Affective vs. Ineffective use of Candyland for Therapy

A few weeks ago I was watching YouTube To try to find a video about play therapy and I came across a video of a therapist using Candyland. It was an awkward session to say the least. And not one that I would share on video to the world on YouTube. Looking past the therapist not addressing screaming behaviors or engaging the child in any discussion, I really noticed that his use of Candyland was pretty weak-sauce.

While he had some general theme of emotions related to the colors, his questions were very broad and did not engage the child in responding…to any of them. It was pretty much just asking a young child for the definition of emotion words. While the child did essentially play the game, he was definitely not  listening to the therapist. He also was not gaining any new skills or learning any information about emotions through playing the game.

At best the therapist was building rapport, which is good. But, I really think that the therapist felt that the child was receiving “therapy”, which he was not. It was, in my opinion, a waste of time. I value time! If you also value both your time and the child (or student’s) time, then playing a regular game of Candyland, Uno, or Jenga is really not going to cut it if you want the child to make real progress.

 If you’d like to see this video of what not to do for yourself watch below:

Getting Inspiration for Creating a Better Therapy Tool

 This video did, however, inspire me to make better and more therapeutic Candy Land games for my counseling students. I started off making one that focused on learning different emotions. and then I made ones for all of the various  counseling goals that I am supporting my students with this school year. these topics include coping skills, social skills, emotional regulation, and unexpected behaviors.

Here is how to make Candy Land MORE Therapeutic

Currently I have made six different Candyland games. I make each one with a specific theme and topic that helps Target my students IEP goals or Behavioral goals. the first game that I made was to help younger children learn about different emotions.

Next, I made a rapport building version of Candyland with lots of fun and silly types of prompts and questions. this will be a great activity to use at the beginning of the new school year with my students.

I currently have many students that I support with behavioral problems.  You know the ones. These students range from emotional outbursts (crying, screaming, eloping) to acts of aggression at school. Yep. I’m talking about your “friends” who hit, kick, choke, and throw things at school. Those are my “friends” too! So, the next Candyland that I made was the “Expected versus Unexpected Behaviors” Candy Land.

 I also have students working on COPING SKILLS, learning to build Empathy, as well as improve their general SOCIAL SKILLS. Here are the individual games (seen below) that address these specific areas of social or emotional skill building. If any of these games would also be helpful to your students, just click on the pictures and they will link you to my store. Every game is under $5, sometimes under $4 if there is a TpT sale.

Click HERE if you want to join my email subscription, so that you can always get an email alert when there is a Teachers Pay Teachers Sale. I always make my store the full 25% off during the TpT sales:)

 So far, I have been using these games the last 3 months of the school year. I even used this game as my “party game”  for the last counseling session of the year. Yes, I gave each kid some fruit snacks, popcorn, and gave them a prize from my prize box on their way out the door.  I’m nice like that. 

 Why you don’t even need a CANDY LAND Game Board!

If you are interested in one of these Candy Land games, you actually DON’T NEED to buy a Candy Land! This is because I created an imitation Candy Land game board that is printable. I’m calling it “Color Land”, however. I don’t know if the Candy Land creators have any muscle, but I don’t want to risk it, so I made my own board that will also work with the game. Also, I’m all about saving counselors $$$. If you have to go and then buy a Candy Land, it defeats the purpose of providing you with inexpensive counseling tools.

How to Get Counseling Activities for FREE!

You can get more games, counseling tips and tricks, and other fun activities for FREE by signing up the counselingfannypack.com email subscription! With the subscription, you can get access to the Free Resource Library as well as tips on when Sales are happening in the Counseling Fanny Pack of Fun Store! Just Click HERE to sign up for access!

 If you would like any, or all, of these games to help you add some fun and learning to your counseling sessions, please click the pictures within this post and they will all link you to the product in my Counseling Fanny Pack of Fun store.

The post How to Turn Regular CANDYLAND into a GREAT Therapy Tool the Right Way! appeared first on The Counseling Fanny Pack.

There are generally three ways to provide school-based counseling. Looking at MTSS, the levels are Tier 1, which is SEL (Social Emotional Learning), which is provided through the general education setting. Then there is Tier 2, which is generally small group counseling. Finally, there is the sometimes dreaded Tier 3, which is typically individual counseling.

Though it doesn’t have to be, individual counseling sessions might seem a little scary. One-on-One sessions usually mean that a student has a high level of need. This can be nerve wrecking because it might feel like there is a lot of pressure on YOU, the counselor or counseling provider, to make some BIG changes in a short amount of time. If this is how you sometimes feel when providing individual counseling, please read these three tips to make your individual counseling sessions easier on you, and more productive for your students.

Tip #1: Prepare for Your Sessions Well Ahead of Time or Invest in Pre-made Curriculums

I believe that having a plan makes things easier for all three tiers, of course. But if you are trying to improve your individual counseling skills, starting with a specific plan is the first step. Planning your sessions in advance for individual counseling will definitely save you a lot of time and stress. If you are planning your session activity five minutes ahead of the scheduled time, it might be time for you to invest in some pre-made curriculums or in setting aside time to plan. If not, you might be repeating conversations, activities, or not using the time productively. Just doing a “check in” is not counseling, but is often what results from lack of planning.

