ADHD worksheets for kids

Are you a therapist looking for an ADHD worksheet for kids? You’re in the right place. 

This guide to worksheets for kids with ADHD gives mental health therapists a brief overview of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), its signs and diagnostic criteria, and therapy activities for kids. 

You can also save the free downloadable ADHD worksheets for children PDF to your electronic health record (EHR) for repeated use with clients. 

Understanding ADHD in kids

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common neurodevelopmental condition, often becoming noticeable in children before they start school. 

ADHD impacts the child’s ability to focus and manage impulses and activity levels, affecting their behavior, learning, and relationships. 

There are three types of ADHD: inattentive, hyperactive/impulsive type, or combined presentation. 

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), ADHD affects seven million children ages three to 17 in the United States. Of those children, six in 10 have moderate to severe ADHD. 

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Common signs of ADHD

Parents may report some of the following behavioral signs and challenges:

• Difficulty following instructions and completing tasks
• Impulsive behavior, such as acting without thinking about the consequences
• Interrupting others and being disruptive in conversations or during family activities, like playing games
• Difficulty at school, like staying focused, missing deadlines, interrupting or being disruptive, and struggling to remember instructions
• They may feel frustrated, overwhelmed, misunderstood, and have emotional outbursts

ADHD diagnostic criteria

Diagnostic criteria for each type of ADHD include:

Hyperactive/impulsive ADHD 

Children with hyperactive or impulsive ADHD have five or more of the following symptoms:

• Fidgets, taps hands or feet, or squirms in their seat
• Frequently leaves their seat in situations where staying seated is expected
• Runs around or climbs excessively in inappropriate situations (or feels restless in teens/adults)
• Struggles to play or engage in activities quietly
• Appears to be constantly "on the go," acting as if "driven by a motor"
• Talks excessively
• Often blurts out answers before completing questions and struggles to wait their turn
• Frequently interrupts or intrudes on others (e.g., butting into conversations or games)

Inattentive ADHD

Children with inattentive ADHD experience six or more of the following symptoms:

• Poor attention to detail and makes careless mistakes
• Difficulty sustaining attention and may zone out or not be listening when spoken to directly
• Struggles to follow through with instructions or fail to finish tasks
• Experiences trouble organizing tasks and activities
• Avoids or dislikes tasks that take sustained time and effort
• Forgetfulness, loses things necessary for everyday tasks (e.g., schoolwork, keys, homework)
• Easily distracted
• Forgetfulness in daily activities

Combined type

Kids with combined ADHD have symptoms of both inattentive and hyperactive ADHD in several settings over the last six months. 

When diagnosing ADHD, children must meet these criteria before age 12, in two or more settings (e.g., at school, home, work, or with friends and relatives), and show that symptoms reduce their quality of life and functioning.

For exact diagnostic criteria, please refer to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition.

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ADHD therapy activities

Treatment options for ADHD include medication, educational support, and behavioral interventions. 

Stimulant and non-stimulant medications can help increase focus, regulate dopamine, and reduce distractibility. 

Academic support may include special educational plans, such as deadline extensions, the ability to work in quiet areas, advanced assessment information, and extra time on tests. 

Types of ADHD therapy activities include:

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) 

Cognitive behavioral therapy can help children and families become aware of ADHD challenges, develop coping strategies, and improve skills for focus, organization, and daily functioning. 

For instance, the Stop, Think, Act technique helps children with impulse control by encouraging them to pause, consider their options, and mindfully choose an appropriate response. Kids may also find CBT time management worksheets helpful.

Several CBT skills are included in the free downloadable ADHD worksheets for child PDF.

Behavioral supports 

Strategies that support families and affirm children with ADHD include checklists, planners, routines, color coding, text-to-audio reading apps, task sorting strategies, behavior charts, impulse control games, a feelings wheel for kids, an emotion faces chart, and time management activities. 

For instance, a token system can be used as motivation and reward to track the completion of specific tasks, like homework. 

Dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT) 

DBT can help with emotional dysregulation and distress tolerance skills, reducing outbursts and increasing the capacity to cope in overwhelming and stressful situations. 

For example, mindfulness activities, like guided meditation or progressive muscle relaxation, can help improve focus and grounding. 

Using an emotions wheel can help children identify and label their emotions.

Using the ADHD worksheets for kids

You can download and use the printable worksheets for ADHD students in several ways.

First, you can use the ADHD worksheets for kids in session to illustrate symptoms of ADHD to family members who think their child might have ADHD.

You could send the worksheet as an ADHD therapy activities PDF for the family to review at home after their session. 

The child client can also use the ADHD worksheets for child PDF to select therapy activities that they think might be helpful for them. 

Lastly, the ADHD worksheets for kids can be assigned as homework to complete a therapy activity between sessions and debrief at their next therapy appointment. 

Sources

• American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). American Psychiatric Publishing.
• American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. (2023). ADHD resource center. 
• Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (CHADD). (n.d.). Parenting a child with ADHD. 
• John Hopkins Medicine. (n.d.). Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in Children. 
• National Institute of Mental Health. (2024). Attention-Deficit /Hyperactivity Disorder: What You Need to Know. 
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2024). Treatment of ADHD.

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