Play-Based Therapy Ideas for Teens

Are you looking for play-based therapy ideas for ages 12 and up? At this age, play-based therapy can integrate more complex, social, and goal-oriented activities to engage older kids while targeting speech and language skills. These activities for middle and high school encourage collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity, making speech therapy engaging and effective while addressing age-appropriate communication needs.

Teen Play-Based Game and Activity Ideas

Strategy Board Games (e.g., Codenames, Dixit, Catan) are great for building problem-solving, teamwork, negotiation, turn-taking, and storytelling skills. During gameplay, encourage discussions about strategies, ask open-ended questions, and have students explain their reasoning.

Role-Playing Games (Dungeons & Dragons) allow teens to practice narrative skills, creative thinking, collaboration, and social pragmatics. For therapy, simplify scenarios to target conversational exchanges, perspective-taking, and turn-taking in structured social situations.

Charades or Pictionary challenges expressive language, nonverbal communication, inferencing, and quick thinking. Modify difficulty by adjusting word prompts or themes to match the teen’s communication goals.

Technology and Digital Activities

Collaborative Video Games (e.g., Minecraft, Among Us) encourage strategic planning, collaboration, and conversational skills. Guide in-game discussions by having players plan a build in Minecraft or explain their actions in Among Us.

Stop-Motion Animation or Video Creation fosters storytelling, sequencing, and creative language use. Use free apps like Stop Motion Studio to create short videos targeting specific speech or language goals.

Photo Scavenger Hunts challenge descriptive language, problem-solving, and teamwork. Create themed lists with language-based clues (e.g., “Find something that starts with S”) to target expressive and receptive language.

Thematic and Role-Play Activities

Mock Interviews or Debates provide practice for pragmatic language, question-asking, turn-taking, and perspective-taking. Role-play as an interviewer or a character relevant to the teen’s interests, such as a dream job or a favorite TV show character.

Themed “Shark Tank” Pitch encourages persuasive language, descriptive vocabulary, and public speaking. Have teens invent a product or solution, then pitch it to a group, reinforcing clear communication and reasoning skills.

Planning an Event (e.g., a party, fundraiser, or trip) enhances organization, sequencing, collaboration, and conversational skills. Use visual aids like calendars or checklists to support planning discussions.

Creative and Sensory Activities

Escape Room Kits or Puzzles engage teens in problem-solving, following multi-step directions, and teamwork. Create verbal clues or written tasks to reinforce expressive and receptive language skills.

DIY Craft or Maker Kits (e.g., build-your-own robots, painting, tie-dye kits) promote following directions, descriptive language, and conversational skills. Have teens verbally explain each step or describe the finished product.

Cooking or Baking provides opportunities to practice sequencing, vocabulary (e.g., ingredients, measurements), and conversation skills. To enhance social elements, involve peers by preparing snacks for a group or organizing a fun “taste test” activity.

Karaoke or Songwriting targets articulation, rhythm, and expressive language. Encourage teens to rewrite song lyrics to include therapy goals, making it a fun and creative exercise.

Sports or Physical Games with a Twist can be modified to include communication goals, such as saying a target word before shooting a basket. These activities support social interaction, turn-taking, and goal-directed behavior.

Interactive Storytelling (Pass-the-Story) fosters creative language, sentence building, and cohesion. Each participant contributes to the story while incorporating specific speech or language targets, creating an engaging and collaborative activity.

What other play-based ideas do you enjoy incorporating with teens on your caseload?

Interested in play-based information, handouts, and ideas?

The Play-Based Therapy Handouts Guidebook is geared towards early intervention and preschool SLPs and SLPAs for effective play-based speech therapy sessions. Feel confident when planning and executing play-based therapy sessions.

This well-rounded guidebook explains what child-led therapy looks like and the research behind play-based learning. It provides countless tips and activity ideas for toys, games, books, and themes with specific speech and language targets. Use pages as parent handouts to explain what play-based therapy is and why it’s beneficial, the development of play skills, tips for choosing toys, book and game ideas, how to use everyday objects as tools, and more.

It includes specific toy and game ideas broken up into age categories, including ages 8-12 and 12 and up.