Coaching with the Dice for Young People

A playful coaching exercise that helps young people put into words what is going on.

Sometimes a young person does not say very much. Answers stay short, hesitation takes over, or the real issue remains just out of reach. Not because nothing is there, but because talking about feelings, choices, relationships, or pressure can feel too direct or too big.

Coaching with the Dice for Young People is a coaching exercise that helps open conversations in a light and accessible way. The dice gives structure to the conversation, while the questions offer direction. The exercise creates an opening, after which you as a coach can use your own skills to deepen the conversation, reflect, and guide it further.

What is it?

This ready-to-use tool has been designed specifically for coaching young people. It combines a simple dice ritual with 12 themed question cards, helping young people speak, reflect, and explore what is going on in a way that feels lighter and less pressured.

The playful format lowers the threshold. The questions help create focus. Together, they make it easier to begin.

What does it help with?

This exercise can help you:

• create a playful and engaging framework that encourages participation
• facilitate self-expression around sensitive or difficult topics
• introduce a gentle element of randomness to bypass blocks or resistance
• encourage reflection and creativity, especially in group settings
• explore one theme from several different angles

Why it works

Young people do not always find it easy to talk spontaneously about what they feel or what they are struggling with. A direct question can sometimes feel too heavy, too personal, or simply too early.

That is where this exercise helps. The dice does not do the coaching for you. It simply opens the conversation in a different way. It gets something moving. From there, you as a coach can listen, reflect, ask follow-up questions, and help the young person go further.

What makes it useful for coaches?

• a playful and engaging tool that quickly captures attention
• a structured framework with 12 themes and 6 questions per theme
• a relational mediator that reduces the pressure of face-to-face questioning
• flexible use in one-to-one sessions and in groups
• detailed sheets for the coach and simplified sheets to share with the young person
• easy to use in coaching sessions, workshops, or short coaching formats

What do you get?

Download:

• 1 coach guide in Word or PDF, 29 pages
• 12 detailed theme sheets including objectives, benefits, situations for use, precautions, dice questions, and debrief ideas
• 1 file of 12 simplified sheets for the young coachee, with the 6 questions per theme
• files that can be personalised with your contact details and logo

The 12 included themes

• finding motivation for studies
• managing stress before an exam or oral presentation
• making choices about future study or career direction
• strengthening self-esteem
• freeing oneself from the judgement of others
• overcoming perfectionism
• navigating relationships with others
• finding one’s place in a group
• managing social media more consciously
• handling mental load at school, college, or university
• setting a course despite doubts
• channelling anger or frustration

A short example from practice

A young coachee rolls the dice and lands on a question about perfectionism. The question opens the subject in a lighter way than a direct confrontation might. From there, the coach listens, reflects, and explores what is underneath. The value of the exercise is not only in the question itself, but in what it makes possible afterwards.

Good to know

This is a reflection tool, not a diagnostic one. You do not need to use every question. Choose what fits the moment. If one question does not connect, you can easily move to another one or switch theme.

A simple opening that can lead to more

A conversation does not need to be deep or complete right away. Sometimes it simply needs a beginning. This exercise offers exactly that: a light but meaningful entry point. From there, the coach can take over with their own skills and guide the conversation further.