10 Awesome Printable Activities for Kids with ADHD

ByJanine Talbot Posted on

Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) is a behavioral condition characterized by signs such as impulsivity, inattention, and hyperactivity. This condition is normally diagnosed during childhood. When your kid has ADHD, you will notice they are extremely energetic. Parents of such kids may find it difficult to keep up with the energy. One way to maintain your child’s energy and attention is to find interesting activities to increase their concentration. You can print out the following simple activities and help your child constructively use their energy.

Kids Activities

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10. Sudoku

Sudoku is an interesting game, and it’s extremely good for kids who have ADHD. This is because it is a game that requires a high level of concentration. This game will boost their numerical skills if your kid doesn’t love math. Sudoku is a Japanese puzzle game with numbers one to nine written on tiny squares surrounded by one large square. The game is easily accessible, and there is an option of playing it online. The numbers given are enclosed in a 3*3 square.

The main aim of this technique is to place the assigned numbers in columns and rows on the 9*9 grid without repeating them. There are different challenging levels as you advance. According to Study Tools By Jules, the easy level will have many numbers, while the harder level will have few. Sudoku will not only improve your kid’s attention because the game requires them to fill out the numbers without repeating them. For example, if you have a square with six out of nine spaces filled, your kid must go through all the numbers and find out which ones are missing. Fill in the missing numbers and move to the next grid.

9. Red Light- Green Light

It is an interesting game for all kids. This is a good place to start if you are clueless about what game to play with a kid with ADHD. It is an easy game designed with the ability to boost concentration and focus. The game will help your kid develop attentive skills and motor skills. The traffic lights have three colors; red, green, and amber. In this case, we will focus on red and green. You can start and then allow your kid to follow for illustration purposes. The first step is to stand in the room at the traffic light. It would help if you had a picture of the traffic lights painted red and green.

Green means go, and red means stop. The rule of the game is to follow the color of the traffic lights. If red is on, you need to stop; if green is on, you need to get moving. If you go when you are supposed to stop, you are disqualified and have to return to the starting line. Furthermore, if you notice that your kid is getting used to the two colors, make it challenging by using other colors not used in the traffic lights. According to Mental Up, you can use pink for the stop sign and yellow for the sign. As the game progresses, interchange the colors to make it more confusing.

8. Develop Letter Knowledge

Developing letter knowledge is fun for younger kids to learn the alphabet. There are different ways you can engage in exploring this activity. One fun way is to create bracelet bangles with letters. Please print out the letters A to Z and describe their meaning. Place them down and give your kid the task of finding a certain letter. You can tell them to find the letter K. Once they find the letter, they are supposed to wear it as a bangle on their wrists. According to All About Learning Press, another way is to print out the shapes of the letters in the alphabet. Close your kid’s eyes using a dark scarf and ensure they don’t see. Please give them a particular letter and allow them to feel it and identify which letter it is. Continue until they can know all the letters.

7. Spot the Difference

The ability to focus and concentrate is an important life skill that kids with ADHD need to learn. It is a critical skill that is important in overcoming the effects of the condition. According to Cool Math Games, spotting the difference is a puzzle used to harness attention and reduce impulsivity and hyperactivity. In this puzzle, you will present the kid with two sets of similar pictures, and they will be required to concentrate and point out the difference between those two pictures.

You can use photographs or illustrations that have been altered. The alteration will help your kid pay attention to small details. It is a fun game, and you can tailor it to your child’s age. The game is also called a photo hunt game, and you can find it in newspapers or children’s books. You can make the game interesting by setting a timer and giving your kid a limited time to spot the difference between two pictures.

6. Puzzles Such as Find the Panda

Are you on the hunt for games to keep your kid entertained and focus their energy? If your kid has been diagnosed with ADHD, puzzles are a great start. There are different puzzles that you can find online depending on the age of the kid. Younger kids should be given simple puzzles which match their mental capability. Older kids can be assigned challenging puzzles which allow them to concentrate and think outside the box. Finding Panda is a good place to start. This activity will help a kid diagnosed with ADHD to develop concentration. The puzzle was created by artists Gergely Dudas and Max Knoblauch. It features illustrated cartons with hidden gems. In our case, you will have cartons and hidden pandas. The idea is to get your kid to focus and find the hidden Panda.

