High School Transition Activities in Special Education

We all know that preparing students for life after high school takes patience, planning, and creativity. Finding the right transition activities for your students can be frustrating. Most resources just don’t fit the needs of a high school special education classroom.

It’s no surprise, really. Important skills like self-advocacy, communication, and workplace readiness don’t always get the time they deserve in school. But these skills are just as important as academics in helping students succeed in work, daily life, and beyond.

That’s why I’ve put together a list of easy and engaging activities designed to help your students build essential life skills and prepare them for their future. Let’s dive in!

Self-Awareness

Understanding oneself is the first step toward making meaningful life choices. It helps high school transition students identify their strengths, challenges, and goals, which supports career planning, self-advocacy, social skills, and decision-making.

Help your students explore who they are with these activities:

Goal Setting – Have students set their personal goals. It can be long-term goals, like their plans for after high school, for the year, or for the semester. Or, they can start with daily goal setting which can be done during your morning meeting.
Self-Discovery Questions – Provide a set of reflective questions that ask about the students, such as “What type of things did I enjoy doing as a child?” or “When do I feel the most angry?” They can be divided into categories like social, emotional, financial, career, and personal.
Self-Collage – Let your students create a collage about themselves. It can feature things they enjoy, places they’ve been, people they admire, or careers they’re interested in.
Positive Circle – Ask the class to share positive things about one of their peers to build self-esteem and confidence.
Learning Style Inventory – Help your students determine how they learn best by providing a questionnaire where they respond to statements about their preferred learning method.
Satisfaction Checklist – Have your students check off statements related to their needs or what satisfies them, such as enjoying teamwork, receiving praise and rewards, or working alone.
Skills Identification – Let your students identify their skills. You can either have them make a list or journal or choose from a picture-based worksheet.

This activity can even be connected to career exploration since you can help your students match their skills with jobs.

Disability Awareness – Teach your students about their disability. You can use a ready-made lesson with matching activities about Disability Awareness.

Self-Advocacy Skills

Teaching self-advocacy skills is one of the most important skills for high school special education students.

Knowing how to speak up for their needs and navigate real-world situations helps them prepare for life after school.

Below is a list of activities that will help students build confidence, improve communication, and take charge of their future.

IEP Meetings – Encourage your students to actively participate in their IEP meetings. But first, help them prepare! Teach them how to introduce themselves, state their strengths, and talk about their accommodations during the meeting.

Here’s a guide on how to teach your students about their IEPs.

Role-Playing – Think of situations where a person would need to advocate for themselves, such as asking for a break at work, requesting accommodations, or talking to a supervisor. Then, have your students act out these situations.
Self-Advocacy Video – Show your students a video on self-advocacy and discuss important takeaways afterward.
Student Rights & Responsibilities – Teach students about their rights and responsibilities to help them advocate for themselves.

You can invite guest speakers to talk about the rights of students with disabilities or create a poster about rights and responsibilities to be posted on the bulletin board.

Independent Living Skills

Getting ready for life after high school means learning the skills to live as independently as possible. Things like cooking, budgeting, cleaning, and handling daily responsibilities might not seem exciting, but they’re essential for success.

The good news? These skills can be fun to practice, especially when your students get hands-on experience in real-life situations. Give these activities a try!

Budgeting & Shopping – Teach practical consumer skills by having lessons and activities about budgeting and shopping. This can be specific, like shopping for clothes or planning and buying groceries.

You can try using task cards for choosing clothes, templates for a grocery list, or worksheets for practicing budgeting. Or for something more fun, visit actual stores and do a scavenger hunt!

Cooking – Have your students follow recipes for simple dishes, or use templates for planning and preparing meals.
Public Transportation – Make learning fun as you quiz your students on safety rules when using public transportation with Public Transportation Problem Solving task cards. Or, if possible, plan a field trip and let the students use the subway or a bus.
Household Chores – Teach all about household chores, including different types of chores, routines, schedules, and even how to use cleaning tools.

You can do this through digital activities, worksheets, animated videos, or even slide presentations. Check out this Household Chores bundle for a full unit about household chores!

Self-Care – Teach your students about personal hygiene, illnesses, first aid, and nutrition.

One example activity for this topic is making a commercial using their phone or iPad that shows proper hygiene and grooming. Get creative and think of more ways to teach this lesson, or take a look at this list of self-care resources that you can use.

Social Skills

Special education students need to develop social skills to help them build friendships, get along with others, and succeed in work and daily life as they grow older.

What can they do to practice social skills? Here are some examples:

Conflict Resolution – Have your students practice problem-solving with real-life workplace or social scenarios where there’s conflict that needs to be resolved.

This can be done through role-play or drawing cards from a jar and explaining how they would solve the problem in the scenario.

Joining Groups – Encourage your students to join a local social or hobby group to practice interacting with others in a structured setting.
Texting Friends – Teach your special education students how to respond to text messages from friends appropriately using a slide deck activity. Students will read the text message on each slide and then decide how to respond.

