Executive function: the planning skills kids use every day

Some of the most important skills for school are not reading or math, but the skills that let a child use them: remembering what the teacher said, stopping before blurting out, and switching to a new task. Together they are called executive function.

The three core skills

• Working memory — holding information in mind while using it. "Get your shoes, your coat and your bag."
• Inhibitory control — stopping an impulse. Waiting your turn. Not grabbing.
• Cognitive flexibility — switching rules or tasks. Going from play to clean-up; seeing a problem a new way.

Planning, organizing and self-control grow out of these three.

Games that train them

• Simon Says — listen, and stop yourself when Simon did not say.
• Red Light, Green Light — move and stop on a signal.
• Freeze dance — dance, freeze, dance.
• Memory games — matching pairs, "I went to the store and bought…"
• Card games with changing rules — Uno, Crazy Eights.

Lifehack: give instructions in pairs, then threes. "Put your cup in the sink and your book on the shelf." Working memory grows by being used just past its limit.

Puzzles that need a plan

Mazes are executive function on paper: look ahead, hold the path in mind, notice a dead end and change course. Puzzles where a child has to keep two rules at once — like Who's Late?, which asks for reading a clock and comparing it with a schedule — stretch working memory too.

Everyday practice

Cooking with a recipe, packing a bag from a list, following a set of steps — ordinary jobs build these skills more than any app. For a whole day in steps, see why daily routines help kids.