a plate next to a finish flagall done

        Open “Haircut” in the maker

        Or print the free haircut visual schedule, ready to use, with cut-out cards.

        Fire drill

        A school fire drill from the alarm to back inside, with calm pictures and no fire or smoke. Change the steps to match your school’s own route, and go through them on a quiet day.

        1. A yellow bellthe alarm rings
        2. A boy holding a hand to his ear to listenstop and listen
        3. A group of children standing in a lineline up
        4. A child walking behind an adult, leaving footprintswalk out together
        5. A boy standing outside next to a tree on a sunny daygo outside
        6. A boy standing still on a marked spotstay with my class
        7. A child sitting on a chair next to an hourglasswait quietly
        8. A school building with a flag on the roofback inside

        Open “Fire drill” in the maker

        Or print the free fire drill visual schedule, ready to use, with cut-out cards.

        Plane trip

        From the airport to arriving: check the bag, the security check, the gate, the seat belt and the flight. Glue a photo of the person waiting at the other end on the last step.

        1. An airplane parked at an airport buildingthe airport
        2. An orange suitcase on wheelscheck my bag
        3. An empty blue plastic binsecurity check
        4. People sitting and reading in a waiting roomwait at the gate
        5. An airplane flying through the skyget on the plane
        6. A seat with its seat belt fastened across itseat belt on
        7. A blue sky with white cloudsup in the sky
        8. A child waving next to a car parked outside a housewe’re here!

        Open “Plane trip” in the maker

        Or print the free airport visual schedule, ready to use, with cut-out cards.

        Moving house

        Eight steps of moving day, from packing the boxes to the first night in the new bed. Swap in photos of the new house and the new room as soon as you have them.

        1. A cardboard box taped shutpack the boxes
        2. A moving truck loaded with cardboard boxesthe moving truck
        3. A boy waving goodbyesay goodbye
        4. A child buckled into a car seat by the windowgo to the new house
        5. A house with a red roofour new home
        6. A wooden toy box full of toysunpack my things
        7. A bed with a blue blanket next to a lampmy new room
        8. A child asleep in bedsleep in my new bed

        Open “Moving house” in the maker

        Or print the free moving house visual schedule, ready to use, with cut-out cards.

        Tips for a schedule that gets used

        How many steps?

        Fewer than you think. For a young child, or a routine that’s new, three to five steps is plenty, and you can add more once the first ones go smoothly. Leave out the steps the person already does without thinking, and keep the ones where they get stuck. A step that is a routine in itself, like getting dressed, can be one picture on the morning schedule and a schedule of its own on the bedroom door.

        First-then, now and next, or a whole schedule?

        A first-then board shows only two things: the task, and what comes after it. It suits one hard moment (first shoes, then the park), someone who is just starting with pictures, or a day that isn’t going well. A whole schedule shows a routine from start to end, so it suits routines with many parts and people who like to know what’s coming. In between, a now, next and done board keeps the cards for the whole routine nearby but shows two at a time, and finished cards go in the Done box. In the maker, choose First-then under Layout, then 2 or 3 boxes.

        Ticking steps off

        Checking a step off shows that it’s finished and what’s left. On paper, laminate the schedule and tick the boxes with a dry-erase marker, so it wipes clean for tomorrow. For cards that move, cut the steps apart and move each one to the Done box, or turn it over. On a phone or tablet, tap the boxes on the schedule in this maker: the ticks show on the screen only, and “Clear the ticks” starts the routine again.

        Across or down?

        Steps that go across make a strip for the wall: above the sink, beside the toilet, along the top of a desk. Up to six steps fit in one row; seven to ten go in two rows. Steps that go down make a checklist for the fridge or a clipboard, with the tick box right beside each step.

        Where to put it

        A schedule helps most when it’s seen at the moment it’s needed. The toilet steps belong beside the toilet, hand washing above the sink, the school day on the desk. For routines away from home, like a doctor visit, print a small copy for the bag, or keep the PNG on your phone to show when it’s time.

        Visual timetable or visual schedule?

        They’re the same thing. In the UK, schools often call it a visual timetable; in the US, people say visual schedule or picture schedule. Choose A4 under Paper to print on A4, and change any word on a step by clicking the step and typing, so pants can become trousers.

        Photos of home and school stay with you

        Schedules often show real places: the bathroom, the classroom door, the car seat, the front of the house. A photo like that is made smaller on your device and kept inside the schedule; nothing is uploaded. Saved schedules live in this browser under “My boards”, so a schedule saved on the computer at home won’t be on the one at school: download a board file to take it there. More in the privacy policy.

        Questions

        Is it free to print schedules for a whole class?

        Yes. Print as many copies as you need for home, a classroom or therapy, with no sign-up. Each schedule has a small line at the bottom, “Made with Tap AAC · tapaac.com”. Please don’t sell them.

        How do I make a first-then board or a now and next board?

        In Page options, choose First-then as the kind of page. Two boxes give first and then; three boxes give now, next and done. You can change the words at the top of each box, so “now” and “next” work as well as “first” and “then”.

        Can we use the schedule on a tablet instead of paper?

        Yes. Open it on the tablet and tap each box as a step is done, and “Clear the ticks” starts again. You can also save it for the Tap AAC app with “Save for Tap AAC (.obz)”: it becomes a page in the app, and tapping a step says it out loud. Tap AAC is for Android tablets and phones.

        Photos or pictures for the steps?

        Either, or both on the same schedule. A photo of the real thing, like their own toothbrush or the classroom door, suits a step that happens in one place; a picture suits a step that looks different every time, like a snack. Use whatever the person recognizes.

        More free schedules and help

        The schedule maker and these tips are general information, not therapy or medical advice. A teacher, an occupational therapist or a speech therapist who knows the person can help choose the steps and the pictures. The pictures are Tap AAC’s own picture set, free to print and share; please don’t sell them (terms of use). Questions or ideas for the schedule maker? Email support@lmnoplabs.fun.