Here’s a sample material for this activity: Texting Friends Social Skills Google Slides Activity

Small Talk – Facilitate conversation time for your students with disabilities using a Social Conversation Planner.

I have a template specially made for this, which I use bi-weekly for our social group. Check out this Weekend Small Talk bundle!

Employment Skills

Finding a job after high school isn’t just about filling out applications, it’s about knowing how to communicate, follow directions, and work well with others.

Here are activities that can help your students gain job skills and confidence for their future careers:

Interest Surveys – Have your students take career interest quizzes or vocational choice-based games to figure out what kind of jobs they might like.
Career Fairs – Hold a “Career Day” in your classroom (or involve the whole school if you’d like) where you’ll let the students dress up as their chosen career, display posters about different jobs, and invite a guest speaker to talk about their work.
Job Shadowing – Arrange for students to visit community places with possible job opportunities for them. This will help them see what different jobs are like in real life.

You can even coordinate with whoever’s in charge of the place to see if they can accommodate a tour or some kind of orientation so your students can understand the field better.

Career Cluster Lessons – Have a lesson about career clusters to teach your students about different job categories and help them match their skills to careers.
Resume & Application Writing – Guide your students in writing a simple resume, including their skills and experiences. (Here’s a resume and cover letter unit that can help you.) You can also have them complete a mock job application form.
Workplace Behavior Lessons – Teach about teamwork, punctuality, dress codes, and other appropriate workplace behavior. Have your students role-play different workplace scenarios to make the lesson more engaging.
Mock Interviews – Prepare your students for job interviews by providing a list of common interview questions and having them practice answering those. You can even set up practice interviews with school staff or local businesses!

Here are some easy-to-follow tips to help you build an inclusive and neurodiversity-affirming classroom!

Community-Based Instruction

The best way to learn about the community is to get out and explore it! Community-Based Instruction (CBI) gives students hands-on experience in real places like grocery stores, banks, and restaurants.

These experiences help your students practice life skills in a way that a classroom just can’t. Check out these activities:

Traveling Safety – Use a fun CBI board game that teaches about community safety when your class can’t have a field trip as frequently as you’d like.
Eating at Restaurants – Practice ordering food, calculating the bill (including the tip), and using polite conversation with the waitstaff. Check out these restaurant skill resources to make this activity easier!
Store Trips – Take your class to the grocery store, clothing store, or garden store so they can have a feel of what happens and how they should do their shopping.

You can have your students create a shopping list, compare brands, and calculate costs before visiting the store using this big bundle of grocery shopping activities!

Post Office – Teach your students all about the post office. You can use functional reading activities and worksheets. Then, you can end the lesson with a visit to the post office and a scavenger hunt game.
Community Places – Use a Would You Rather game that lets students choose between community places. This activity will get them thinking about their life skill choices while teaching them about community places at the same time.
Community Signs – Teach your students community signs to help them become well-versed in navigating their local community.
Volunteering – Arrange volunteer opportunities at local shelters, libraries, or food banks. Then, have your students track their responsibilities and reflect on their experience.
Using Public Services – Visit a library, post office, or bank. Have your students practice mailing a letter, checking out a book, or filling out a simple bank form.

Education and Training Skills

Some transition students don’t want to get a job after graduating high school. Instead, they’re considering college, vocational programs, and apprenticeships.

Help them prepare with the right skills so they can succeed in any learning environment with these activities!

College and Trade School Visits – Arrange campus tours or virtual visits. Have your students prepare questions in advance and take notes on the programs they’re interested in.
College Entrance Tests – Help your students register for tests like the SAT, ACT, or placement exams, practice test-taking strategies, and create a study plan.
College Scholarship Essay – Guide your students through brainstorming, writing, and editing a personal statement or scholarship essay using real prompts.
Connecting with Disability Services – Role-play how to request accommodations, review sample accommodation letters, and practice self-advocacy conversations with college support staff.
Study Habits – Teach your students how to break large assignments into smaller tasks and set up a study schedule that includes breaks.

Life Skills and Recreation

Life isn’t just about work and responsibilities—it’s also about knowing how to take care of yourself and enjoy your free time!

Below is a list of activities to help students build independence while also exploring hobbies and leisure time.

Hobby Exploration – Have your students research and try a new hobby, such as painting, gardening, or music. You can even hold a special “Hobby Showcase” day where they can demonstrate or present the new hobby they’ve learned!
Exercise & Health Habits – Teach simple workout routines like stretching, yoga, or walking programs.
Time Management Practice – Give your students a planner or digital calendars and help them schedule their daily tasks, including schoolwork, chores, and personal activities.
Technology for Organization – Show your students how to use phone apps for reminders, budgeting, and task management. Some apps have accessibility features like voice-to-text and screen readers for students who need them.
Social & Recreational Activities – Teach your students how to plan and participate in social outings, such as game nights, movie trips, or joining a club. Role-play different social scenarios, like inviting a friend or handling group conversations.