ABA Therapy Activities: A Free Printable Kit for Every Age

If your child has recently started ABA therapy, or you are simply looking for meaningful things to do together at home between sessions, it helps to have real activities you can reach for when the afternoon gets long. That is exactly what this free kit was made for, and it gathers 26 activities organized by your child's age along with 14 printable templates like visual schedules, token boards, and progress trackers.

Everything you might need sits in one place and stays ready the moment you want it, so you can download it below and start whenever it suits you. If at any point you would rather have a professional build a plan around your child, you can also get matched with a BCBA through Alpaca.

Key Takeaways

• A real, free download: The kit gives you 26 activities and 14 printable templates, with no email or sign-up asked of you.
• Organized by age: The activities are grouped into five bands from babies through young adults, so you can begin right where your child is today.
• Built for real life: Every activity uses things you already have around the house, and walks you through the steps, what it helps build, and how to tell it is working.
• Plain-language ABA: These are the same methods a therapist uses, like reinforcement and First-Then, explained in a way that genuinely makes sense for a parent.
• Led by your child, not the calendar: The age bands overlap on purpose, so you are always free to follow your child's own skills and support needs over the number on the band.
• A starting point, not a substitute: The activities are meant to support professional therapy, and if you would like a plan built around your own child, you can get matched with a BCBA through Alpaca, often within days.

What are ABA therapy activities?

ABA therapy activities are simple, everyday ways of helping your child build a skill, woven into the moments you already share. ABA stands for applied behavior analysis, and at its heart it is about noticing what helps your child learn and then leaning into that gently and consistently.

A good activity rarely looks like a worksheet at a table, and far more often it looks like pausing during snack time so your child has a reason to ask for what they want, or turning getting dressed into a small game with something to look forward to at the end. Because you are the person your child spends the most time with, you are often in the best position to make these moments count, and research on parent-led practice bears that out, with children tending to make their strongest gains in communication and connection when a parent is part of the learning.

What's inside the free kit

The kit is built so you can open it and start the same day, without piecing anything together yourself. Inside you will find:

• 26 activities across five age bands: They cover 0 to 3, 3 to 5, 6 to 10, 11 to 13, and 14 to 21, and each one tells you what you will need, the steps to follow, the ABA idea behind it in plain language, how to track progress, and what to try if it is not landing.
• 14 printable templates: These include a First-Then board, a daily visual schedule, a choice board, feelings cards, calm-down cards, token boards, a reward menu, behavior notes, progress trackers, and a sheet you can bring to your child's BCBA.
• A short guide to the building blocks: It walks through the six ABA ideas that every activity quietly draws on, so the reasoning behind each one always makes sense.

ABA activities at home, by age

Children grow into very different needs at different stages, so the kit meets them where they are. Start with the band that sounds most like your child right now, and feel free to borrow from the ones on either side.

Try these ABA activities right now

Here are ten activities you can try today, gathered by age, so you have somewhere to begin even before you open the kit.

Babies & Early Years (0-3)

• Copycat games: Sit down facing your child and start by copying them, so that if they bang a cup on the table, you pick one up and do the same. Once they notice, add a small new action of your own like clapping or tapping your head, and wait to see whether they copy you back, because this gentle back-and-forth is how babies first discover that other people are worth tuning into. If your little one is just getting started, ABA therapy for toddlers walks through what early support can look like.
• Naming what they reach for: The next time your child reaches or points for something, hold it close for a moment, pause, and say the word clearly, such as “cup.” Give them a real chance to respond with a sound, a look, or a gesture, and the instant they try, hand it straight over. Wanting something is the strongest reason there is to communicate, so these ordinary moments quietly turn into language practice.

Preschool (3-5)

• Picture requesting: If your child has little or no speech yet, keep a favorite item in sight but just out of reach, and gently help them hand you a small picture of it to ask. The moment that picture lands in your hand, give them the item and name it warmly. For many children this is the first time they feel truly understood, and that alone can take a surprising amount of frustration out of the day.
• A morning visual schedule: Mornings tend to go more smoothly when your child can see the whole plan rather than hearing it one instruction at a time, so put a picture to each step and let them check off or move each one as they finish. The template is waiting inside the kit. If you would like more options to choose from, there are ready-made visual schedule templates you can print too.

School Age (6-10)

• A social story: When something stressful is on the horizon, like a haircut or a fire drill, walk your child through it beforehand in a short, calm story told from their point of view. Describe what will happen and, just as importantly, what they can do about it, so that by the time the real moment arrives it already feels familiar. There is more on how social stories work if you would like to go further.
• Conversation tennis: Many autistic children love telling you about their favorite things but find the back-and-forth of conversation trickier, so it helps to turn that rhythm into something they can see. Treat a chat like a friendly game of tennis where you say something and ask a question, then they answer and send one back, passing a small ball or object on each turn. Starting with a topic they adore keeps the whole thing feeling like play rather than practice.

Tweens (11-13)

• The feelings thermometer: Draw a simple thermometer together, with a green zone for calm, yellow for bothered, and red for feelings that have grown too big, and talk through what each zone feels like in the body. Checking in during the day with a quick “where are you right now” helps your tween notice the yellow zone before it ever climbs to red. Learning to read those overwhelming moments early is the skill that prevents the hardest ones.