The benefit of Pre-made curriculums is that the work of planning has been done for you. This can be a real time-saver to have a ton of activities that are ready to go, in a pre-determined order, instead of fishing for a specific game or worksheet with minutes to spare. Of course, you will have to print out any of the materials in advance, but in terms of planning a session, pre-made curriculums can save a ton of your valuable time.

If not using a pre-made curriculum, your will need to outline the topics you want to cover in each session and the overall and daily goal you’re aiming to achieve. As a school psychologist, I am always working towards my students’ specific counseling goal written in their IEP. However, if the student does not have an IEP, consult with the student’s parents or teachers to see if there were any specific situations of difficulty during the past few weeks that can guide your session planning topics.

Once you’ve determined your goal for the session, all that’s left to do is fill in the spaces in your outline with engaging, but helpful, activities that will help them learn a skill, reflect on their behavior, or discuss their areas of difficulty.

To see all of the CFPF pre-made counseling curriculums, please check out my different 6-24 week curriculums for a variety of counseling topics.

Tip #2 Develop Authentic Rapport and Trust

Getting students to like you and want to share with you can also be a bit of a challenge. It’s actually much easier with a small group to build rapport because the students with good social skills can model engagement and enthusiasm for participation. My secret weapon with both small group and individual counseling is always playing rapport building games. This makes things light, while creating moments of real discussion if you have the right game and questions.

Here are the games to play for rapport building, or “Getting to Know You”, with both individual and small group counseling. The Jenga one is always a hit, but if you only have a deck of cards, you can play the “cards” rapport building game.

When building rapport, do not do the following…

Ask a million questions. While I like to get to the point…no one wants to play the dating game in a counseling session. By having a fun activity, such as an “All about me” coloring worksheet or a “getting to Know you” cards or Jenga, you can learn general information about your student that can help facilitate discussions about what areas of their life or school they perceive as challenging. Good rapport building games generally do not have only counseling-related questions. You have to sneak those in with some fun ones in order to help the child relax and start sharing.

To see the Top 25 Rapport Building Counseling Questions, click here to check out this article.

Overshare about yourself… A little humanizing is good, but a lot is not. Counseling is not about you though. So, try to restrain your self-sharing.

Forget to mention the parameters of confidentiality... Make it brief, but make it clear

Use Engaging Activities that will Facilitate Meaningful Discussion

Counseling children is very different from therapy with adults. Your students may not have decided on their own to attend counseling. Other kids might not recognize their areas of difficulty. It can be hard to just bring up a topic of difficulty and get down to the why without any activity. Just talking. This is especially true for younger children.

Types of activities that can facilitate meaningful discussion can include a video, game, worksheet, or art-therapy activity. I like to mix it up week after week, so that the activity feels novel, even if the discussion topic is repetitive. Counseling can be like hammering a nail…It takes a few strikes to get it to sink in. Don’t worry if it feels like you are having the same discussion over and over again.

And don’t take it personally when your student does not show signs of progress. If the student just had mild sadness, anxiety, or behaviors, they probably wouldn’t need individual therapy. So, progress is going to take time and patience.

I have a student that I’ve been working with on using coping skills for weeks now. I’ve particularly focused on “Size of the Problem” and different types of calming strategies and breathing. He even has a behavior chart to reward him for calming down when frustrated. But did he have a meltdown over not getting a purple pipe-cleaner this week? Yes, he did.

Below are some examples of games and worksheets that I use with my students. Just click on any that you think may be helpful in supporting your student or students with their individual therapy and stay confident! You are doing great and I thank you for your good work and care for your students!

How to Get Counseling Activities… for FREE!

If you are hoping to find not just inexpensive, but FREE Counseling Activities, then you are in the right place! Subscribe to CounselingFannyPack.com and gain access to the Free Resource Library! In it, you will get new counseling activities that are updated monthly for subscribers! Just Click HERE to sign up for access!

 If you are OK with spending $3-$5 on a few fun counseling activities for your students, please just click the pictures within this post and they will all link you to the product in my Counseling Fanny Pack of Fun store.

The post 3 Tips for School Counselors for Improving your Confidence with Individual Counseling Sessions appeared first on The Counseling Fanny Pack.

Are you looking for some activities to address behavior and social skills for your child, student, or entire class?

Whether you are a parent, teacher, or counselor, you likely want to support your child or students with activities to address any gaps in social skills or behavior through engaging activities that will actually work. Just telling kids to “respect your teacher” is really not going to be enough for many kids. Children with behavioral concerns that include defiance, aggression, and poor social skills particularly will benefit from learning about giving others respect (for teachers & peers) and manners. They need instruction and practice, however, in order to know what to do.

Much like learning academic subjects, children require a multi-modal approach to learning most social, emotional, and behavioral topics. Because they are kids, they also need it to feel fun. Social-Emotional Learning topics need to not feel like punishment when learning them. If presented in a fun and interactive way, they will be able to learn about these topics with a much more open mind and attitude. This will, hopefully, help them to improve their ability to implement what they have learned in the classroom or playground.

Types of Activities to Address Manners and Respect

1) Videos!

In my counseling practice as a school psychologist, there are a few different types of activities that I will use to address teaching students Manners and Respect. The first is Videos. This is because videos can be fun, easy, age-appropriate, and targeted when you are able to find the right one. Videos are also a good tool because they can be used individually or with a group as large as an entire classroom.

