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When it comes to counseling materials, I am a minimalist. I have a shelf of themed games that the School Psych prior to me purchased, and I rarely use them. I prefer to either use my own, or, use games that my students already love and adapt them to work on whatever skill we are using. I use them as a review of skills, or practice of the skill we are learning. Here are my favorites!
- Jenga: I am on the second Jenga game of my career, that’s how much I use it. A lot of times, I teach a lesson, and then we end with a game of Jenga to share what we have learned. While at times, I use cards or questions if we’re using them, other times, I just have students share something before they take a turn. Size of the problem? Share a small problem. Anger? Share an example of something that makes you angry and where it is on the anger scale.
- Basketball: The week before Halloween I realized I had nothing fun to celebrate the holiday. So, I bought a $ store pumpkin and basketball hoop. I gave students each three tries to get a basket (one could be a “dunk” aka sure shot), and then they had to answer that many questions or pick that many cards out of the pumpkin. They LOVED it.
- Suction ball: Another student favorite is tossing suction balls at my whiteboard. I draw circles or write numbers and they toss them at the board to answer questions. So much fun!
- Blank game board: If you follow me on Instagram, you see that probably once a week, I am playing a blank game board with take apart erasers or other pencil toppers from the party store. This combination makes students think anything is fun. ANYTHING.
- Headbandz: Another student favorite. I do this with emotions all the time. Students stick an emotion on their head, and the other students describe it…” you are the feeling you get at bedtime or if you haven’t slept enough…”
I love that I can use these games for everything. What games do you use most in counseling?
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