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Playing family board games can be a fabulously sneaky way to dish out some therapeutic learning opportunities for kids with ADHD. It's like sneaking extra veggies into the pasta sauce. They'll love the social interaction, novelty, competition, and challenge and learn life skills that may not come naturally to them along the way. Here are 5 of our family favorites that center on building social skills:
Codenames (ages 10+, 2-8 players):
In this team spy-themed game, one player gives clues to lead his team to the right series of "codenames" on the cards laid out across the table. If the team guesses wrong, they may blow their cover! For example, the player may have to lead his team to the codenames, "Saturn", "Stump", and "Bell" and might say, "3, rings". This clue means, 3 of their team code names have something to do with the word "rings".
Kids with ADHD are particularly adept at noticing patterns. They will enjoy flexing this skill and learning cooperative social skills, consideration of other perspectives, and deductive reasoning.
Magic Maze (ages 8+,1-8 players):
Work together to get through a maze without talking. Each player is assigned a couple direction cards at the beginning and only that player can move pawns in that direction, so players have to focus on doing their part to keep the pawns moving toward their goals. There's no taking turns, players work together to move the four pawns at any time in their assigned directions.
The challenge, novelty, and urgency of this game make it great for ADHD brains. Kids will enjoy fulfilling their special role to bring the team to victory. This game is great for teaching impulse control with its "no talking" challenge and also teaches cooperative play, quick decision-making, focus, and interdependent problem-solving.
Curses (ages 10+, 3-6 players):
In this hilarious game, players must complete goofy challenges like, "Talk yourself out of a speeding ticket," or "Pretend you are Santa and tell each player what they are getting for Christmas," while also complying to their curse cards. Curses can be anything from, "Pretend your wrists are glued to your forehead" to, "Talk like a pirate." So, a player may have to spend a turn as a pirate Santa telling everyone what they are getting for Christmas with his wrists stuck to his forehead. Slip up and other players can ring the bell on you to get points.
Kids with ADHD will love the dramatic play and goofiness of this game. They will also enjoy the attention they get on their turn and ringing the bell on others. This game encourages memory skills, acting/empathy skills, taking turns, creativity, and impulse control.
Telestrations (ages 8+, 4-6 players):
In this telephone/pictionary combo, each player draws a card that states an object. They do their best sketch of that object and, when everyone is finished with their drawing, they pass their booklet with the sketch to the left. The next person guesses what the drawing is and writes the guess on the second booklet page then passes to the left. Then, that person draws a picture of the guess the second person made without seeing the first sketch.
Kids with ADHD will enjoy the creativity of this game. They will also enjoy the dry-erase booklet and the thrill of guessing correctly or drawing well or the humor of guessing incorrectly or drawing poorly. This game promotes cooperative skills, hand-eye coordination, abstract and critical thinking, and communication skills. There are different versions available depending on group size.
What do you Meme: Family Edition (ages 8+, 3-20 players):
In this humorous meme game, one player draws a card that describes a relatable situation like, "When you're washing the dishes and touch soggy food". Other players pick a "meme" (photo card) from their hand that they think would accurately express the feeling on the situation card.
Kids with ADHD will love the simplicity of this game. They will also love that it is highly visual and creative and that it's easy to get a good laugh from everyone when you find the perfect card. What's great about this game is it builds on kids' empathy skills and ability to read social cues, body language, and facial expressions. They will also use deductive reasoning and decision-making to judge which player wins the round.
Family board games can be a great way to bond with your children while also teaching them imperative social and life skills in a low-stakes, enjoyable way. Board games for children with ADHD should be highly engaging, visual, and challenging to keep their attention from wandering too much. Fast-paced or ever-changing games are also helpful in keeping kids with ADHD involved. Whatever games you play together, your child with ADHD will benefit from the social interaction and devoted time and attention they receive.
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