Here are some of the videos that I regularly use with students to help them learn about Manners and Respect:

2) Games

I have a few games that I use when teaching students Manners and/or Respect. Games are very interactive, but really provide amazing practice and can facilitate discussions about behavior when played with a counselor, parent, or teacher. Most of my students look forward to coming to their counseling sessions because they enjoy playing the different counseling games with their peers.

General Tips for Playing Counseling Games

When doing a game activity, it is best to have 2- 5 players. That way, there are more opportunities for peer modeling and discussion than when playing games indivually. Kids learn social skills best from other kids, right? When playing games, use questions and prompts to facilitate discussions of past behaviors or incidents that you are aware of. This is where your training as a counselor will come in. Discussion, practice of skills, and modeling is really the key to success with any social-emotional learning.

Here are a few games that I made and use with my own counseling students that address Manners and Respect:

(Click on Picture for link to products or HERE for link to see all Games in my store!)

3) Worksheets

Worksheets can be a good tool if they are appropriate for the developmental level of the student. For example, I use worksheets with mostly coloring or drawing for Kindergarten through 3rd graders. For example, in one of the worksheets below, I will have students color the different examples of giving others respect. In another worksheet related to learning calming strategies, I will have the students draw a self-portrait of themselves using a calming strategy.

Here are some examples of worksheets that I use for younger students. (Click on pictures for link to purchase for your counseling):

For students that are older, I am able to do worksheet activities that might require some writing for 3rd through 8th graders. In the examples below, the students are asked to complete the sentences about how to give different people in their lives respect. When doing worksheets for counseling, don’t forget to use the worksheet prompts to engage in meaningful discussion, as conversation is at the heart of all good counseling that will lead to positive changes.

Just a side note… As a school psychologist I am mostly working with students with academic deficits. These students often have lower writing skills than typical general education students or behaviors associated with writing. Therefore, I keep my worksheet activities that require writing to a minimum. If I feel that the worksheet will be helpful for facilitating discussion, however, I might do the physical writing for them to avoid resistance or behaviors.

Here are a few worksheets that I might use for older students:

4) Social Stories and Books

Social Stories can be a good targeted way to address a specific area of difficulty for individual students. Areas related to manners and respect may include stories about giving others personal space, playing on the playground, listening to the teacher, waiting you turn, or sharing. These topics are all related to learning manners, expected behaviors at school, and giving others respect.

Social stories are short stories that are a learning tool about a specific social skill or topic. The stories that I make for helping student learn about a topic by discussing that the behavior does not mean that they are “bad”, but that they can make better choice. In most of my stories I will indicate how their behavior impacts others to help build empathy. Finally, the stories give one or more strategies for changing their behavior.

One of the secrets to making an effective story is using it frequently. One read will probably not do the trick. Reviewing the story daily, such as in the morning, before a child has unstructured play, or even at home before bed, will better implant the information into the child’s memory. Last school year I had a TK student that would have an emotional melt down every morning when he arrived at school. In this instance, I read the story with his the first time, and then ask his mother to read it to him every night. After two weeks, two long weeks, the behavior subsided and he was able to attend school without issue.

Here are a few of the social stories that I have made and sell for under $3.50 in my Teachers pay Teachers store:

Whatever tools you decide to use to address helping students learn about manners and respect, you are on the right track to helping build your students’ or child’s social skills. Every little bit of instruction and support will make a difference in behavior and with building social skills that will support learning and relationships. If you are looking for more tools and resources to support other areas of Social-Emotional Learning, please check out my Teachers pay Teachers store! There are tons of individual activities as well as Activity Books that have tons of Games and Worksheets for the entire school year of Tier 1,2, and 3 Counseling and Social-Emotional Learning!

If you’d like to check out any of the games featured in this article…

Please just click on the picture and it will take you to the product in my Teachers pay Teachers store.

If you’d like to check out other topics in my store, please click on the topic below to see what I might have for you and your students. Happy Counseling!

BEHAVIOR TOOLS

SOCIAL SKILLS

COPING SKILLS

EMPATHY

SELF-ESTEEM

The post Fun Tier 1, 2, & 3 Activities for Teaching Manners and Respect at School appeared first on The Counseling Fanny Pack.

Whether you are a counselor, teacher, or parent, you have likely interacted with a child who could benefit from your help with social skills. Social skills are the skills that people use in order to interact with others. This includes verbal communication, non-verbal gestures, initiating interactions, and maintaining appropriate interactions. When children have poor social skills, they likely also may develop low self-esteem and poor academic motivation, as their behaviors push peers away, leaving them feeling isolated. Consequences of poor social skills, therefore, can really impact all areas of a child’s daily life, particularly their school life.

What do social skill deficits include?

Children with deficits in social skills may demonstrate limited age-level vocabulary, ability to interpret non-verbal language, poor personal space, poor self-control, poor turn taking, aggression, and poor empathy. Some children may just have one area of difficulty. Others may have them all. This may result in frequent aggression, verbal outbursts, and/or physical altercations due to poor communication and conflict resolution skills. It may also result in a negative thought process related to school, academic work, and overall self-worth.

When children are able to build social skills, they can better interact with their peers, teachers, siblings, and parents. This will help improve their self-esteem, which can further improve academic motivation, desire to attend school, and overall happiness.