It might sound easy, but the complicated part is the kid has to concentrate and navigate through the picture and circle the Panda. You can play this puzzle with yourself, which will help strengthen the bond between you two even as they learn. Give your child some tips on how to spot the Panda easily. If it’s a picture of elephants with only one Panda, you can tell them to observe the heads and legs of the elephants. They can also gaze through the pictures, making it easy to spot the odd ones. There are various options which you can choose from the internet and print. The variety ranges from elephants, dogs, and penguins.

5. Copying Pictures

One of the most important ways to entertain a child with ADHD is to give them an activity they will have fun doing and at the same time build on their concentration and tame their energy. Copying pictures is a fun activity that requires adept concentration. It is an exercise that will help your kid improve their attention by sitting still and focusing on the task in front of them. Print out different pictures from a book. Use simple pictures because you want to get your child to expand their concentration.

Get a simple illustration from a coloring book and give them a blank sheet of paper. Explain to the kid that they must copy the picture on the blank sheet. Test their concentration as they copy. If they can concentrate for as little as 30 seconds, shake their arms to get rid of tension and the energy build-up. Do that for another forty seconds and repeat the same procedure. As the kid gets better at focusing, increase your timing and reduce the number of breaks.

4. Simple Coding Activity

Kids with ADHD struggle with excess energy. Parents need to focus that energy on activities that can help them gain valuable skills. A simple coding activity is a simple yet challenging activity that is fun and helps with concentration. Write numbers one to ten and assign each number a letter. Assign each letter a color. The numbers, colors, and letters will help the kids decode the message.

For example, you can assign the number one letter ‘g’ and the color blue. It means you will have to write g in blue. According to Very Well Mind, number two, you can allocate the letter ‘k’ and assign it the color red. Write the letter in red color. For three, you can assign it letter ‘p’ and the color yellow, so you write it in the assigned color. Once you finish allocating letters and colors, allow your kid to find the message. It might be challenging at first, but you will enjoy it once they get the flow.

3. Counting Words

Counting words is a good activity for kids who struggle with inattention and hyperactivity. The activity involves printing out a paragraph or a page from your kid’s favorite book. For example, print out a random paragraph if your child’s favorite book is The Velveteen Rabbit. Allow your child to sit down and give them the paragraph you have printed. The idea is to get them to count the number of words in the paragraph.

Counting words will help your child focus on one activity, counting. Once they are done counting, please help them to note the number of words they have counted. Write it on a separate sheet. Tell them to count the number of words again. If they get the same number of words twice, they have passed the test. Next time make the activity a little harder by getting a longer paragraph. It will eventually boost their concentration.

2. Match the Shapes

Another great way to use your kid’s energy positively is to get printable with different shapes, and your kid has to match the shapes. To create this awesome activity, get a sheet on which you will cut out the shapes. Have a blank sheet with open spaces where your kid will go and match the shapes. To make this activity interesting, you can use flowers, cartoon characters, or a different niche. All these can be found in Daily Art Hub. Search the website, and once it pops up, you will get some basic shapes to clip art, such as rectangles and squares, which you can download.

According to Young Mathematicians, you can also use octagons to make the activity more exciting. Add some little hats or cool googly eyes for extra fun. Add different shapes to these arts, and don’t limit yourself to only these. You can add some more ideas and showcase your creativity, making your printable unique and colorful. Once you create the shapes, print them out and give them to your kid. The idea is to make your kid concentrate and try to match the shapes. This activity will help your child to recognize different shapes and name them.

1. Find the missing color

One of the best activities to assist a kid with ADHD focus is to find the missing color. This activity is simple and interactive, capturing the kid’s attention as they try to figure out which color is missing. You can find this activity on the internet and print it for your child. The activity involves drawing four different colors in small circles. Below the colors, draw six slightly bigger circles and partition the circles into four different parts. Randomly color the circles with the four colors that you have chosen above.

You can interchange the colors with some circles having two or three colors. The trick is to use different colors, so your kid finds the missing color and then colors it. For example, if you use four colors blue, red, green, and purple. Take the first circle and color it blue and red. Your kid has to find the missing color, which in our case is green and purple, and then color it. Finding the missing color is a great visual discrimination activity. If you notice your kid is getting it right, you can spice up the activity and give them a chance to find the missing shape.

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Janine Talbot

Janine is passionate about parenting. As a mother of 5 she knows a thing or two about how to raise children. She has a love for food, travel, and making sure her children stay on the right path.

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