It can be difficult to find stimulating activities for kids with ADHD to keep busy. Those of us who work with children with ADHD understand how important it is to give them stimulating activities to keep them engaged and growing, but most extracurricular activities are made for neurotypical kids (and sometimes even exacerbate ADHD symptoms). Looking for activities meant for kids with ADHD can leave parents overwhelmed with what seem like a million contradicting opinions. The best way to cut through all this noise is to look into actual professional research being done on ADHD. While there’s no one-size-fits-all activity when it comes to kids (especially kids with ADHD – there’s tremendous variation in kids’ symptoms, functioning, and preferences), research shows four key factors that make up a good activity for children with ADHD. Here are our recommendations of what to look for in activities for your ADHD child. 

In the latest episode of Meet the Dragons, we take you behind the screen to meet Game Master Savanna – one of the kindest dragons you’ll ever meet! Savanna draws upon her experience as a school psychologist to create inclusive and affirming spaces for teen players. Their games also feature some of the most gloriously unique premises around. Whether her players are members of a traveling futuristic circus or house pets fighting crime, her sessions encourage players to step into the spotlight, take creative risks, and express themselves. Listen to Game Master Jaclyn talk with them about how they integrate their counseling training into DND sessions, how they handle murder hobos, and more.

It can be difficult to find fun activities for your kids that help them grow and develop. Many activities these days have become overly competitive and stressful for kids. But acting remains a healthy, fun, and accessible activity for kids. Acting is also used in many therapeutic techniques and has been shown to be very effective in helping kids grow. While your kid doesn’t need to become a professional actor to grow up, adding some acting as an extracurricular activity can help them as they navigate their development. 

In the world of Dungeons and Dragons, bosses (a.k.a. BBEGs, Big Bad Evil Guys) are the grand finale of a campaign. After weeks of fighting their way to the top, the party is all leveled up and ready for an epic battle. Some of the best, most epic DND stories are these boss battles, when the characters get to use their wildest spells and most powerful abilities. We’ve been running games at Young Dragonslayers for over five years now, and we’ve got the zaniest, most creative players in the world: tweens and teens! We’ve collected some of our favorite DND BBEG stories to share, from fighting an anime vampire to playing darts with Vecna. 

We all know the stereotypes. DND is male dominated. Female or nonbinary players will have to fight to be taken seriously or be bullied out of the group. And we won’t lie to you, there are definitely places where this is true. But there are plenty of queer people and girls playing DND, and the hobby is changing for the better. Now, the world of Dungeons and Dragons is as inclusive as it’s ever been, and there are plenty of places to find safe DND games for girls and nonbinary players. We’re a crew of professional Dungeon Masters from across the gender spectrum who have been in this hobby for years, and we pride ourselves in creating inclusive DND for all genders (and pushing back against sexism in DND spaces). Here’s what we at Young Dragonslayers have to share with any girls looking to play DND. 

As parents, we all want our children to become their own people: individuals creating their path, learning their strengths, and pursuing their interests. But at the same time, we do hope they’ll share some of our interests as well, whether it’s playing basketball, reading comic books, or acting onstage. For myself and many other geeky parents, that interest is Dungeons and Dragons. Will my child one day join me in rolling dice, telling stories, and going on epic quests? Perhaps they’ll even grow to become the most revered of players: the Dungeon Master or DM. It’s in Tiny Dragon’s blood; they got two DM parents, three DM uncles and aunts, and a history of playing RPGs since the ripe age of one. And with so many Dungeon Masters in my life – from my friends and family to my awesome young DND players – I already know the signs.

Welcome to the latest in a new series here at Young Dragonslayers called Meet the Dragons! Here, we take you behind the screen to meet the Game Masters behind our games. Today, we’re featuring Liv Larbi, a former middle-school teacher, a graduate student, a clinical researcher, and an escape-room enthusiasm. Liv is a pro at turning groups of excited, high-energy kids into cohesive adventuring parties. Her campaigns run the gamut from mild-mannered to gloriously chaotic, but they’re all warm, inclusive, and welcoming to players of all stripes. Game Master Jaclyn got to talk with them about the project-management of being a Dungeon Master, the community built over a campaign, and their love of telling stories through rolling dice.