While one or two activities below may be enough for children with very mild deficits or just one specific area of social skill deficits, children with more significant deficits require a more well rounded approach. In my experience of counseling students with aggression, poor conflict resolution, or poor self-control, it takes a well rounded approach of teaching many skill topics in order to see progress. In these instances, I will use a multi-modal approach of activities that address the multiple areas of deficit. This may include several lessons and activities that teach topics, such as manners, communicating needs, understanding empathy, giving respect, conflict resolution, personal space, anger control, and good sportsmanship.

Here are 8 activities that can address this variety of social skill deficits in either the school or home environments:

Social Stories

Social stories are visual or written explanations in short and simple story format that are used to explain to a child a variety of skills or topics, including following directions, school expectations, emotional regulation skills, and understanding socially appropriate behaviors. For example, these stories above provide information on topics that include strategies for calming down, the importance of personal space, how to listen to the teacher, and why schoolwork is important.

When making social stories, it is good to have the story discuss what the behavior is, how it impacts others, and what strategies will work to overcome or solve the issue. Most stories are also in first person, which helps young children or children with Autism identify that the story is about them, and not another child. To do this, I create stories that have a first page with blank spaces to write in the child’s name, school, age, and grade. For more information on making and using social stories, click HERE.

Restorative Circles

Restorative Circles are a format of Social and Emotional Instruction where teachers provide a safe, but structured way, for students to share their feelings, opinions, learn about their classmates, and learn conflict resolution skills. Circles can be used to discuss a variety of Social and Emotional topics, as well as help problem solve when there are social or behavioral problems in the classroom or between students.

To make circles part of your plan for providing Social Skills SEL:

•Do circles 1-3x per week, on a consistent basis.

•Make a large circle that goes around the entire classroom or large carpet area. Students can sit or stand.

•Use a talking piece, such as stuffed animal, small plush, special classroom item, etc.

•Holding the talking piece indicates that it is your turn to share.

Videos

Videos are a super easy way to teach social skills to kids. Kids love to watch videos. At least, every kid that I know. Videos are a good way to make teaching Social Skills fun and entertaining. With the right videos that are age-appropriate, you can engage children through in learning skills through a variety of video styles.

For younger children, videos with songs, cartoon characters, stories, and/or children of similar age talking or modeling skills is recommended. Here are two examples from my YouTube videos list of social skill videos that I use in my counseling for younger children:

For older children, videos that have similar-aged children talking, videos that are games, and have a higher level vocabulary are best. Here are two examples of videos that are good for older children:

Indoor SEL Games

There are many types of Social Skill specific games out there. Playing regular board games, such as Checkers or Candy Land can be good for teaching skills, such as turn taking and sportsmanship. SEL-specific board games and counseling games can be more targeted, however, to specific social skills. SEL Skills-specific games can address social skills by having prompts and questions that facilitate discussions with the adult and have students practice skills.

For example, in the Jenga game for Social Skills, there are prompts that include practicing greetings, giving compliments, and making eye contact. There are also questions, such as, “Why is sharing an important part of being a good friend?”

Here are a few examples of Counseling/SEL games that focus on improving social skills:

Outdoor Games

Outside games can facilitate social skills learning and practice that include teamwork skills, following game rules, communication, and sportsmanship. Outside games or sports can include soccer, handball, baseball, or swim team. If you are a teacher, providing opportunities for outside cooperative games or activities can be a great way to build social skills in your students while providing exercise. It can even be incorporated into your PE lesson. A two for one!

If you are a parent, putting your child in a sport can be a great way to provide them with natural opportunities for learning important social skills that can help them learn how to get along and cooperate with their peers. While it may seem like sending children to school is enough peer interaction to build social skills, it may not be for some children. This is because the school day is very structured and full of routine and tasks to complete.

Yes, there is recess, lunch, and playtime for Tk and Kindergarten children, but this is general play opportunities. In these non-structured times, young children may be engaged in parallel play, an are not truly interacting with their peers if not encouraged to engage in cooperative play. Picture twenty children running around on playground equipment or riding tricycles around the yard. They are having fun and getting exercise. However, they may not necessarily be interacting socially with their peers.

When discussing with parents how to improve their child’s social skills, I will often ask if they have tried to put their child on a team sport, club, or extra-curricular class (with peers). This is especially true of children with disabilities. This is because extra-curricular activities build non-academic skill as well as social skills and can improve self-esteem, which can foster improvements in behavior and learning.

Role Play

Games that facilitate role playing are also a fun way to teach social skills through peer modeling. Role playing social skills involves having students act out scenarios and demonstrate making good choices. It’s an activity that can be done in either small group counseling of 3-8 students or even with a whole class. If you really want to jazz it up, add costumes, such as funny hats, capes, or shirts. This will better engage students, even though it can get them a little silly. Sometimes sneaking in the fun into an activity is the best way to teach, right?

Books

There are many-many children’s books out there that target social skills. Finding the right ones can be challenging. With a little research, you can easily Google search your topic and read reviews to determine if the book will address the specific area of need. Or, you can save a few dollars and then see if the book has been made into a YouTube video read-aloud like the story above.

Group Team-Building Activities

This is a little different than board games, but can be done inside of the classroom with small or large groups of students. Team building activities are fun, goal driven tasks that can facilitate social skill building through participation in teamwork activities. These activities should be developmentally appropriate, such as building a tower with plastic cups for younger children or untangling a human knot for older children. Other ideas may include team scavenger hunts, solving a large puzzle in teams, or team relay races.

