ADHD Games Online

ADHD Games and Activities

What games are good for ADHD? The answer wouldn’t be a surprise for you because there is no just one right answer. However, we know that certain ADHD games and activities have significant importance in the mental development of children. They are also a whole lot of fun!

We listed the best games for children with ADHD. Don’t forget that parents are always welcome to join the game! 😊

1- MentalUP ADHD Games

ADHD parenting can be hard, but don’t worry, MentalUP ADHD games online and free!

With attention exercises and ADHD apps designed by ADHD specialists, which improve focus skills and enhance concentration, attention, learning, and many other skills, kids will have fun, and parents will notice a positive change in their children's behavior. Give the best attention games online like spot the difference, a try!

2- Red Light - Green Light

If you don’t know how to play with a child with ADHD, then this game might be a great fit. It is easy to play and one of the best games for ADHD children. Red Light - Green Light game promotes attention and concentration skills while building motor skills.

Step 1: An adult or a child stands across the room as a “traffic light”.

Step 2: Assign a color for each action, eg. red means “stop” and green means “go” and hold them up. You can challenge the children by trying different colors as cues, for instance, purple can mean “go” and black can mean “stop”. To make it even a more brain-teasing and fun game, assign the colors with opposite meanings (green means stop).

The rule of this ADHD game is simple: when someone goes when they should stop, they have to go back to the starting line, and the first one to hit the finish line wins. You can take turns being the traffic light.

3- Head - Shoulders - Knees & Toes

Need practical games to improve attention for children with ADHD? You came to the right place. This game doesn’t require any equipment - all you need is attention, so it’s basically free. Plus, it helps to build proper motor skills.

Playing this game is very simple. It can be played by at least 2 players and the more the merrier. Have children point to their head, shoulders, knees and toes while singing the song. The song and actions should be synchronized.

You can make it more challenging by changing the speed of the song, or assigning different body parts to the lyrics- for instance, head means nose, shoulders mean chest, knees mean hips and toes mean heels. Or you can make it a brain teaser by playing the game backward.

4- Chinese Checkers

Chinese checkers is one of the most loved ADHD board games. It develops strategic thinking ability and can be played by 2, 3, 4 or, 6 players. The aim is to carry all your pegs to the opposite triangle.

To set up: 2 or 4 players should use pairs of opposing triangles, 3 players should use every other triangle and six players should use all six triangles.

Step 1: Pick a color and place 10 of your colored pegs on your side of the board.

Step 2: Decide who goes first. Then, the person who starts can move their peg in every direction (side to side, forward, or backwards) or “hop” over a peg that hasn’t already been moved into a vacant hole directly. You can hop over pegs in any direction, and you can hop over any peg, including your own and as many times during a single turn as long as the pegs you hop over are in line with your peg's current position.

Step 3: Continue moving pegs by taking turns until one of the opponents has moved all of their pegs to the opposite triangle.

Tips: Since the aim is to move all your pegs to the opposite side, the peg of your opponent that is occupying your destination hole can block the game. Because of such situations, it is recommended to set the rules before starting the game.

Unlike usual checkers, you do not take the peg out of the board when you hop over it. You can hop over your opponent’s peg as mentioned before, but leave it on the board so they can continue playing and having fun, too!

5- Drum Beats

Follow the rhythm! Playing games that have a rhythm to it can help children with ADHD to focus better. Drum Beats is another fun game for ADHD, which also helps build proper motor skills.

Assign drum beats to actions that children can do while sitting - for instance, 2 beats mean clapping , 1 means opening your arms. When they are standing, you can assign actions like walking quickly to fast drumming, slowly to slow drumming and stopping when the drumming stops.

Feel free to make it more challenging by playing with opposite cues (walk slowly to fast drum beats and quickly to slow drum beats) or to add in different actions with specific drum cues (slow drumming means jogging and fast drumming means jumping jacks).

6- Chess

Chess has always been one of the most popular ADHD games for adults and is also one of the best ADHD games for focus. It not only boosts attention skills but also develops strategic thinking skills to a great extent. Plus, you can play it traditionally as a board game or via various online options.

The game has only one aim, to checkmate your opponent. It is played on an 8x8 grid with 1 King, 1 Queen, 2 Rooks, 2 Bishops, 2 Knights and 8 Pawns for each opponent. Each of the pieces has a unique movement type; the chess pieces are usually black and white and white always starts first. Learn more about the rules and how to play chess.

7- Say It Out Loud

As you can see, there are plenty of activities for ADHD kids. Say It Out Loud is a fun game that applies very well to the self-coaching parenting technique. It is about encouraging your children to describe what they’re doing or want to do.

Self-coaching enables your child to stay on task and to follow steps in order, and it widens their attention span. You can easily apply it to your children’s daily tasks such as homework or house chores: e.g., “I am eating my food”, “I am putting my plate in the sink”, “I am going to wash my hands”, etc. It can also help improve your child’s behavior because they will be reminding themselves of the actions they are taking.

8- uKloo

Looking for ADHD board games? Look no further. uKloo is a fun treasure hunt board game that also has an online version. This attention game for kids with ADHD will also help overcome reading difficulties. It is leveled 1-10, so you can set the difficulty according to your children’s age.

Step 1: Set up five to six clue cards from level 1 to create a scavenger hunt (you can add cards from higher difficulty levels accordingly). If the first card is "Look in your cup", you should place the next card "Look in your toy box" in the cup. Then, place the "Look in your cup" card in the shoe, etc

Step 2: After you have positioned the cards, place a surprise that will motivate your child (a piece of candy, etc.) in the last spot.

Step 3: Once set up, ask your children to start scavenging the treasures by following the clues that will lead him/her to the surprise.

9- Activate the ADHD Brain with Music

As we mentioned before, we know that parenting children with ADHD has different requirements. Children with ADHD often need reminders to stay on task. Research has shown that music helps the brain — especially the ADHD brain — organize time and space, aiding learning and memory.

So, if you sing along to chores or activities, your kids will be more likely to pay attention to the task at hand because they will be participating in it in multiple ways. For example, if you’re cleaning up their room together, you can sing “clean up, clean up, everybody clean up”. You can choose a melody or tune from their favorite song and tv show.

10- Sudoku

Who doesn’t love math? Well, most children don’t, until they play great math games like Sudoku!

Sudoku is a Japanese number-placement puzzle game that is one of the best games for people with ADHD. It is based on placing the numbers 1 through 9 on a 9x9 grid (made of 3x3 squares). The aim is to place these numbers in each row, column, and square (9 spaces each) without repeating any numbers within the row, column or square.

The game has different difficulty levels. According to these levels, the game will start with numbers that are already placed in the grid (easy levels start with more numbers given beforehand, whereas harder levels start with fewer numbers). This game not only improves attention, but it also improves math, focus, concentration, learning skills and memory. So if you’re looking for games to improve attention for children with ADHD, give Sudoku a try!