Many kids struggle with taking another’s perspective, understanding their emotions, and responding with compassion – in another word, empathy. This struggle was only exacerbated by the lack of social interactions during the pandemic. Many parents are searching for a fun, accessible way for kids to work on their empathy. Some have turned to roleplaying games like Dungeons and Dragons. But can these actually help your kids learn empathy? We’re a group of educators and therapists who have run hundreds of Dungeons and Dragons games, and we can say for certain that DND absolutely does help kids learn empathy. We have seen children take leaps in their ability to see things from another’s perspective, understand what others are feeling, and know how to act to make others feel better. But how does this actually work? 

Pelican fanatic and top-tier TikToker Hank Green is a powerhouse. He’s crafted a book series, a #1 app, two merch companies, a TikTok presence, an educational video nonprofit, an annual charity event, a popular online-video convention, a hit podcast for teens, and more. Hank Green also has ADHD. While going through items from his childhood, he found an old diagnosis that he shared in a video on his personal channel (My Childhood Learning Disability). In the video, he reflects on how he's been able to thrive with ADHD, his pride in who he is and how far he’s come, and the support that in his childhood that helped him get there. We work with a lot of teens with ADHD and autism, and we haven’t been able to stop thinking about Hank’s video since it came out. His career is a brilliant example of a boy with ADHD getting support, growing up, and doing amazing things, and it exemplifies some important truths about ADHD and the people who have it.

Many people – including us – recommend starting to play D&D between ages 8 and 10 at the youngest. But there are kids younger than that who want to play, whether they grow up in gamer families, hear stories about fantasy adventurers, or see older peers engaging with the game. Enter Little But Fierce, an inclusive family-friendly rewrite of Dungeons & Dragons’ rules by teacher and RPG writer DC Bradshaw. We got to chat with him about the game, how it was made, and the inspiration behind it – as well as something near and dear to our hearts: the importance of accessibility and inclusion in roleplaying games.

Dungeons and Dragons can be hard to get into for the first time. There are piles and piles of rules, all this jargon and slang to learn, and finding an in-person or online DND group can mean getting matched with people who seem to know way more than you – and aren’t willing to teach you how to start playing DND. That leaves lots of DND hopefuls wondering how to get into DND for the first time, searching for online Dungeons and Dragons groups for beginners, or trying to learn to play DND alone. We’ve been teaching kids and teens how to play Dungeons and Dragons since 2020, so we have answers for every question you can think of, and then some! To help beginners learn to play DND, we’ve compiled all of our articles on how to start getting into Dungeons and Dragons: what the game is, how people play, the rules of the game, nuances for new players, how to make a character, all the jargon you need to know, and how to get started playing DND online or in person. 

Many kids struggle with confidence, especially today. Confidence in children is at an all-time low, having fallen 22% since just 2016. Studies have found a pattern: confidence declines gradually around ages 7 or 8, then has a sudden drop-off at ages 10 or 11 as children enter middle school. Kids themselves have even recognized this; 60% of kids aged 7-11 report wishing that they were more confident. With this confidence crisis, many parents are at a total loss for how to help. We’re a team of therapists and educators, so we have seen these low confidence levels in children and understand how to help children improve confidence. Through our facilitated social groups, we have helped many children unlock a new, self-assured part of themselves and face life with a new outlook.

Welcome to the first in a brand-new series here at Young Dragonslayers called Meet the Dragons! This series takes you behind the screen to meet the Game Masters behind our games. First up is Jesse Edmonds, also known as Doc Palindrome, a podcaster, improv comic, pop culture blogger and proud Girl Dad. A self-described “old school nerd,” Jesse has been rolling dice since 1985 and they have a nearly encyclopedic knowledge of roleplaying games, comic books, and classic editions of D&D. Game Master Jaclyn got to talk with him about his game design, being a dad, favorite stories from his games, and the origin of all his geekiness at the ripe age of 2.