What Next?

If you are still feeling unsure about how to support your child or student with more significant social deficits, seek out guidance or support from your child’s school or pediatrician. Sometimes social deficits are a sign of a more significant developmental or mental health issue. It is worth a conversation with a trained professional or school team, as they will have more experience with knowing what the next steps should be for a higher level of care. They may even recommend assessment if school or home interventions have not yielded progress. Some schools may have free counseling available, while others may have community resources that you can be referred to.

As a school psychologist, I can tell you that the showing videos, playing games, and providing opportunities for social interaction through extracurriculars does not really have a down side. More exposure to peers, instruction, and practice should only lead to improvements in social skills. The more the merrier when it comes to interventions for social skills, in my opinion.

I hope that you have found this information helpful and have been inspired to try a few of these suggestions and activities. If you are a teacher looking for classroom SEL activities for the school year, please check out my Social-Emotional Learning Activities Book for either grades Tk-2 or 3-5! If you are a school psychologist or counselor, please check out my Counseling Activity Books! They will make your school year much smoother with tons of counseling games, activities, and worksheets for a variety of therapy topics!

The post 8 Activities to Improve your Child’s or Student’s SOCIAL SKILLS appeared first on The Counseling Fanny Pack.

Are you a School Counselor, Psychologist, or Speech Pathologist who has a “LUNCH BUNCH” or other type of Social Skills Counseling Group? Have you been using regular old “Board Games” in the hopes of making your lunch bunch fun, but found that they really aren’t helping to teach specific “Social Skills” that your students may need, such as conversational skills, initiating play, and improving manners?

Sure, your students are practicing turn-taking and sportsmanship, but there are a lot more “social skills” that social skill-specific activities can provide. These 10 activity ideas can hopefully help you spark some new ideas on how to jazz up these groups and help your students to build the social skills that they need.

1) RAPPORT BUILDING GAMES

Rapport building games are a great way to start your counseling group. This is because they can both help the students get to know each other while engaging them in a play activity that helps build social skills. There are many types of rapport building activities, such as “all About Me” coloring worksheets or a general intake questionnaire. Rapport, or “getting to know you” games, however, will engage your students in play while helping you and them get to know each other. There are several game types that I have created both Rapport Building Questions and Social Skill Questions and Prompts with. Which type of game that you decide to play as your rapport building game activity depends on several factors. These factors include the grade or ages of the students, the developmental abilities of your students, and… your office size.

For rapport building game activities, I use either my JENGA, Beach Ball, Cards, or Laptop with Zoom if doing telehealth therapy. It is essentially the same game and same questions, but just different ways of social play skills that you would be working on with each type of game. All of my students enjoy the Beach Ball version of my Rapport Building Game, but the JENGA is a close second.

I will typically not use the Beach Ball version if I cannot go outside or if my students are more aggressive, as they will start throwing or kicking the ball if they get too excited or angry if something doesn’t go their way. I use the JENGA or Card Game version primarily with older students, such as students in 4th or 5th grade or in Middle School.

2) SOCIAL SKILL CARD and BEACH BALL GAMES

I use the beach ball and card game version of my Social Skills Game frequently with my counseling students. Students really enjoy the ball throwing and catching aspect of the beach ball game, but can get wild at times. Wild is fun, however, and fun keeps kids happy and engaged. To play, just number a beach ball 1-26 and when the students catch the ball, I have them tell me what number their “right hand” is touching. Then I read the question or prompt related.

Here are some of the questions from the game:

Give the person to your right a compliment.

What is one way that you can show someone that you are listening to them?

What is an appropriate was to respond if a friend makes you angry?

Why is compromise and sharing important parts of friendship?

3) SOCIAL STORY COLORING BOOKS

It might not be a “game”, but social stories can target a specific skill that your students may be struggling with, such as personal space, conversation skills, controlling behaviors, or playground rules. There are many short stories out there and even stories on video in YouTube. I will often pair a video about a certain topic with a social story coloring book that each student can color and personalize as the counseling activity. Then they can keep it and take it back to their classroom for their teacher to read and review with them on occasion when needed.

Here is my video explaining a little more on my Personal Space Coloring Book counseling activity.

4) JENGA

JENGA is loved by almost all kids in my experience. There is no rolling the die, spinning a wheel, or using a board game involved, which makes it easier and less stressful for some students. It helps children practice turn taking and when questions with counseling themes are incorporated, it can be an fun tool for engaging children in discussion and practicing skills related to making friends and getting along with others.

In addition to using JENGA for Rapport building, you can also use it for practicing Social Skills, Anger management, self-esteem, and coping skills with your students. With this game, you can number your JENGA pieces and when the students pull the pieces, you can read the prompt or question about making friend, giving compliments, and engage in discussions about what good social skills look like. The game is designed to help you facilitate discussions and teach your students skills through play and while having a little, or a lot, of fun.

Some of the specific questions in the game include:

What are one of the ways that you can show someone that you are listening to them? .

Why is compromise and sharing important parts of friendship?

How can you tell if you are bothering someone sitting next to you in class?

What is personal space?

Name 2 qualities that make someone a good friend.

