Sequencing
Put shuffled cards back in the right order, one tap at a time. The timer starts on the first tap. A practice tool, not an assessment.
About Sequencing
Sequencing is a cognitive stimulation exercise for ordering, the everyday executive skill of knowing what comes next. Rounds range from putting numbers, letters, days, and months in order to rebuilding the steps of familiar activities like making tea or doing the laundry, using original step sequences written for this tool. Guided rounds correct every tap as you go; scored rounds let you build the whole order first and then check it, which asks much more of planning and self-monitoring.
It’s built for occupational therapists, caregivers, and anyone practicing executive function and working memory, and it runs in any browser with no setup, open it and go. The PDF export produces cut-out card sheets for tabletop practice with an answer key. Sequencing is a practice and cognitive stimulation tool, not a standardized assessment, and no patient information is collected or stored.
About the Sequencing exercise
Knowing what comes next runs through the whole day: the order of a shower, the steps between an empty kettle and a cup of tea, which envelope flap to seal before the stamp goes on. After a stroke or a brain injury, or with memory changes, a familiar routine can come apart into steps that no longer arrive in order and have to be worked out again.
Sequencing is a free online ordering exercise. A set of shuffled cards appears, the steps of an everyday activity or a run of numbers, letters, days, or months, and the person taps them back into order one at a time. Guided rounds correct every tap; scored rounds check the whole order at the end.
What Sequencing practices
- Planning and ordering
- Every card needs a place relative to the others. Activity rounds ask which step must come first because the next depends on it, the same reasoning a real task needs.
- Working memory
- In scored rounds the person builds the whole order before checking it, holding the steps already placed in mind while deciding where the remaining cards belong.
- Self-monitoring
- A guided round flashes a wrong card and counts the error. A scored round offers undo instead, so noticing a misplaced step and putting it right is part of the task.
How the tool works and what it records
Four sequence types: numbers, letters, calendar (days or months), and activities. Type, card count, and large-print mode are free: numbers run 3 to 50 cards, letters to 10 (all 26 with Pro), days to 7, months to 12, and activities use their own step count, 4 to 9. The free presets are numbers 1 to 5, days of the week, and a short everyday activity, all guided.
Pro unlocks the other dials: consecutive or mixed values, forward or reverse order, one of 14 activity categories, a length filter (short, long, or very long), and feedback mode. Guided corrects each tap; at the end lets the person build the whole order, undo, and check it. The timer starts on the first tap. Results show time, steps, and either errors or placed correctly plus undos. A free account allows 5 rounds a day per tool; Pro removes the cap, saves a session log, and exports cut-out cards as a PDF.
Screen or paper?
The screen suits a quick round with no preparation: the shuffle is fresh every time, guided mode corrects as it goes, and scoring is instant. Paper suits tabletop work, where cards can be spread out, moved, and talked through with a partner, and handling the cards is part of the practice. It also works with no wifi and leaves a sheet to keep.
The printable version is the Task Sequencing worksheet set on rehabworksheets.com, and there is a free task sequencing worksheet to try first, with no email required.
Is this a test?
There is no single standardized test behind this format. Ordering the steps of an everyday activity appears in executive function assessments and in occupational therapy task analysis, and this tool borrows that idea only. It has no norms, is not an assessment, and is not a substitute for evaluation by a qualified professional.
Using it well
- Begin with guided numbers. The numbers 1 to 5 preset makes the rule obvious and corrects every tap, so the person learns the cards before the content gets harder. Days of the week is the natural second step.
- Choose short, familiar activities first. With Pro, the length filter separates activities of 5 steps or fewer from those of 8 or more, and category buttons narrow the pool. Start short, in a category the person knows, such as kitchen or morning routine.
- Switch to scored rounds to see planning. At the end mode removes the correction on each tap. Placed correctly out of steps, together with the undo count, shows whether the person can hold a whole plan and notice their own slips.
- Run it with a partner. Read each card aloud when reading is tiring, and let the person point while the partner taps if a hand is unsteady. Large-print mode enlarges the cards, and the printed cut-out sheet moves the round to the table.
Common questions
Is the sequencing exercise free?
Yes. A free account gives 5 rounds a day on each tool, with all four sequence types, the card count dial, three presets, large print, and printing after a round. Pro adds the remaining dials, unlimited rounds, a session log, and PDF export of cut-out cards with an answer key.
How is it scored?
The timer starts on the first tap. In guided rounds every wrong tap counts as an error and the round ends when the last correct card is placed. In scored rounds the person builds the whole order and presses check order; the panel then shows cards in the right position and undos used.
Where do the activity sequences come from?
They were written for this tool by an occupational therapist, 55 of them across 14 categories, and are not copied from any published worksheet. Each step is worded so that it depends on the one before, which is what makes one order right.
Can it be used with limited reading?
The activity cards are short sentences, so some reading is needed there, but a partner can read them aloud. Numbers, letters, days, and months need very little reading, and large-print mode makes every card bigger.
Does it work for a group?
Yes. Print the cut-out cards, or export the PDF with Pro, and let a small group agree on the order together before checking it against the answer key. On screen, one person taps while the others say which step comes next.
This exercise supports cognitive stimulation and structured practice. It is not medical treatment or an assessment, and no specific therapeutic outcomes are claimed.