Online DND games for teens are thriving. The rise of digital tools for teens playing Dungeons and Dragons online and popular shows streaming people playing the game lay the foundation for geek-minded teens to hop online during the pandemic and play games together. That’s how we got our start running a virtual DND club for teens, as a way for our founder, therapist Katie Lear, to help her young clients feel less alone and build social connection without the support of in-person groups. Though the depths of the pandemic are over, online DND groups for teens are more plentiful than ever, joined by libraries, Discord servers, online courses, game-finding sites, and more. If you’re a parent or teen hoping to find youth DND games online we know a thing or two! In fact, we’ve written several blog posts breaking down what teen DND online groups are, how online DND classes for teens work, and how to find virtual DND groups for teens. Here’s a highlight reel of what you’ll need to know. 

Making friends with ADHD can be difficult no matter your age, but it can be even more fraught for kids, tweens, and teens with ADHD making friends. At that age, everyone’s trying to figure out how social dynamics work, and making friends with ADHD sometimes brings an added challenge to an already tumultuous time. As a parent, it can leave you saddened that your ADHD kid has no friends, left in the land of what-ifs: “What if my ADHD child can’t make friends?” “What if no one likes my ADHD child?” or “What if all kids with ADHD are loners for life?” As a youth worker and a parent, I feel you. It hurts so badly to watch incredible kids be rejected by their peers, desperate for any kind of connection, and wondering if there’s something wrong with them. But there is good news. ADHD kids can make friends; I’ve watched (and, on occasion, helped) them do it for years. Like many other things, kids making friends with ADHD works a little differently than for their neurotypical peers – but those little shifts make a big difference. Here are some ways you can help your ADHD child make friends. 

Tons of parents out there are looking for activities for their kids to develop social skills. Whether they’re general social skills activities for teens and kids or specific activities for kids with social anxiety, it’s important to us that our children learn how to interact with their peers, regulate their own emotions, deal with the messiness of being around other humans. But what kinds of activities actually work to do this? We’re a crew of therapists, educators, and others who work with youth to build social skills, and we’re here to share strategies to find activities that will help your children build these essential skills.

Mark Seifter and Linda Zayas-Palmer are Paizo veterans who spent a total of nearly two decades on the design and organized-play teams. Now, they use their experience crafting fantastic and creative Pathfinder supplements with young players in mind. We got to hear from them about their nerdy childhoods, their experience developing tabletop RPGs, modifying Pathfinder for kids, and why they think the medium is so good for bringing young people together.

Delicious in Dungeon, also known by its original name, Dungeon Meshi, is essentially a Dungeons and Dragons game in anime form. The Delicious in Dungeon characters are all classic DND builds, like Fighter, Cleric, and Rogue. And the show itself is literally a dungeon crawl: they fight monsters, find treasures, and survive the dungeon as they delve ever deeper. So when I got the chance to run a one-shot for the Young Dragonslayers holiday-break games, I decided that I would craft my own Delicious in Dungeon DND homebrew for my players. I built a self-contained dungeon crawl with two goals in mind: collect ingredients and cook a delicious dish. My players and I had such a good time that I wanted to share it with you. I present to you: Delicious in Dungeons and Dragons!

In the past few years, lots of people have been researching the benefits of Dungeons and Dragons for kids, tweens, teens, and beyond. They’re studying the benefits of DND for children, testing if DND is good for mental health, and exploring the social benefits of DND. We’re Young Dragonslayers – a crew of educators, therapists, and parents with a shared goal: running well-crafted DND games and creating a safe, supportive space for teens and tweens. We’ve been running games since 2020, but we’ve also been sharing about the benefits of DND: at game conventions, in interviews, and on our YouTube channel and blog. So we decided to collect everything we’ve shared about the benefits of DND – from education to mental health – in a singular compendium. Whether you’re a parent, educator, gamer, or some combination of the three, we hope this can serve as a resource for you.

Stranger Things and Dungeons and Dragons are a happy little pair. Fans of Stranger Things play Dungeons and Dragons; fans of Dungeons and Dragons watch Stranger Things, and we get a Venn Diagram that looks a whole lot like a circle. And we are no exception. As we await the finale of Stranger Things season 5 DND is on our minds, and we’re on the edge of our seats to find out what happens! So in honor of the occasion, we decided to bring all of our Stranger Things DND content in one place. If you’re a newcomer wondering if Stranger Things is based off of DND, what DND characters are in Stranger Things, how Stranger Things is connected to DND, or you’re a Stranger Things superfan hoping to know more about Stranger Things season 5 DND references, we’ll point you in the right direction!