5) GAMES THAT FOCUS ON MANNERS

Focusing on Manners is an important part of teaching social skills. Since it’s School Based Counseling, most of the manners activities and games that your should focus on are school manners, such as listening to the teacher, taking turns, giving personal space, using your words, and not interrupting the teacher. I like to do a few activities that focus on Manners. The first activity is usually the game, “Mrs. Manners Says”, which is either a power point version that I will play as a game, or I will show the game in it’s video format. The video and Power Point start with a discussion of what manners are and gives examples of “good” vs. “bad” manners. Then the game has students give a thumbs up or down for each scenario on the slides. Click below to check out the video.

The following week, I will play the “Manners Game” to help reinforce the lesson from the video/game.

6) VIDEOS

I use videos with my group counseling sessions probably more than most, and I give YOU permission to use video too! Videos can be great tools in teaching children about getting along with others, compromising, initiating play, being a good sport, and so forth and so on. With the right video, for the right developmental level, your students can be engaged in an activity that is always preferred…watching videos.

Over the years, I have created a list of videos that I can use with my students for any number of issues or skills. Some videos are cartoons, while others are songs or even puppets. Students that are very young respond well to cartoon format, social stories, and songs. Students that are around second grade or above seem to attend and respond best to videos with similar aged peers modeling scenarios or discussing the topics. I have spent many hours searching for the perfect videos for my counseling sessions. With many of the videos that I use, I will create a worksheet or coloring activity to go with them, so that the information is reinforced with an activity.

Here are a few video examples that are from my list of over 200 videos. This list has grown by over 50 videos just this (2021-2022) school year, with topics, such as Executive Functioning, Working in Groups, and Personal Space being added to just this week.

7) GAMES THAT FOCUS ON CONVERSATION SKILLS

Part of the goal of most social skills groups is to help students practice talking socially with other peers. The problem with a social skills group, however, can be that all the students participating struggle with this skill. The trick is to find activities that facilitate conversational skills or bring up questions that help facilitate conversations. If you want to get even more targeted, you can use “The Conversation Game” to help your students learn to initiate and maintain conversations. To play this game, students pick from a hat a slip of paper with a topic on it, such as “favorite pizza topping” or “vacations”. Then, you give the the directions to first practice greeting the peer and then to engage in a discussion for one minute about the topic or at least 3 exchanges of comments or questions about the topic.

8) REGULAR BOARD GAMES

Regular board games can be good at times, as many kids with social skills deficits may not have the experience of playing many games that you and I think of as common. I’m always amazed when I have a group of students that have never played UNO or Guess Who. While I clearly love playing my own games that are specifically working on targeted social skills, teaching students actual games that they can play with their peers is also a useful skill for them.

9) OUTDOOR GAMES

If you love Cornhole like I love Cornhole, then you might also enjoy sharing your love of outdoor games with your students. I’m not talkin soccer or basketball, but outdoor social games that have minimal contact such as horseshoes, red light green light, throwing a frisbee, hopscotch, cornhole or four square. Building experiences and knowledge to play outdoor games can definitely benefit students who lack social skills, as they may not be getting these experiences independently due to their social and play difficulties.

10) COMPUTER OR iPad GAMES

I’m sure your students are professionals at technology games. While I wouldn’t normally recommend playing video games at home or school, there are a few games out there that are designed to teach social skills. My district provided me with an iPad many years ago, so I have a few games that I will use to teach social skills. By using technology, you may be able to engage some students who are more familiar and comfortable with computer type games, which might help ease them into your social skills group if they are resistant. Here are some links to check out the apps that I sometimes use for social skills.

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Which students need counseling for Empathy?

Well, if you’re reading this, you probably know which kiddos I am referring to. I’ve found that the students that I am providing lessons on empathy for are often children with behavioral issues, difficulty with social skill, and/or a combination of the two. Getting very specific on teaching empathy in counseling can help students better navigate the school environment and hopefully make friends. Yes, some of these students have a diagnosis or eligibility of Autism Spectrum Disorder. Others have poor emotional regulation because of ADHD, poor mental health, or trauma. But, the focus for Empathy-specific counseling is on helping them understand how their words or behaviors impact others. By helping them to think about and eventually understand that other people have feelings too, just like them, children can better learn to avoid the behaviors that hurt others or make them unhappy, sad, or mad.

Step one is often my go-to introduction to the topic of Empathy…VIDEOS!

I will use these videos for both small group counseling and whole class SEL. They are fun and I always have students enjoy them as an activity because they are designed as “games.”

Worksheets for Teaching Empathy

Sometimes I will combine a video on Empathy with a worksheet. Worksheets are best for students who are generally in second grade or higher due to their need for reading and writing skills. I do not really use worksheets too often in my counseling, however, because many of my students have reading and writing disabilities. Others really just don’t like writing. If I have a student with low writing skills o resistance to writing, I will sometimes write for them if I really want to use a worksheet for their counseling session.

I have made a few Empathy themed worksheets, but the one’s that I use most often for my own students are either focused on learning to identify emotions of others or the “walking in someone else’s shoes” worksheet. Here they are below:

Games for Teaching Empathy

Once students learn the concept of Empathy, you can play a game with them to help them practice thinking about other’s feelings in a variety of scenarios. The games that I use I made with scenarios taken right out of the behaviors that my students have had. Here are a few of the games that you can use below. The first two are for “in-person” counseling and the third game can be played on a laptop over Zoom for Teletherapy.

