Executive Functioning Activities for Teens Bundle

This is a bundle of 5 resources to help high school students and young adults develop executive functioning skills, such as flexible thinking, planning, preparing, prioritizing, self-monitoring, self-advocacy, time management, task initiation, and perseverance. Each resource contains a variety of stories, worksheets, activities, and task cards to help your student understand these executive functioning skills and apply them to their own lives. Having a strong foundation in these executive functioning skills will help students deal with change, problem solve, get along with others, be an effective team member, try new things, and succeed in various aspects of life.

What does this executive function bundle target?

• Perspectives
• Compromises
• Changes
• Cognitive Flexibility
• Planning
• Preparing
• Prioritizing
• Self-monitoring thoughts and actions
• Self advocacy
• Task initiation
• Procrastination and perseverance
• Time management (being on time, estimating time)

This bundle includes the following resources:

1. FLEXIBLE THINKING

This resource helps teens become flexible thinkers. There are several different activities included to help students practice taking different perspectives, making compromises, dealing with change, and thinking of new ways to do things.

The following materials are included in this resource:

1. What is Flexible Thinking? Introduction Story

2. What is Perspective? Introduction Story

3. Thinking Differently Worksheet

4. Changing the Way you Look at It Worksheet

5. Understanding Perspective Task Cards (18 cards)

6. Learning How to Compromise Introduction Story

7. Compromising Task Cards (18 cards)

8. Dealing with Change Introduction Story

9. Dealing with Change…Trying Things a New Way Task Cards (18 cards)

10. Change Can Be Fun Activity

11. Review Worksheet

12. Reflection Worksheet

2. TASK INITIATION & PERSEVERANCE

This resource will help teens develop executive functioning skills for task initiation, completion, and perseverance. Learning how to persevere is an essential trait to help students succeed in various aspects of their lives, but is difficult to teach. This packet contains a variety of stories, worksheets, and activities to help students understand and apply these concepts to their own lives.

The following materials are included in this resource:

1. Getting Started is the Hard Part Introduction Story

2. What is Procrastination? Introduction Story

3. Avoid Procrastination Visual Strategies

4. Procrastination & Motivation Reflection Worksheet
5. What is Perseverance? Introduction Story

6. We Can Persevere Poster Activity

7. Finding Inspiration From People Who Persevered Activity

8. What Does Your Mind Look Like? Activity

9. Review Worksheet

3. PREPARING, PLANNING & PRIORITIZING

This resource helps teens develop executive function skills to plan, prepare, and prioritize. Each section has a teaching portion that explains to students what each skill means, and how to implement it, as well as a practice portion with hands-on materials that students can use to practice these skills.

The following materials are included in this resource:

1. Making a Plan Introduction Story

2. Let’s Plan…A Pizza Dinner Activity

3. Practice Planning Worksheets

4. Being Prepared Introduction Story
5. Preparing to Attend a Party Activities

6. Practice Preparing Worksheets

7. Prioritizing Introduction Story

8. Prioritize This or That? Task Cards

9. Prioritizing a List Worksheets

10. Review Worksheet

4. SELF-MONITORING & SELF-ADVOCACY

This resource will help teens understand and develop executive functioning skills for self monitoring and self advocacy. In the first half of this resource, students will learn about self-monitoring, responsibility, consequences, and how to monitor their thoughts and actions. The second half of the resource focuses on self-advocacy. It uses readings, task cards, and worksheets to help students understand how to be their own self-advocate, which includes knowing themselves and what they need, knowing their rights and responsibilities, and expressing themselves politely and clearly.

The following activities are included in this resource:

1. Think Before You Act Introduction Story

2. Visualizing Consequences Introduction Story

3. Determining Consequences of Choices Activity

4. You are Responsible for Yourself Introduction Story
5. Managing a Checklist Activity

6. Monitor Your Thoughts Activity

7. Turn Negative Thoughts Into Positive Mindful Thinking Activity

8. Design Your Brain Activity

9. Self Advocacy Introduction Story

10. How To Be Your Own Advocate Poster

11. Be An Advocate Flow Chart

12. How To Advocate Task Cards (18 cards)

13. Reflection Worksheet

5. TIME MANAGEMENT

Time management is an important executive functioning skill that involves organizing and planning how to divide time between specific activities. This resource targets time management areas that teens often struggle with, such as being on time, estimating time needed to complete tasks, reading clocks, and determining how much time is left. There are a variety of activities included in this packet, including stories, worksheets, visuals, and task cards.

The following materials are included in this resource:

1. Being on Time Introduction Story

2. Checking the Time (2 worksheets)

3. Passing the Time (2 worksheets)

4. Estimating Time Introduction Story

5. Practice Estimating Time (2 worksheets)
6. How Much Time is Left? (2 worksheets)

7. Is There Enough Time? (2 worksheets)

8. Time Management Introduction Story

9. Time Management Flowchart Examples (2)

10. Time Management Flowchart (blank)

11. Time Management Task Cards (4)

12. Review Worksheet

*There is also a link to a View-Only Google Docs copy of each resource included. The Google Doc cannot be edited.

You may also be interested in:

Executive Functioning for Teens: Informal Assessment & Goal Writing for SLP's

Social Skills for Teens Bundle

Life Skills for Teens Bundle