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The struggle of keeping teens and kids engaged
The prevalence of poor teen mental health is a widespread issue in today's society. With the rapid evolution of technology and social media, keeping children and teenagers engaged and attentive in therapeutic settings has become an even greater challenge. It can be difficult for a lot of patients to be vulnerable with their family and friends, let alone a total stranger!
As a result, we've compiled a list of 15 of the most effective therapeutic exercises for you to implement within your therapy. They are easy to facilitate and can feel less invasive compared to other therapy practices.
These therapy activities for teens are designed to increase participation and help teens and children communicate without fear of judgment and within a safe space. In addition, these activities can be done alongside other related worksheets.
If you have a hard time exploring a client's mental health and find difficulty in helping them express honest feelings, then look no further.
How does therapy benefit kids and teens?
Therapy offers a multitude of benefits for children and teenagers to improve mental health and resolve behavioral issues. For instance, with therapy, children and teens develop coping skills to better manage any symptoms that impair their day-to-day functioning. They can build a solid foundation to help each day feel a little more manageable, as well as to produce more positive and healthy outlooks on life.
Puberty can be an especially turbulent time, with therapy allowing children and teens to learn how to cope and better understand the thoughts and feelings that they may have. They can learn to express their feelings more effectively, which also works to strengthen relationships and communication skills with others.
With therapy, children and teenagers can resolve conflicts with ease, promote higher self-esteem and confidence, and be more resistant to peer pressure. Identify negative thought patterns and habits, and transform these to help clients overcome trauma and process emotions healthily.
15 therapeutic activities for teens and kids
To help you get on the right track, we've collated a list of 15 of the most helpful therapeutic activities for teens and children that can increase engagement as well as clinical outcomes. This list includes both group therapy activities and activities for individual patients. Let's get started!
My life playlist
For the music-inclined, this activity allows clients to express their feelings and thoughts through music. Essentially, the child or teen will create a playlist consisting of their favorite songs. Allow them to select songs based on a theme, such as their concerns, goals, and self-esteem. The playlist can also include songs that have actual significance in their lives and memories, such as ones that used to play on important moments in their lives.
In addition, since the 90s style is making a comeback, you can make it into a CD. Then, provide the client with art tools to help them design the album cover. Together, you can listen to the songs, and encourage the client to discuss why they selected each song and what the lyrics represent within their own life.
A letter to myself
For some, words are more powerful than sounds. In this activity, teenagers are encouraged to write a letter from the future to their current selves. Help guide the client through aspects they wish to talk about, and help them highlight issues they are experiencing now, and how their future self would like to perceive them. This is an encouraging way to help clients gain an alternate perspective on their emotions and feelings, and how to have more confidence when it comes to their current situation.
Outdoor therapy sessions
Alternatively, consider this walking-and-talking method if your client prefers a casual setting or the outdoors. Go for a walk with your client through a nearby park or neighborhood, and facilitate casual conversation to get to know them better. As the conversation ensues, clients are likely to feel more comfortable discussing deeper and heavier topics that focus on their issues at hand. The fresh air and natural light can have a great effect, too.
Still, it's to scope out the location or route beforehand to ensure it's safe and suitable for a therapy session. Choose a quiet, private location, and free from distractions or potential triggers. When planning an outdoor session, also consider the weather and provide yoga mats or comfortable seating if needed. Encouraging clients to engage with their surroundings can be a grounding exercise and can facilitate open conversation.
Mindful speaking
It's not uncommon for children and teenagers to speak before they think. With this mindfulness speaking exercise, you can create a think-before-speak mentality and help teenagers concentrate on the three mindfulness principles. These include slowing down to be in the present, analyzing emotionally and rationally before speaking, as well as reflecting on the effects of what the client said and how others respond to it.
However, simply asking them to speak before they think will not be engaging. You have to bring up a topic or an example that the client can talk about. These can be situations from popular TV shows or movies or even situations that celebrities have found themselves in. For younger children, you can use fictional tales. After the activity, allow the client some time to ruminate on their thoughts.
This activity also works great for group therapy. When done as a group activity, it has the added bonus of peer feedback, which helps improve self-awareness and communication skills.
Identifying strengths
Many teenagers and children struggle with self-esteem and find it difficult to identify their own character strengths. This activity will help them focus on their strengths, accomplishments, and positive traits by asking them to share a story of achievement in any area of their life. Simply ask them about a time where they achieved something, whether it be big or small—no achievement is too small for this activity.
