Executive function: the three thinking skills behind "Stop and think"
EduTrend Contents · G4C Cognitive · Evidence: Strong for the concept; Mixed for training programmes
When a child waits for their turn, remembers three instructions or tries a new way after the first one fails, they are using executive function. It develops slowly through childhood, and everyday games give it plenty of practice.
Psychologists use "executive function" for a small set of skills that help us manage our own thinking. Harvard's Center on the Developing Child describes three:
Working memory: holding information in mind and using it, such as remembering the steps of a task while doing it.
Inhibitory control: stopping an automatic response, such as waiting instead of shouting out, or ignoring a distraction.
Cognitive flexibility: switching between rules or ideas, such as trying a different strategy when the first one does not work.
These skills are not fixed. They grow a lot between ages 3 and 12 and keep developing into early adulthood.
What helps them grow
In an influential review, Adele Diamond and Kathleen Lee looked at programmes shown to improve executive function in children aged 4 to 12. Very different approaches worked, from school curricula to martial arts and computer training. They had some things in common: children practised often, and the tasks got harder as they improved. Children who started with the weakest skills tended to gain the most. The same review is also a warning: improvements were usually narrow, showing up on tasks similar to the ones practised.
Why games are a good fit
Games naturally contain what the research asks for. They have rules to remember, moments where you must hold back, and twists that force a change of plan. Children want to play them again, so practice happens without nagging. Harvard's activity guides recommend card games such as Pairs, movement games such as Red Light, Green Light, and puzzles for exactly these reasons.
Two things make a game better practice. First, keep it at the right level: a child should succeed most of the time but still need to concentrate. Second, change it as they improve, with a new rule, a faster pace or one more item to remember.
Try this tomorrow. Play "Head to Toes Swap": call "head" or "toes" and children touch it. After a few rounds, swap the meanings so "head" means toes. Watch who says the rule under their breath. That quiet self-talk is executive function at work.
Related resource: G4C-110 Thinking Games has 30 game cards in six families (memory, self-control, switching, patterns, space, number) with a 6-week plan. Coming soon to EduStore; subscribe to the newsletter to hear when it opens.
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