PARENT + CHILD BODY DOUBLING CARDS

What is Body Doubling?

Sometimes getting started is the hardest part. 

Body doubling is a strategy that some children and adults find helpful for getting started and staying with everyday tasks. It is the simple idea of doing a task involves alongside another person, rather than working completely alone. When working alone it can be harder to initiate or commence the task and to stay on track to task completion without becoming distracted. 

These body doubling cards for Parent + Child have been developed by an occupational therapist to support with executive functioning skills of both commencing task and remaining on task. 

The cards use principles of choose a task, identify a first step, work alongside each other, check in and celebrate progress. You don't necessarily need them to help you with the task, simply having someone nearby, working alongside you, can make it easier to begin, stay with the task and finish. For children, this can be especially helpful when everyday tasks feel overwhelming, boring, difficult to organise or hard to start. 

How it works

A parent and a child choose a task they both need to do. For example:

Child: Homework

Parent: Emails

You sit together and each person works on their own task. 

You might:

1. Choose the task- "what are we going to work on?"
2. Choose a Body Double Card- "what's the first small step?"
3. Set a timer- Start with just 5 minutes.
   
4. Work together- you don't need to constantly talk or supervise. You're simply doing your own tasks alongside each other. 
5. Check in- "How did that go? What helped?"
6. Celebrate the effort- the goal isn't perfection. It's starting, participating and making progress together.

What might help?

Having another person nearby can provide:

• A cue to get started
• A sense of accountability 
• Connection and encouragement 
• A shared rhythm for completing a task 
• Support when a child becomes stuck
• Less pressure to manage everything independently 

For some children, particularly those who find task initiation, attention, organisation or transitions challenging, having a parent nearby can make the task feel more manageable. 

It's not about the parent doing the task for them. Body doubling is different from supervising, reminding or repeatedly saying "have you started yet?", instead the message is "I'll do my thing. You do yours. Let's do it together".

The cards provide prompts for:

START - KEEP GOING - GET UNSTUCK - RESET - FINISH - CHECK IN