20 ADHD Games and Activities for Kids That Build Focus and Fun

Children with ADHD have boundless energy and curiosity, which can make it challenging to keep them focused on a single activity for long. Their minds are constantly in search of the next interesting thing, but ADHD games and activities for kids can help their concentration.

Tailoring playtime with ADHD games and activities for kids can help capture a child’s attention, help them practice self-control, and even build social skills. Below, discover a variety of indoor and outdoor options.

Indoor ADHD Games and Activities

When the weather makes outdoor play impossible, there are still plenty of ways to keep ADHD kids occupied indoors. Here are some fun activities you can try at home or in the classroom.

Freeze Dance

In this game, kids dance with all their energy while a facilitator pauses the music unexpectedly. When this happens, every child must remain still.

This fun and energetic activity encourages children to listen actively and stop abruptly on cue. Stopping encourages them to exercise their focus and inhibitory control.

While this game is primarily directed toward preschoolers and elementary school-age kids, it can be a great way to encourage healthy competition among older kids who don’t mind getting a bit silly.

Simon Says

Simon Says is a classic game involving followers and one leader. The leader will give instructions like “Simon Says do jumping jacks,” or “Simon Says touch your head and nose.” However, the followers must only perform the instruction if the command begins with “Simon Says.”

This game teaches children to listen before acting, and it exercises their working memory and focus.

Younger children between 4 and 8 can start learning Simon Says—just tailor your instructions according to your child’s age.

Memory Games

Many children with ADHD struggle with memory because they struggle to keep focus. Playing memory games can improve this aspect of their learning. You can play simple memory-matching games with cards by setting them face down and having your child flip over two cards at a time while trying to remember the location of each image to find a pair.

Memory games like these reward a child’s patience and careful observation while improving their memory retention [*]. It teaches them that rushing won’t make them win—instead, taking careful and deliberate turns will.

You can play matching games with children as young as preschool and elementary age, and up the difficulty or complexity for older children.

Creative Play Spaces

Exploring an ADHD child’s creativity is an excellent outlet for racing thoughts and the need to stay active. You can engage them in activities like building cardboard forts or creating art with household items.

Building something engages an ADHD child’s focus and gives them a sense of purpose. Children receive tactile input and visual-spatial practice by assembling objects.

You can start with simple building sets for younger children and provide more complex ones for older children.

The Floor is Lava

This imaginative indoor game involves using cushions and pillows as safe islands, while the rest of the floor is lava. Children must jump from cushion to cushion.

This simple setup encourages creative thinking and adds a dose of imagination to physical exercise.

The Floor is Lava is an easy activity best for children between 4 and 10.

Outdoor ADHD Games and Activities

With iPads and tablets dominating many children’s free time, spending time outdoors can be a welcome respite from screens. Exposure to natural environments can have a calming effect on children with ADHD—here’s what you can do.

Nature Scavenger Hunt

Give your child a simple checklist of things to find in nature—something round, something green, a red flower, a fallen feather, and so on.

This activity provides ADHD children with a clear goal and enhances their attention spans. It grounds them in the present moment by asking them to observe their surroundings.

Younger children might have an easier time with shapes and colors, whereas older children can challenge themselves with more complicated clues.

Obstacle Course

Putting together an obstacle course in the backyard is a great way to engage your child’s motor skills, agility, and stamina. Keep it fun, safe, and simple with stools, cones, hula hoops, and cushions.

Obstacle courses help kids learn to understand multi-step functions and solve physical problems. They also allow children to release pent-up energy and give them a sense of accomplishment as they finish.

Tailor the courses to your child’s age and learning style. Focus on crawling and jumping for younger children and consider timed courses for older kids.

Team Sports

Your child doesn’t need to be a star athlete to get involved in sports. Follow their interests, whether it be in baseball, basketball, or soccer. You can even start with playground games like kickball or capture the flag.

Team games encourage kids to challenge their abilities, learn to take turns, and collaborate with others—skills that many children with ADHD may struggle with.

Choose a sport or game that matches your child’s age, interests, and physical ability.

Tag and Chase Games

Children with ADHD have lots of energy and need somewhere to put it. A classic playground game like tag provides a fun outlet—one child is “it” and tries to tag the others.

Chase games are highly aerobic, allowing children to release boundless pent-up energy while practicing quick decision-making.

Try variations like Capture the Flag for older kids seeking a bit more challenge.

Gardening

Gardening is an excellent activity for satisfying sensory input. In addition, it gives your child something to achieve or care for.

Assign activities according to your child’s age. They can plant seeds, pull weeds, rake leaves, move twigs, or place soil.

Mindfulness and Sensory Games and Activities for ADHD

Sometimes, children with ADHD struggle to manage intense feelings or even crave sensory experiences when they need to calm down. Here are some games and activities you can try to promote relaxation and mindfulness.

Deep Breathing Exercises

When children with ADHD feel overwhelmed, they may struggle to calm down. Deep breathing exercises, such as square breathing, bubble breathing, and rainbow breathing, can help them feel grounded.

Deep breathing triggers the parasympathetic nervous system, which relaxes the body when ADHD kids experience hyperarousal. It also improves attention span and reduces impulsivity.

Deep breathing exercises are appropriate for all ages.

Kids’ Yoga

If your child is highly inattentive, kids’ yoga can help them gain focus and relieve stress. Working with a younger child? Tie in the yoga with a story to keep them engaged, or act out poses as animal characters.

According to specialists, yoga can improve a child’s concentration while promoting body awareness and stress release.