This Empathy themed Counseling activity is for Elementary or Middle School students who are working on understanding and thinking about the feelings of others. Empathy is an important Social Skill for helping children build and maintain positive relationships with others.

To Play-

• Review the quick lesson on Empathy.
• Then have the students take turns picking a scenario card from a hat or box. Then have them answer, “What was the emotion that the underlined person felt?”
• If the group (or Counselor) agrees, then the student can color in a “Level”, beginning at Level 1 and ending at Level 4.
• All players continue the game until everyone has finished their “Tower to Empathy”

This next game is a Power Point slide, so it can be used on your laptop. This way, the game can be played both in your office or over Zoom for distance learning or teletherapy counseling.

All of these Empathy games and worksheets are available in my new book (April 2022), The School Psych’s Handbook for the Best School Year EVER! Available as PDF download on Teachers Pay Teachers in my store, Counseling Fanny Pack of Fun. Just click below to learn more!

The post 3 Types of Counseling Activities for Teaching Children Empathy appeared first on The Counseling Fanny Pack.

Several years ago my school district stopped giving me a spending stipend for job-related products. I used the money for counseling games and 50-paper hole puncher, which I still love and use! If you are also buying physical games then you know…Those games were kind of pricy! Like $30 for one board game!

But then one day, the funding went to nothing and it was time to spend my own money on new counseling games. Let’s face it, I was tired of the same old games, and so were my students. So I Googled “free counseling game ideas”, of course, to start. The first idea that I found was the “Beach Ball Game”, as I have named it. Over the years of counseling students, I have created many versions of this game from my original, “Anger At The Beach” since I first found the idea. From there, the ideas for small group counseling games that are fun, interactive, and engaging has evolved with my students and their needs.

Beach Ball Games

This “Beach Ball” game is always a hit. It was also a great activity during COVID times, as it allowed for social distancing because students can play outside or in your office. To play, the students just toss the ball to a peer and then the counselor (or school psych) reads the prompt or question. It’s that easy! And, it supports learning social skills, especially if the students are playing the “social skills” version. This is because students have to take turns, wait their turn, and engage with each other when answering questions.

Over the years, I’ve taken the same concept from and created a Rapport Building Beach Ball, a Social Skills Beach Ball, Self-Esteem Beach Ball, and “Appropriate vs. Inappropriate Behaviors” Beach Ball. Most of my Beach Ball games I have also added a Card Game or Jenga version, for slightly calmer in-off activity. Yes, while kids love the beach ball games, they can sometimes get a little wild with it if they get too excited.

Here are two of my “Beach Ball” Games below. Just Click on the Picture to Learn more about the Game or Activity.

Kids Love JENGA Games

Jenga is another game that is similar to my Beach Ball game with questions and prompts that help facilitate discussions related to their topic or theme. All you need is a Jenga game (or imitation) and then number it 1-30. I’ve made several themed versions for whatever topic you are counseling students for. The questions are designed to facilitate discussion and practice skills related to your topic. Just click HERE or on the pic below if you’d like to use one Jenga for 8 different games to make your counseling life easier hopefully.

Social Skills Board Games

Kids also love board games, of course. Over the years I’ve made several board games to help teach kids Social Skills. This is what lunch bunch is typically about…teaching and practicing social skills. If you have younger students that are in your lunch bunch, they might particularly enjoy the Candy Land Social Skills Game. Here are just a few that are under $5!

Kids also love…BINGO Games!

BINGO Games are fun for kids as well. I have been able to make a few BINGO games for a few of my presentation type Power Point Presentation SEL lessons, however, because it is a good way to keep kids attention when attempting to provide them with information.

If I were a teacher, I would probably try to have all of my lessons incorporate BINGO, so that kids would have incentives to pay attention, haha. Here’s my latest BINGO Games for teaching kids about Emotions and Emotional Regulation.

If Card Games and UNO sound like fun….

Hopefully you have a deck of Playing Cards or UNO because kids really like card games. While Candyland and other board games are typically good for younger students, Card games and UNO are good for older students, even Middle and High School age students. While, yes, regular old UNO can technically build kids Social Skills, there really isn’t any learning or discussion prompting involved that can help teach Social Skills in just playing regular UNO. By incorporating therapy themes into these games, students can work on turn taking, sportsmanship, and other social skills while engaging in discussions and learning about social skills or emotional regulation topics.

Board Games for…Empathy, Manners, Social Skills, Anger Management, Respect, Behavior…The list goes on

Didn’t I just say to not play regular board games? Why yes, I did. Like card games, regular board games can help students work on general social skills and learn how to play the game. If you are a new counselor, you would probably be surprised that many children have minimal experience these days playing board games, such as Checkers, Guess Who, Battleship, or Monopoly. This is because kids mostly play games with technology these days, such as computer and video games. While fun, these games often do not provide kids with opportunities for social interaction, as many games are played in isolation at home instead of with parents or siblings, which board games can better provide. This means that skills such as turn taking, sharing, cooperation, and conversation do not occur when playing.

While regular board games can be good for lunch bunch, board games that are designed to teach specific social or emotional skills are probably more productive when trying to teach specific social skills during your lunch bunch. Here are a few therapy board games that I use regularly to teach social skills in my small group counseling sessions:

Videos that are Games

Here’s just a few “video games” that I have made for the Counseling Fanny Pack of Fun YouTube Channel!

