# Day 84 · Leave the next moment to me

**Tiny goal:** Make a handover that gives someone else a real choice.

Flexible suggested 25-minute start: split, shorten, extend or stop for this group. No measured lesson duration or child outcome is supplied.

## Welcome and set up · suggested 3 min

Arrange an optional pair with a willing maker; also offer solo two-character play and a helper route. Agree who owns each puppet and how a person can decline, pause or change role. No child has to lend a possession or explain a private reason.

Say: “Make a handover that gives someone else a real choice. You can choose, ask for help or pass.”

## Model or preserve the fresh attempt · suggested 4 min

With a willing adult partner use your own puppets: “My character has opened the café. Want to add what happens next?” Wait. If they decline, thank them and continue your own private version. If they agree, say only the given event, then let them choose their next character action. Do not demand your preferred ending.

## Choose a way in · suggested 5 min

**1. Two willing makers.** Each keeps their own puppet. One gives a short starting event and asks the other to add a moment. An actual agreed reply and each person's contribution are recorded. No reply means the invitation remains open.

**2. Solo open ending.** Own both fictional roles and play a start. Make an open next-moment card that someone could use later. This is a created continuation offer; it is not evidence of a real partner's agreement or use.

**3. Director and operator.** Agree with a willing helper whether they are your operator or a co-maker. Direct your part, then invite a new helper-owned idea only if they choose co-making. Name the two roles and do not credit helper invention to the child.

## Make, try and respond · suggested 7 min

Play one clear event. Invite a willing maker to add a moment; state the given place/event and any agreed material boundary. Wait for an actual reply. Try the partner's contribution if agreed. Let either maker stop. Solo route: explicitly own both fictional roles and leave an open continuation card for later, without claiming an actual partner handover.

**Ask:** “What does the next maker need to know? What can they choose?”

**If the child needs a next move:** If a child says “You must do my ending”, distinguish an offered idea from an agreed condition. Try giving just the first event and offering the next maker two open possibilities or their own. If there is no reply, keep the invitation unanswered; silence is not agreement.

## Notice what happened · suggested 4 min

“Which idea was yours? Which was theirs? What is still undecided?” Describe actual reply and any support. No invitation on paper counts as an actual accepted collaboration.

## Keep and finish · suggested 2 min

Keep a short next-maker card with the given event and open choice, not an imposed script.

**Next teaching move:** Use an unfamiliar source before further examples tomorrow. If a handover is still controlling, teach a new unrelated moment with a genuine decline and a genuine choice first.

**Teacher evidence note:** Record actual actor/action/support, the child's own idea, any source units encountered and any actual willing maker/audience. Label plan, helper action, source reasoning, rehearsal and unavailable evidence. A paper plan is not performed puppetry. Direction is a child contribution; name the actual operator separately. Do not infer emotion or understanding from gaze, pose, silence or an intended effect.

[Ordinary choices](../PARTICIPATION-ROUTES.md) · [Optional home offer](../FAMILY-OPTIONAL.md) · [Sources and item rights](../SOURCE-AND-RIGHTS.md).