Teens & Young Adults (14-21)

• Cooking one simple meal: Pick a meal your teen genuinely likes and break it into small steps together, then cook it side by side, with you handling the harder parts at first while they take the easier ones. Each time you make it, hand over one more step, until one day they can manage the whole thing on their own. It is the same approach a therapist uses to teach independence, and it carries over just as well to laundry or a morning routine.
• Self-advocacy scripts: Sit down with your teen and think through the moments where speaking up feels hard, like needing a break or not following an instruction, then write a short, ready-to-use line for each one in their own words. Practicing those lines out loud until they feel natural means the words are already there when the real moment comes. Being able to ask for what you need is one of the most freeing skills an adult can carry.
• Interview practice: Run a relaxed mock interview using a few real questions, and if your teen is comfortable, record it so the two of you can watch it back and pick out one thing to work on alongside a couple of things they did well. Workplaces tend to run on unwritten social rules, and the reassuring part is that those rules can be taught directly. For more ideas aimed at this stage, activities for teenagers has plenty to draw on.

A gentle way to start your first week

If you are not sure where to begin, it can help to picture the first week unfolding slowly, and there is no need to turn any of this into one more thing to manage. You might start by choosing a single activity that feels right for your child today, trusting that sense of fit more than the age printed on the band, and trying it for just a few minutes once or twice a day.

Whenever your child has a good try, follow it with something they love, whether that is your delight, a favorite snack, or a little extra play, and celebrate even the roughest attempt, because the effort is the part that matters most. Keep a light eye on what is working, lean into anything that clicks, and gently set aside anything that leaves your child overwhelmed, and by the end of the week you will have a small handful of activities that genuinely suit your family.

How ABA activities work at home

Every activity in the kit leans on one of these six ideas, and you do not need to be an expert in any of them to use them well.

• Reinforcement: When something motivating happens right after a behavior, your child is far more likely to do it again, which is why a warm reaction or a favorite reward matters so much.
• Prompting: You offer just enough help for your child to succeed, and then you slowly offer less, until they are doing it on their own.
• First-Then: A calm, predictable order of “first the task, then the good thing” takes much of the stress out of transitions.
• Task analysis: A big skill becomes far more approachable once you break it into small steps and teach them one at a time.
• Modeling: Showing your child the skill, either in person or on a short video, gives them something concrete to copy.
• Learning through play: Skills your child practices during everyday, playful moments tend to stick far better than anything drilled at a table.

How to pick activities for your child

Autism looks different in every child, so the very same activity can land in completely different ways for two children who happen to be the same age. Clinicians often describe this in terms of support needs rather than age, and that is a helpful way to think about it at home too, so begin with the band that sounds most like your child and borrow freely from the bands on either side.

It also helps to keep your sessions short, warm, and unhurried, since a few relaxed minutes will do far more good than a long stretch that leaves everyone frazzled, and some children settle best through movement or a thoughtfully planned sensory diet before they are ready to focus. If you are still early in your family's journey, it can be reassuring to read about how long ABA takes to show progress and what ABA therapy costs, and whenever you would like a plan shaped around your specific child, you can get matched with a BCBA through Alpaca.

When activities at home are not enough

Activities at home are a wonderful place to start, and there are also moments that call for a professional who can build a plan around your specific child. It is worth reaching out if you notice new or more intense behaviors, anything that feels unsafe, a recent diagnosis with no clear path forward, or simply the sense that you have been trying hard and have hit a wall.

Alpaca Health matches families with vetted, in-network BCBAs who can work with your child at home, in clinic, at school, or by telehealth across Texas, Colorado, and beyond, and we take on the insurance paperwork so you are free to focus on your child rather than the phone calls. Whenever you feel ready you can get matched with a BCBA, often within days, and you are also welcome to read more about in-home ABA therapy or see the providers available in Texas and Colorado.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the kit really free, and do I need to sign up?

It is completely free, and you will not be asked for your email or to create any kind of account. Click here to open it! The kit opens in a new tab, and from there you are welcome to print the entire thing or just the handful of pages that fit your child right now.

Are these activities a replacement for ABA therapy?

They are not, and it is worth being clear about that. The activities are a lovely way to practice and connect at home, but they are not a diagnosis or a treatment plan, and if you would like guidance built around your own child, a Board Certified Behavior Analyst can help. You can get matched with a BCBA through Alpaca, usually within a few days.

What ages are the activities for?

The kit was made for every age, from babies through young adults, and the activities are grouped into five bands so that you can start exactly where your child is today rather than wading through anything that does not apply.

How do I know which activities will fit my child?

The simplest approach is to begin with the band that sounds most like your child and then borrow from the bands around it, letting their skills and support needs lead the way rather than the number on the band, which is the reason those bands are designed to overlap.

What should I do if my child resists an activity?

When an activity is met with resistance, it usually helps to lower what you are asking, make it shorter, or move to one your child enjoys more, because a short activity they finish happily will always do more good than a long one that ends in an overwhelming moment.

Do the activities work for children with limited or no speech?

They absolutely do, and several of them, like picture requesting and the First-Then snack, were designed with exactly those children in mind, giving your child a clear and reliable way to make themselves understood.

How much time should I really spend on this?

A few minutes once or twice a day is genuinely plenty, and you will often see more progress from short, warm, consistent moments than from anything longer, so there is no need to turn this into a second job.