As the listener, it is your job to identify the strengths within their story and provide feedback. Because of the interactive component of this activity, it is best suited for group sessions with teenagers. Nevertheless, it is also great for boosting young children's self-esteem.
Gratitude mapping
This activity is also great for groups of teenagers and encourages individuals to appreciate the positive things in their lives. It helps teenagers recognize that sometimes it is the small things, and not always the most obvious.
Simply make groups with three to five teenagers each, and instruct all groups to think about something they're grateful for. Encourage each group to write these things on a whiteboard, and then instruct all groups to move to the next to examine what they have written. The groups must then draw connections between the ideas they come up with and the exercise completed once gratitude has been mapped.
Once done, encourage the group to take some time to reflect on what gratitude means, and how it is essential to self-esteem and confidence.
Playing two truths and a lie game
This activity is a great group therapy icebreaker for teenagers who may not be familiar with one another. In this activity, set aside a time for five minutes to allow group members to think of two actual facts about their life, and one lie. The lie should not be too outrageous to avoid making it obvious. Each member will then read the two truths and one lie without identifying which is which, with other group members guessing what fact is a lie.
This activity is great for enhancing self-awareness, as it encourages participants to think about themselves and what they want to reveal about themselves. It also promotes creativity and self-expression as they have to come up with a lie that is both fun and believable. Lastly, it also encourages empathy and open-mindedness as there will inevitably be situations where participants have to confront and discard their preconceived notions about their fellow group members.
Creating a creative collage
Creative collages help clients express their core beliefs and values through the power of imagination. Simply encourage teenagers to focus on their core values, and to express them with images, words, colors, and phrases from magazines, old books, and newspapers within a collage. You can ask them to create the collage at home and bring them to present them.
Alternatively, you can also make the collages during the session as a collaborative activity. Have them work in pairs or small groups if the session has many participants. You can ask them to bring the materials they want to put in the collage or provide them yourself, but make sure to provide the tools and equipment like scissors, glue, and other art supplies.
Once completed, each group member should share their collage and discuss the reasoning behind their creative choices.
Candy game
In this activity, gather a bag of colored candy such as M&Ms or Skittles, and separate them into their colors. Give each client a random selection of candy, and encourage them to answer each of the prompts associated with each color.
Below are some examples of prompts for each M&Ms color. Each color has a theme, and it has several prompts to add some variety. However, since these prompts are meant to encourage the person to speak about themselves, they might require some time for reflection. As such, try not to pressure the participants to answering immediately.
- Red (Anger):
- Describe a situation that made you really angry, and explain why it affected you that way.
- How do you usually react when you're angry, and when was the last time this happened?
- Think of a time you managed your anger well. What did you do, and how did it make you feel afterward?
- Yellow (Joy):
- Share a happy memory that stands out to you, and explain why it's significant.
- Name three things that bring you joy and describe how they make you feel.
- Recall a time you celebrated a joyful occasion. What was the thing you celebrated about, and how did you celebrate?
- Blue (Sadness):
- Can you recall a moment that made you feel sad, and did you learn anything from it?
- When you feel down, what are the ways you cope, and when was the last time you did them?
- Who do you turn to for support when you're sad, and why do you choose that person?
- Orange (Fear):
- What is something that scares you, and how do you feel when you face that fear or how do you think you would react if you have to face it?
- Describe a time when you faced a fear and what the outcome was. Did you do anything about the source of your fear?
- Can you think of a fear you've overcome? What was it, and how did you manage to overcome it?
- Green (Disgust):
- What is something that disgusts you, and why?
- How do you react when you encounter something unpleasant, and when was the last time this happened?
- What thing did you initially find disgusting but have since changed your mind about, and why did you change your mind?
- Brown (Surprise):
- What was the most surprising thing that happened to you recently, and how did you react?
- Some surprises are not good. What surprises would you not like to be sprung on you, and have you thought about how you might react?
- Can you think of a surprise that turned out to be positive? What was it, and how did it impact you?
For younger clients or those with impaired learning abilities, facilitators can break down the questions into smaller, more manageable chunks to ensure they can understand and engage with the prompts effectively. This approach helps in making the activity inclusive and ensures that participants can express their thoughts and feelings comfortably.
