As an elementary school counselor, you know that keeping students engaged is a very important piece of meaningful learning. GAMES create an interactive, hands-on way for students to practice essential social-emotional learning skills while they have fun! Whether you’re working on emotional regulation skills, processing big feelings like grief, or introducing career exploration, the right games can turn your sessions from mundane to exciting learning experiences! Check out these 9 best counseling games for elementary kids ⬇️
Why Choose Games?
You already know kids LOVE games, but are you confident that games are a wise addition to your lesson plans? Well, the great news is that you can be!
Games really are an effective learning tool and a great choice for elementary students!
Games Are Fun & Effective!
When kids are enjoying themselves, they are more motivated and eager to learn. This makes it so much easier for them to retain information and open up about their big feelings.
Games also allow students to learn and process abstract concepts in a natural, hands-on way. As they play and have fun, students practice important emotional and social skills, which makes learning feel less like work and more like an exciting challenge.
Other benefits of using games in school counseling:
- Higher-order thinking skills like problem-solving and decision-making
- Low-stress learning environment
- Immediate feedback from you and peers
- Reinforces important counseling concepts
Counseling games for elementary kids aren’t just about fun— they’re powerful tools for building social-emotional learning skills and resilience in truly meaningful ways!
Counseling Games for Elementary Kids
Check out these 9 hands-on, motivating games and confidently add them to your counseling sessions this year:
- Career Board Game
- Road to Success Game
- Feelings Jenga
- Grief Town Game
- Emotions Charades
- Keep Calm Anger Game
- Social Skills Card Game
- Family Changes Game
- Candy Land: Feelings Edition
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1. Career Board Game
First up— the Career Board Game! This one is perfect to play on Career Day or in Career centers with small groups.
How to Play:
Students select a career card, read it out loud, and follow the directions to learn about different careers. They move their car game piece around the town map and try to gather as many career cards as they can!
Why it Works:
The Career Board Game is a great way for students to learn about a wide variety of career options as they travel to different locations around the town map. It encourages career awareness, decision-making, and goal-setting in a fun and engaging way for kids!
2. Road to Success Game
Next, choose the Road to Success Game to help teach students how to persevere through tough times. This activity takes about 30-40 minutes to complete with a small group of up to 10 students.
How to Play:
Players move their cars around the game board. As they go, they must identify ways to overcome obstacles (roadblocks) and reach the finish line!
Why it Works:
Everyone experiences challenging times, and it’s vital for students to know how to work through them to continue toward their goals. Students learn specific strategies they can use to preserve as they play. This game also teaches students responsibility and planning skills as they think about how the choices they make impact their futures.
3. Feelings Jenga
How to Play:
Write different emotions or social scenarios on Jenga blocks. You can write directly on the blocks, use address labels, or number the blocks and have students read from a corresponding popsicle stick with the same number (this option makes the game most versatile!).
Students must share a time they felt the listed emotion or talk about how they would respond in a different social situation before they place their block on the tower.
Why it Works:
This game encourages students to think and talk about their emotions in a low-pressure, interactive way with their peers!
4. Grief Town Game
Use the Grief Town Game to help students cope with grief as they learn to identify support systems and use coping skills necessary for dealing with loss.
How to Play:
Students move their car game piece through Grief Town as they answer questions about grief and explore memories of their loved ones who have passed away.
Why it Works:
The Grief Town Game gives students a safe space and way to process their feelings of loss while they build emotional resilience.
5. Emotions Charades
How to Play:
Students act out different emotions while their peers guess the feelings. They can’t use words or sounds, only actions!
Why it Works:
This activity helps students build emotional awareness and encourages them to express their feelings in a fun, active way.
6. Keep Calm Anger Game
Next, add the Keep Calm Anger Game to help your students learn to effectively manage big feelings of anger with different coping skills. This activity is perfect to use in a small or large group counseling session and only takes about 30 minutes to complete!
How to Play:
Each student gets a laminated copy of an Anger Thermometer and a dry-erase marker. You read aloud different scenarios from the 21 game cards and encourage students to select the response to each that will keep them calm. They adjust their thermometer up and down accordingly throughout the game.
Why it Works:
This game teaches children how to self-regulate using different anger management and coping strategies in a safe (& fun!) space.
7. Social Skills Card Game
This Social Skills Card Game is a MUST-HAVE for individual and small group counseling sessions! It can be used in classroom center rotations too.
How to Play:
Similar to the classic card game Uno, the objective of the Social Skills Card Game is to be the first one get rid of all your cards. In order to play a card, students must answer the social skills question listed on their card.
Why it Works:
This game promotes greater social-emotional learning skills through positive communication, friendship skills, and empathy.
8. Family Changes Game
The Family Changes Game addresses divorce in a kid-friendly way. It’s a great option for small or large group sessions and helps students learn how to make positive decisions when faced with family stressors.
How to Play:
Students roll dice and move their game pieces along the board. Whatever color they land on, they pick up a card with a corresponding color and read a question about family changes and stressors. Then, they give their best answer.
Students are not playing against each other in this game. Encourage them to try to get the most correct answers, and reward each student at the end of the game with points to the school store, stickers, or small pieces of candy at the end of the game.
Why it Works:
This game helps children navigate family transitions with understanding and resilience during a time that can be very hard and life-changing.
9. Candy Land: Feelings Edition
Finally, use the classic childhood game Candy Land to address feelings in a way that is both EASY for you and exciting for your students!
How to Play:
Modify the traditional board game by adding emotion-related prompts to different colors on the board. When landing on those spaces, students have to pause and discuss the prompt before completing their turn.
This game is easy to differentiate for your students based on their age and emotional needs!
Consider:
- Adding pictures of different emotions and students identify the emotion shown
- Writing different emotion words, and have students demonstrate how they look
- List emotion words, and have students discuss a time they have felt that feeling
Why it Works:
This fun game keeps kids engaged while reinforcing important emotional vocabulary, self-awareness, and turn-taking in a playful format.
Incorporating these counseling games for elementary kids will be an absolute game-changer! You’ll find that your students will be more eager to participate and feel more supported by you and their peers as they have fun and build essential social-emotional skills through play. Don’t be afraid to step out and try something new— your kids will thank you!
You might also be interested in reading:
3 SIMPLE Ways to Help Students Cope with Grief and Loss
Teaching Anger Management in the Classroom
6 Meaningful Ways to Help Students Cope with Disasters
You might also be interested in these products:
Anger Compass for Anger Management
All About Stress - Stress Management Workbook
Behavior Intervention Toolbox BUNDLE Classroom Interventions
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