3 Activities for Bridging

Finding the right activities to perform during your bridging group can be a challenge. Attention is a common cognitive skill many people struggle with. Here are 3 examples of activities that focus on attention you can perform during your bridging group session with your clients.

Planning for a Family Member to Visit

Have your client imagine a family member is coming to visit them in their home. In this scenario, your client has laundry to do, needs to go grocery shopping, and tidy up their home. Their family member also wants to go to a local museum in town, and they have to buy tickets prior to their visiting time. They have a day before their family member arrives. 

Using this activity, you can help your client:

  • Learn to make a to-do list of everything they must accomplish before their family member visits.
  • Ask themselves about time management, order of what activities they decide to do in which order, and how to problem solve.
  • Learn to be reasonable about what is feasible for them to accomplish in a given amount of time.

Bridging Activity – Try using a map of town and find your client’s location within town. Have them identify which tasks and errands they wish to start with and have them explain why they choose to order them this way.

Playing Chef

In many work environments, your client will be tasked with multiple demands at once. To prepare your client for reentering the workforce, have your client pretend they are a cook at a restaurant and they have just received three orders. One person orders a hamburger with fries with no tomatoes or onions and with ketchup, pickles, and lettuce on their hamburger, another person wants grilled chicken tenders with a garden salad but does not want their food coming in contact with food products that contain beef or pork, and another person wants a vegetable burger with fries with tomatoes, onions, and relish on their vegetable burger but no lettuce, ketchup, or pickles. 

Using this activity, you can help your client:

  • Identify important details in the tasks they must complete.
  • Learn the importance of sequencing for task completion.
  • Identify the skills needed to complete this kind of task and what other tasks are similar to being a chef at a restaurant.

Bridging Activity – Use cut out pictures of each food item and have your client assemble orders in the way they should be completed.

cognitive exercise

Drafting an Invitation

In this situation, your client is hosting a backyard barbecue. They want to invite 6 guests, have each guest bring a dish to contribute, and have everyone arrive at a given time. The barbecue will last for 4 hours. Your client will send the invitations by email. 

Using this activity, you can help your client:

  • Create awareness of information they need to know and share with others. 
  • Learn how their actions may impact how other people understand a situation. 
  • Mentally scan and physically map out the relevant pieces of information they must attend to and convey so that their demands are met.

Bridging Activity –  Actually have your client do this. You can have them do this using Microsoft Word or get creative using paper, pencils, and coloring materials for some extra fun.

Bridging activities should simulate real life situations as much as possible. Improving attention is a common goal many clients have. You can use these activity ideas and create your own to help your clients build and practice their attention skills. For some activities, you may want to use physical props to help your client engage.

Dustin Luchmee

Dustin was HappyNeuron's Product Specialist. With research experience in stroke, Dustin learned how a stroke can change someone's life. He also learned how different kinds of therapists can work together to help a person get better. He is passionate about neuro-rehabilitation and finding the active ingredients for effective therapy.

Related Content in Social Cognition,Therapy Tips

Recent Articles

HappyNeuron Pro Logo

Are you a therapist looking for Cognitive Stimulation tools for your patients?

Check out HappyNeuron Pro’s FREE Worksheets !