What’s inside this article: A variety of play-based activities and games that help children practice and improve various executive functioning skills.
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Executive functioning skills are the mental processes that enable us to plan, focus, remember instructions, and manage multiple tasks successfully.
For children, developing these skills is crucial for their academic, social, and emotional growth.
One of the most effective and enjoyable ways to help children build these skills is through play-based activities. By engaging in specific games and activities that target different aspects of executive functioning, children can strengthen their ability to make decisions, solve problems, control impulses, and adapt to new situations—all while having fun.
In this post, we’ll explore a variety of play-based activities designed to help children improve their executive functioning skills, giving them the tools they need to succeed in everyday life.
Games and Activities that Build Executive Functioning Skills
Freeze Dance
Skills Practiced: Inhibitory Control, Attention, Motor Planning
Instructions:
- Play some music and encourage your child to dance.
- When the music stops, everyone must freeze in place.
- Anyone who moves after the music stops is out.
- Continue playing until one person is left standing.
This game helps children practice self-control by stopping when the music ends, and it also requires them to focus on the changing cues.
Sorting Bears
Skills Practiced: Cognitive Flexibility, Organization, Attention to Detail, Fine Motor Skills
Instructions:
- Start with a set of multi-colored sorting bears or similar objects.
- Ask your child to sort the bears by color.
- Once they’ve sorted them, mix them up again and ask them to sort by a different criterion, such as size or shape.
- You can change the sorting rules multiple times to challenge their cognitive flexibility.
This activity encourages children to shift their thinking based on new rules, improving their ability to adapt to different situations.
Building with Blocks or Lego
Skills Practiced: Planning, Organization, Spatial Awareness, Problem-Solving
Instructions:
- Provide your child with building blocks, Lego, or other construction toys.
- Encourage them to create a specific structure, such as a house, a bridge, or a tower.
- As they build, ask them questions like, “What should you do next?” or “What will happen if you put a small block on the bottom?”
Building structures requires children to plan their actions and think ahead to ensure their creations are stable and complete. They develop their ability to organize and execute complex plans as they play.
Simon Says
Skills Practiced: Inhibitory Control, Listening, Attention
Instructions:
- One person is “Simon” and gives commands that the others must follow, but only if the command begins with “Simon says…” for example “Simon says…hop on one foot!”
- If “Simon says” isn’t stated before a command, anyone who follows it is out.
- The last person remaining becomes the new Simon.
Simon Says is a great way for children to practice inhibitory control and attention. They must listen carefully and only follow commands that meet the specific criteria.
Red Light, Green Light
Skills Practiced: Self-Regulation, Focus, Impulse Control
Instructions:
- One person acts as the “traffic light” and stands at one end of a space while the rest of the players line up at the other end.
- When the “traffic light” says “Green light!” the players move toward them.
- When “Red light!” is called, players must stop immediately.
- Anyone caught moving after “Red light!” is called must return to the starting line.
- The first player to reach the “traffic light” wins and takes over that role.
This activity helps children practice starting and stopping on command, which builds impulse control and self-regulation.
Connect 4
Skills Practiced: Strategic Thinking, Planning, Inhibitory Control
Instructions:
- Two players take turns dropping colored discs into a grid, aiming to connect four of their discs in a row, either vertically, horizontally, or diagonally.
- Players must think ahead to block their opponent’s moves while planning their strategy to connect four.
Connect 4 helps children develop strategic thinking by requiring them to plan multiple moves ahead and adapt their strategy as the game progresses.
Mousetrap
Skills Practiced: Planning, Problem-Solving, Working Memory
Instructions:
- Mousetrap is a classic game where players work to build a contraption piece by piece while moving around the game board.
- The goal is to trap your opponent’s mouse using the machine once it’s complete.
- Players must remember the steps to build the trap and plan their moves accordingly.
This game is great for older children ready to practice more complex planning and problem-solving skills in a fun and interactive way.
Role-Playing Games
Skills Practiced: Social Skills, Problem-Solving, Cognitive Flexibility
Instructions:
- Set up a simple scenario, such as a trip to the grocery store or a visit to the doctor. You can use index cards to make a deck of scenario cards to draw from.
- Encourage your child to act out different roles and practice how they would handle various situations, such as asking for help or resolving a disagreement.
- Use props or costumes to make the role-play more engaging. Take turns with your child taking on different roles.
Role-playing helps children practice real-life social situations, enhancing their problem-solving abilities and cognitive flexibility by considering different perspectives.
Memory Matching Games
Skills Practiced: Working Memory, Focus, Attention to Detail
Instructions:
- Lay out a set of memory cards face down, each with a matching pair.
- Players flip over two cards at a time, trying to find a matching pair.
- If they find a match, they keep the pair and take another turn; if not, the cards are flipped back over, and the next player goes.
Memory-matching games help improve working memory by requiring children to remember the location of cards and focus on the task at hand.
Hot Potato
Skills Practiced: Inhibitory Control, Focus, Social Interaction
Instructions:
- Gather a group of children and give them a small object to pass around, such as a ball or a stuffed toy.
