Activity 1 for Teens: Journaling

Play Attention improves the cognitive skills that lay the foundation for strong Executive Functioning, but many of our clients would like to know other activities they can do outside of their Play Attention sessions to improve cognitive skills even more.  In the coming weeks, we'll be giving specific examples of such activities divided into age category.  This week, we're going to talk about teens:

Activity 1 for Teens: Journaling

Areas developed: Self-Reflection

Every Play Attention session ends with the Journal, which is an electronic opportunity for self-reflection.  Asking questions like, "what I learned" and "what I'm proud of" prompts an individual to internally evaluate the experience they just had, which in turn facilitates a better understanding of the experience they had.  Part of the process of learning certain cognitive skills is understanding how something "feels".  How it feels to be genuinely focused as opposed to casually focused, for example.  Self-reflection helps develop that awareness, which is why it is such an important part of the Play Attention program.

However, it is also a useful activity outside of Play Attention.  Keeping a journal and writing down thoughts is an excellent way for a teen to not only self-reflect in general, but also to clarify and process emotions and experiences.  In our modern electronic world, there are so many activities our teens engage in that require no self-reflection at all.  As such, a great gift is just a blank journal in which they can choose to write whatever they want.  No stipulations, no expectations, just an opportunity.