Children's Therapeutic Games

Verbal communication can be difficult for children who have been abused, experienced trauma or have certain cognitive or behavioral disorders. Therapeutic games can nudge kids along, and help them communicate through play and eventually through words so that they can give voice to their feelings, heal and develop into healthier individuals.

The Feelings Word Game

• The feeling words game helps kids learn, understand and hopefully embrace all types of feelings so that they can become more aware of the feelings that they experience and how to talk about them. In a small group children each receive a card with a feeling written on it, such as angry, depressed, curious and so on. All of the words should be age appropriate to the kids who are playing the game. Each child has to explain what the word is either by giving a synonym or describing a situation using "I." For example, the child could say "I see my mother with an large gift wrapped in a big bow. I want to know what's in side and who it's for." In which case another child might correctly guess, "You feel curious." It is important to stress to the children that when they guess, they should start their guesses with "You feel" as the object of the game is to send and receive feelings.

My 2 Homes

• Child psychologists developed the board game "My 2 Homes" specifically for children of divorce. The board game provides children with a safe environments where they can address divorce on their own terms. Children move from square to square on the board and are met with problems that they can manage. How they respond each problem is up to the child. Children also get factual information about divorce that they might be wondering about or afraid to ask.

Self Esteem and Problem Solving

• You can play this game one on one with a child who has suffered some sort of abuse or neglect or with a group of children who are at similar stages of therapy. Make up a list of cards that have scenarios written on them describing possible future situations that could act as challenges to their recovery. Kids have to take turns picking a card, reading it out loud and then saying what they would do. Others in the group or the therapist could then comment on this answer or share other possibilities. For example, one card could read: "A neighbor who has made you feel scared or funny in the past offers you a ride home from school. What can you say or do?"