There’s a small empty box on the table. You put it within reach and ask, “What could this be today?” Your child has an answer—but what do you say next without taking over the whole story? Try following their idea. Accept the part they offer you, add one small possibility and leave the next choice open.
Let your child choose
Start with a small, clean cardboard box. Remove any staples or sharp parts, and keep it as a prop rather than something for climbing on or getting inside.
Let your child decide what the box represents. You might ask, “Who could I be?” A role is simply who someone pretends to be. Then give them time to think instead of filling the quiet with more questions. If no idea comes, leave the box there and move on. The invitation can wait.
This is one everyday way to apply Australian guidance about respecting children’s ideas and choices at home: your child supplies the pretend meaning and decides how, or whether, to continue.
A delivery to a dragon
Here’s one possible made-up exchange:
Child: “It’s a cake delivery. You’re the driver.”
Adult: “Cake delivery! Where shall I put it?”
Child: “At the dragon’s door.”
Adult: “Perhaps the dragon’s asleep. Shall I knock?”
Then pause. Your child chose what the box meant, gave you the driver role and decided where the delivery belonged. You accepted those ideas and offered one manageable possibility: perhaps the dragon is asleep. What happens next is still up to them.
If your child says the dragon is wide awake, follow the change. There’s no need to defend your suggestion. Roles, imagined situations and props such as boxes are among the features discussed in ACARA’s broader explanation of Drama, but this particular dragon delivery is simply an example you can adapt or abandon.
Leave room for the next idea
The scene could continue like this:
Child: “No knocking. Slide it under the door.”
Adult: “Under the door it goes.”
You could mime carefully sliding the box, then wait. You don’t need to add a grumpy dragon, a missing cake or another problem straight away. That little pause hands the story back to your child.
Talking isn’t the only way to take part. Your child might point to where the parcel belongs, make a knocking gesture, watch for a while or decide they’ve finished. Respond to a gesture without demanding a line. If the cake parcel suddenly becomes a tiny bed, follow the new meaning and let the earlier scene go.
A little scene is enough
ACARA’s information for parents includes creating small scenes through dramatic play in Foundation. At home, that can be as modest as one prop, two pretend roles and a few shared actions. There’s no need for costumes, memorised lines or a polished ending. Speech, gestures and quiet watching can all remain choices; none needs to become a performance.
See where the box goes
Put the box within reach and see what your child makes of it. If you’re offered a part, take it. Add one small possibility, then leave room for their next idea. The scene can change—or end—whenever they’re ready.