If YOU would like to have access to new and FREE SEL and Counseling Activities monthly in the FREE Resource Library, please sign up today HERE!

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Manners are an important part of good social skills. In my own home, I teach my children to use good manners subconsciously, as I correct them when they forget to say “please”, give them consequences when they take something from their sibling without asking, and will prompt them to say “thank you” when adults give them a gift.

Just trying to raise my own humans to be people that others want to play with and work with one day. But, not all children have a school psychologist mother. Many children live in homes where parents are busy, working long hours, or do not have parents that are quite as aware of the importance of good manners.

It is definitely important for students to learn and practice manners in the classroom, particularly if they are not getting the information or prompting at home. Things like greeting their teacher in the mornings, refraining from rude comments, sharing with peers, and helping others are skills that can be learned at school. However, sometimes these manners need to be explicitly taught, not just assumed that children will “know” how to behave and show good manners during their school day.

To help with teaching “Good Manners” as part of either my small group counseling for students working on social skills, or my classroom SEL presentations, I have come up with a few activities that can help teach children about manners in some fun and interactive ways.

1) The Kindness Quiz

I will sometimes start out my Social Skills groups with this activity. It’s a “Kindness Quiz” that is intended to have students rate themselves on their own kindness. While the intention appears to children to be to take the quiz and learn about how “Kind” of a person they are, it’s true intention is to help teach children about kindness and manners through the questions and response options. Most children actually rate themselves much higher than they truly are because they want to appear “good.” However, by putting information in the form of a self-rating “quiz”, students learn what behaviors are considered good and may think about their own behaviors that may not have been “good manners.” I’m a sneaky lil’ school psych, muahaha. 

2. “Mrs. Manners Says” Presentation/Game and YouTube Video

For an easy and fun activity, I created a game using PowerPoint called “Mrs. Manners Says.” It starts out with a quick review with examples of Good vs. Bad manners. Then the game begins. It is essentially like Simon Says, but all that the students have to do is give a “Thumbs Up” or “Thumbs Down” if what Mrs. Manners says to do is a “good” or “bad” manner.

I will play this game in-person for my Small Group Counseling and SDC Whole Class SEL support, but I also have recorded myself giving the presentation and have posted it on YouTube, so that I can just send the link to teachers to show if they want something for their whole Gen Ed class. Hey! I’m a busy school psychologist! 

For my counseling groups, I created a fun game to practice and check their knowledge of manners. It’s easy to play, but I just printed it in color and laminated it. This way I don’t have to keep printing it out when I want to use it. I also have to borrow a die and game pieces. My students really have liked this game because it makes learning something that they might not think of as fun, like “manners”, into a fun little game. 

3. Friendship workshop

I made a 2 part- Friendship workshop called “Making and Keeping Friends” for classroom SEL a few years back. I maybe gave it a handful of times, but in it is my “Kindness Quiz”, discussion on picking friends, “Ingredients” that make someone a good friend, resolving conflicts, and being a good friend to others skills. There are also a few short classroom activities to keep kids engaged.

4. During Counseling Sessions … Correcting and Modeling Students for Turn Taking, Rude Comments, Greetings, Saying “Thank You”, etc.)

Last, but not least, is prompting, correcting, and modeling good manners during your counseling sessions. This means, correcting your students when they enter counseling without making a greeting to you or their peers, calling out kids on rude comments or not waiting their turn, and practicing good manners, such as saying “please”, “thank you”, and giving peers compliments or encouraging words. It also means frontloading them with how to show good sportsmanship when playing game activities in counseling.

This is often the main area that my students will struggle with, as one might like to announce every time that he is winning or losing a game, and another may always get angry when he or she loses at a game. I like to frontload these students before the game begins with how to be a good sport, and then sometimes make them lose, so that they can practice being put in that situation within the controlled counseling session. Like I said, I’m a sneaky school psychologist, muahaha. 

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I’ll start by saying that Social Stories are not just for children with Autism. I have used them here and there for mostly younger children, including my own son, but most did not have a developmental disability. Most students that I have made social stories for have been kiddos that have difficulty with emotional regulation and/or aggression.

I recently made two social story coloring books for two different students. Making the stories are not too time consuming to make, as long as you have the main format ready to go. The format is, an introduction, identify the issue, give some practical solutions or strategies, and identify a positive emotion that the student and others will feel if he or she is able to use the strategies.

I made them with some fill-in the blank areas for their name, grade, school, and their teacher’s name because it helps make the story more personalized, so that the child can better identify with the lesson from the story and take ownership of their behavior. I also made them coloring books. This was for two reasons. The first was that if I used color pictures, I would only be able to print in black and white with my school’s printer anyways, and that wouldn’t look too nice. The other is to help give them more ownership of the story/book, so that they will want to read it or have it read to them more often. It is “their” book.

I’ve attached one of my books for a free download. It is for students with poor self-control and anger management. My other social story is available on my TpT site.

It is for students who are having difficulty transitioning back to school from being home with parents during COVID. I make it for a very challenging TK-er. I’m talking shoes being thrown at me and classwork being ripped off of the walls the first few weeks of school. I won’t take all of the credit with my social story, but with a combination of strategies and parent guidance, he was able to adjust to coming to school day with his daily ritual of morning meltdowns. It was a little hairy though those first few weeks!

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