- Play music as the children pass the “hot potato” around the circle.
- When the music stops, the child holding the “hot potato” is out.
- Continue playing until only one child remains.
Hot Potato helps children practice self-control and quick decision-making as they work to avoid being caught with the object when the music stops.
Puzzles
Skills Practiced: Problem-Solving, Planning, Spatial Awareness
Instructions:
- Provide age-appropriate puzzles for your child to solve.
- Encourage them to start with the edge pieces to create a framework and then fill the middle.
- Offer guidance if needed, but allow them to work through challenges independently.
Puzzles are a great way to improve problem-solving skills, as they require children to plan their approach and adapt their strategy as they progress.
Treasure Hunt
Skills Practiced: Planning, Problem-Solving, Focus
Instructions:
- Create a treasure hunt by hiding small objects or clues around your home or yard.
- Write or draw clues that guide your child from one location to the next until they find the “treasure” at the end.
- Depending on your child’s age and skill level, you can make the clues simple or more challenging.
A treasure hunt encourages planning and problem-solving as your child must decipher clues and follow a sequence to reach the goal.
Scavenger Hunt
Skills Practiced: Organization, Planning, Attention to Detail
Instructions:
- Create a list of items for your child to find around the house, yard, or neighborhood.
- The list can include everyday household objects, specific colors, shapes, or items related to a theme.
- Set a time limit and encourage your child to find as many items as possible within the time frame.
A scavenger hunt helps children practice organization and planning as they search for items and decide on the best strategy to complete the hunt quickly.
20 Questions
Skills Practiced: Critical Thinking, Attention, Working Memory
Instructions:
- One player thinks of an object, person, or place, and the other players take turns asking yes-or-no questions to figure out what it is.
- The goal is to identify the object within 20 questions or fewer.
- If no one guesses correctly within 20 questions, the person who thought of the object wins.
This game encourages children to think critically and remember the answers to previous questions as they narrow down the possibilities.
Cooking Together
Skills Practiced: Planning, Organization, Multi-Step Directions, Time Management
Instructions:
- Choose a simple recipe that you and your child can cook or bake together.
- Have your child help gather the ingredients and organize them before starting.
- Guide them through the steps of the recipe, encouraging them to follow the directions and manage their time.
Cooking is a practical way to build executive functioning skills, as it involves planning, organizing, and following multi-step instructions to achieve a final result.
Charades
Skills Practiced: Cognitive Flexibility, Problem-Solving, Communication
Instructions:
- Write down different actions, animals, or objects on small pieces of paper and place them in a bowl.
- Players take turns picking a paper and acting out what’s written without speaking while the others try to guess what it is.
- Set a time limit for each round to add an element of urgency.
Charades help children practice thinking on their feet and adapting their actions based on others’ responses, improving cognitive flexibility and problem-solving.
Hide and Seek
Skills Practiced: Planning, Attention, Problem-Solving
Instructions:
- One person hides while the others count to a predetermined number and then search for the hidden person.
- The person who finds the hidden player first gets to hide in the next round.
Hide and Seek requires children to plan their hiding spot and think about how to avoid being found, practicing their problem-solving and planning skills.
Jenga
Skills Practiced: Planning, Inhibitory Control, Motor Skills
Instructions:
- Set up a Jenga tower by stacking wooden blocks in layers.
- Players take turns removing one block at a time and placing it on top of the tower without causing it to collapse.
- The game continues until the tower falls.
Jenga requires careful planning and fine motor control, as players must think about which blocks they can remove safely and how to maintain the tower’s stability.
Guess Who?
Skills Practiced: Critical Thinking, Attention to Detail, Problem-Solving
Instructions:
- Two players each select a character from their board of options.
- They then take turns asking yes-or-no questions to deduce which character the other player has chosen.
- The first player to correctly guess the other’s character wins.
Guess Who? encourages children to think critically and use problem-solving skills to eliminate possibilities and identify the correct answer.
Maze Games (Paper or Physical)
Skills Practiced: Planning, Problem-Solving, Spatial Awareness
Instructions:
- Provide a maze on paper or create a physical maze using household items like chairs and string.
- Have your child work through the maze by drawing a path on the paper or physically navigating through the obstacles.
- Encourage them to think ahead and plan their route to avoid dead ends.
Maze games challenge children to plan their actions and solve problems as they navigate through the twists and turns.
Incorporating play-based activities into your child’s daily routine is not only a fun way to spend time together but also a powerful method for building essential executive functioning skills.
From planning and problem-solving to impulse control and cognitive flexibility, these skills form the foundation for success in school, social interactions, and everyday life.
Your child can practice and strengthen these skills in an enjoyable, low-pressure environment by engaging in games like Freeze Dance, Jenga, Simon Says, and many others.
Remember, the key is consistency and patience—over time, you’ll likely see improvements in your child’s ability to focus, plan, and manage tasks more effectively.
So, make playtime a part of your strategy to help your child grow and thrive, one fun activity at a time.