When trying yoga with a younger child, start with shorter sessions—5 to 10 minutes each. You can increase intervals with older children as their attention spans improve.

Sensory Play

Sensory play involves engaging a child’s senses through certain toys and textures. They might play with kinetic sand, squeeze a stress toy, stretch slime, or knead clay. You can make these activities more focused by giving your child a goal, such as building a sand castle or using finger paints to make a picture.

Sensory games give busy minds an opportunity to destress through physical stimulation and repetitive actions.

While young children might prefer simple activities like poking kinetic sand or playing with toys in water, older kids might appreciate using a stress ball or squishy toy while doing homework.

Calm-Down Jar

Sensory bottles and mindfulness jars are a fun DIY craft and calming tool. Have your child fill a clear bottle with water or glue. Add glitter or small beads to decorate the jar.

Calm-down jars are mesmerizing and help children relax, as they give their brains a chance to slow down.

Older kids may want to create more intricate jars using additional materials, such as glitter paint, yarn, markers, or lace.

Calm Cards

Create calming cards by listing down activities (such as going for a walk, blowing bubbles, or hugging a stuffed animal) that make your child feel better when they’re overwhelmed.

These cards can be helpful for kids when they’re feeling upset, sad, frustrated, angry, scared, or uneasy.

Ask children to list ideas according to what’s age-appropriate.

Creative and Cognitive Games and Activities for ADHD

Kids with ADHD are often curious and imaginative. Setting up creative and cognitive activities at home can provide them with a positive outlet for their feelings.

Puzzles and Brain Teasers

Puzzles and brain teasers like jigsaws, word searches, spot-the-difference games, and crosswords can be mentally stimulating for children with ADHD.

They provide opportunities for sustained attention and improve a child’s critical thinking skills. It also teaches them how to strategize and think flexibly [*].

Use age-appropriate puzzles, such as simple 24-piece floor puzzles for younger kids and more challenging games like Sudoku for older kids.

Creative Arts

Activities such as drawing, painting, producing music, or dancing are all healthy and creative outlets for children with ADHD. These art projects can be simple, such as painting their feelings or singing a song that brings them comfort.

Making art can help children produce dopamine, as it gives them a sense of wonder and achievement. Activities like learning an instrument can also enhance self-regulation and memory.

Let your child’s interests lead, whatever their age. If they enjoy doodling, provide them with drawing materials. If they enjoy banging on pots or surfaces, consider getting them drum lessons.

Board Games

Card and board games aren’t just family pastimes—they’re a great way to teach ADHD kids to follow rules, learn strategy, and practice frustration tolerance when they lose. Games like Uno, Monopoly, Clue, or Connect 4 are all avenues for learning these skills.

Strategy board games like Jenga teach ADHD kids to think ahead and problem-solve, while games like Monopoly can improve their social development, something many ADHD kids struggle with [*].

If your child has trouble with longer games, start with shorter ones lasting only a few rounds. Challenge older kids with more intricate strategy games, such as Sorry!

Construction Projects

Children with ADHD are natural builders. Toys like LEGO, Mega Bloks, and Lincoln Logs provide hands-on stimulation that engages their focus.

Through building, children with ADHD can practice sustained attention, fine motor skills, and planning. It motivates them to persevere until they create a finished product.

Choose age-appropriate building activities, such as using bigger wooden blocks for younger children and comprehensive LEGO sets for older ones.

Storytelling

Does your child have a vivid imagination? They can channel that creativity into storytelling or pretend play. Encourage them to create a story through different media, such as drawing a short comic or writing a brief play using action figures and stuffed animals.

Storytelling enables children with ADHD to practice verbal expression and builds focus as they dedicate time to developing their narrative skills [*].

Young children can start with simple one-part stories, using picture books or flashcards, while older children might challenge themselves with chapters or multiple acts.

Tips for Making Play More Effective

Each of these activities is most impactful when parents approach it with a strategy. You can make these games and activities more effective with these tips:

• Let your child’s interests lead: Pick activities your child naturally enjoys. Let them discover what they like.
• Don’t overcomplicate the activity: Keep instructions clear, brief, and encouraging. Explain activities step-by-step and use visual aids when possible.
• Strike a balance between calm and active games: Introduce high-energy activities, such as running outdoors, and relaxed activities, like yoga at home.
• Minimize distractions: The point of these activities is to keep your child focused. Ensure their environment is free of distractions.  

The Bottom Line

Play is a powerful avenue for children with ADHD to improve their self-regulation, focus, and positive social interactions. By curating games and activities according to your child’s age and interests, you can help curb common problems associated with ADHD (all while having a blast!).

Discover more activities to support executive functioning through our ADHD worksheets.

Sources:

1. Kermani FK, Mohammadi MR, Fariba Yadegari, Fatemeh Haresabadi, Sadeghi SM. “Working Memory Training in the Form of Structured Games in Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.” Iranian Journal of Psychiatry, 2016.
2. Cerezo E, González-González CS, Bonillo C. “Empowering soft skills in children with ADHD through the co-creation of tangible tabletop games.” Universal Access in the Information Society, 2023.
3. Winarsunu T, Hanapi TN, Fasikhah SS. “Attention Improvement through Play Puzzle Therapy to Promote Self-Regulation in Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).” Journal of Educational, Health and Community Psychology, 2022.
4. Karbasi Amel A, Rahnamaei H, Hashemi Z. “Play therapy and storytelling intervention on children’s social skills with attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder.” Journal of Education and Health Promotion, 2023.