Exploding balloons
This activity is for children and teenagers who are struggling with anger issues. This activity posits that the longer we hold on to anger, the greater likelihood of the issue escalating into a much larger problem.
In this activity, the therapist holds a balloon and asks the client to think of a time when they felt angry, but do not discuss it. Simply blow air into the balloon each time the client has felt angry recently. This continues until the balloon pops.
Then for the second half, repeat the exercise, but try not to overinflate it. Then, ask the client to talk about the issues they mentioned. As the client talks about their anger, let some air out of the balloon. Alternatively, you can just hand them an already-inflated balloon, and then talk about their feelings. Do the same thing—let some air out after you discuss each thing that makes them angry.
At the end of the exercise, reiterate that the balloon did not pop as the client was able to discuss their feelings which resulted in escalation prevention.
Yoga
Commonly used in meditative therapy, yoga is a great reflective practice that helps increase self-awareness and induces calmness to approach any mental health challenge with ease. Yoga is more than just physical exercise; it is a holistic practice that integrates the mind, body, and spirit.
By incorporating meditation and deep breathing techniques, yoga helps individuals to quiet the mind and achieve a state of inner calm. This meditative aspect is particularly beneficial for those dealing with stress, anxiety, or depression, as it promotes mental clarity and emotional balance.
Furthermore, yoga encourages participants to focus on their body's movements and sensations, fostering a deeper connection with their physical selves. This inward focus can lead to increased self-awareness and a greater understanding of one's emotional and mental states.
For starters, try simple, beginner-friendly poses that are easy to follow and don't require advanced flexibility or strength, such as the mountain pose, child's pose, and cat-cow stretch. If the participants get bored, they can start trying the cobra pose, the downward dog, and the warrior pose variants. If they want more challenge, they can try the tree pose, triangle pose, and camel pose. Additionally, provide yoga mats or soft surfaces for the practice to ensure comfort and safety.
Board games and tabletop games
Not only are board games super fun, but they allow you to evaluate multiple dimensions that can shed insight into a person's character. Depending on the board game, you can assess decision-making skills and relational skills, amongst many others within your child and teenager clients.
Some simple games you can play are Ticket to Ride, Codenames, and Dixit. These games focus on different skills, but one shared benefit is that they foster communication and social skills. You can also play tabletop role-playing games like Dungeons and Dragons, which can provide more insight into their character based on how they play.
Board games can reveal a number of valuable factors pertaining to your client and how they perceive challenging situations, with board games providing practical skills in numerous life aspects.
Anger menu
Menus are a great way to display information, even outside food establishments. In this activity, create a folded menu titled “The Anger Menu”, With menu options on the inside representing different ways to express anger healthily. Have the client brainstorm and discuss a bunch of healthy options for them to vent their anger without harming themselves or others. This activity helps massively with emotional regulation by showing them alternative ways to express or release emotions.
Art therapy
For artistic teens, art therapy is one of the best activities you can try. The clients can draw about whatever is considering them at the moment, or they can draw to a specific theme that you set, with the client discussing their feelings as they work through their artistic process. It is a great way to encourage clients to open up through a noninvasive environment that prioritizes something that they really enjoy.
Therapy worksheets for kids and teens
If facilitating exercises isn't really your thing, then you can also consider implementing therapy worksheets. Therapy worksheets are great supplementary tools to your appointments, as they can evaluate a range of mental health issues and disorders, and without compromise.
Therapy worksheets incorporate exercises to encourage participation and interaction, with no additional equipment required. In fact, many worksheets encompass activities that can be completed independently, which is great for convenience purposes, as well as for homework assessments.
Feel free to assign these worksheets as homework tasks, as the child and teen can work on their mental health outside of your office, and come back with results to be analyzed. These worksheets work towards enforcing higher coping mechanisms, alleviating depression and anxiety, and instilling greater self-esteem, amongst many other outcomes.
Take home message
It can be very daunting for teenagers and children to come to therapy. Specifically, some children may feel embarrassed or ashamed about it or may feel intimidated in opening up to someone whom they do not have a previous relationship with. It can be difficult to encourage participation, with these 15 therapeutic activities working towards providing children and teenagers with greater confidence in expressing their thoughts and feelings.
Remember, the goal is to make therapy a positive and empowering experience that they look forward to. Integrate these activities into your practice today and witness the transformative impact they can have on your young clients' mental and emotional well-being.
