School-Based OTs: Make Social Stories Faster with Canva

Occupational therapy practitioners (OTPs) are well suited to making social stories.  Our background in activity analysis makes us uniquely qualified to view a child’s expected routines, identify areas of difficulty, and promote strategies to support the child. 

I’ve worked with countless children that benefit tremendously from short, simple social stories to paint a picture of the expected routine, help them understand their role, and visualize strategies they can call on for success.  

I’ve used a variety of tools to create social stories, but recently I’ve started using Canva to create social stories and it makes it SO easy!

What’s Canva? 

I’m guessing you’ve heard about Canva (but if you haven’t, that’s okay!).  

Canva is a graphic design platform that is super user friendly.  It really makes it easy to create pretty much any type of document you can think of - presentations (think totally new and improved Powerpoint), logos, posters, and even books!  

How Can I Get Canva?

Canva comes in a few forms.  There is a free version that still has a lot of value, but will restrict access to some functions and greatly reduce the graphics you can choose from.  Canva Pro is a paid option (currently is 14.99 per month) that has a huge range of features.  My favorite thing about it is that it comes with a variety of stock photos and graphics that can be used in your creations. 

Canva also has a great program for educators - they provide a Education version free for teachers.  When I reached out to them, I was told that school-based OTs did not receive the same benefit (so far, this is my biggest complaint with them!).  This version is very similar to their Pro version.

My school district recently made Canva available for all school employees, and I am loving it!  Check with your school district to see if this might be available to you.  

Making a Social Story with Canva

Once you create a Canva account and log in, you’ll see a blue box in the top right corner that says “Create a design”.  For a social story you might type in “flyer” or “booklet” and it will give you some predetermined size options.  

Personally, I like to click under “Create a design” on the option for “Custom Size”.  You can change the format to inches.  I like to write my social stories on an 8.5 x 11 inch landscape page, so that’s what I use. 

Once you’ve selected your design type, you’ll see your canvas on the right.  All your tools will be on the left.  You can look at some predesigned templates or start from scratch.  

I keep things simple.  I click on “Elements” and then “Frame”.  This will bring up some different shapes that you will then be able to drop a picture in later.  I then click on “Text” and add a text box.

I create a basic page with a frame and a text box, then I duplicate that page so I can use a consistent format throughout.  

Next, you’ll generate your text and then you’re ready to select photos.  If you want to add your own photos, you can do that by selecting “Uploads”.  Otherwise, in “Elements” you will then click on “Photos” and search keywords to find relevant images.

Printing & Sharing Your Social Story

When your work is finished, move your mouse to the top right and click on “Share”.  From there you can download and print (I like to download as a PDF).  You can also share the design with others, and make it so that they are able to edit it as well.

Happy Creating! 

Personally, I have found that creating social stories for students that I work with is a great way to support them (and their teacher).  Using Canva has made that task so quick and easy.  

I’m not paid by Canva to say any of this.  (If anyone from Canva reads this, please consider including school-based therapists within the free Canva Educator program!)  

Hopefully this tool makes the task of creating social stories less daunting and more accessible to you and empowers your students to succeed!