Building Executive Function Skills at Home: Part IV

Cognitive flexibility is the last of three major skills involved in executive function. Cognitive flexibility is the skill that allows your child’s brain to switch from one thing to the other quickly or to see a problem in a new light.

The picture to the left shows an example of a problem that needs cognitive flexibility. The  Candle Problem is an experiment conducted by Karl Duncker in 1945. Participants were to use only these tools to attach a candle to the wall so that the lit the candle would not drip wax on the wall. 

Most people could not get it because they did not see the box that held the tacks as an available tool. If you tack the box to the wall, it will serve as a shelf to hold the candle. Cognitive flexibility lets you see the box as more than the container for tacks – it is also one of the tools available to solve the problem.

Children use cognitive flexibility when they read, and it allows them to develop reading fluency and strong comprehension skills. Readers have to be able to quickly go back and forth between decoding words and paying attention to the content.  Children also use cognitive flexibility when they problem solve with authentic problems. Authentic problems are the kind where the answer is not in the back of the book.

Here are some home activities that can increase cognitive flexibility:

Family Meals When children help to plan, fix, and clean up family meals they have many small opportunities to problem solve.  When children are first learning these skills, resist the temptation to answer questions or solve problems for them quickly. Let them try first and only step in with a hint if they are on the wrong track.

Role Play Stories Acting out a story will add fun to reading and will promote better reading skills by strengthening cognitive flexibility. Solving problems on how to create a simple costume will add to the fun and brain power. For something different, show your child how to read a story with silly voices, and then encourage your child to try. 

Cooperative Board Games There are some new board games out there where players do not compete against each other. Instead, the players form a team and compete against the game.  PANDEMIC and FREEDOM: THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD are suitable for older children, while younger players will enjoy FLASH POINT and RACE TO THE TREASURE.  Because everyone is working together, these make good family games when there is a big age range. Cooperative games are all about helping your team members.

Building Projects Encourage your children to attempt creative projects that involve design, building, and problem-solving. The end result is great, but it is not the goal. The journey is where your child will find the real reward of stronger brain skills.

Building Executive Function Skills at Home: Part II

Inhibitory control is one of three primary executive function skills the brain needs to develop to learn. Inhibitory control is a unique skill because the brain musts learn to stop doing something.  Our brains have a huge capacity but limited power. We have millions of neural connections, but things would be a mess if all of the connections were to fire at the same time. The brain has to be able to turn connections off and on to accomplish appropriate functions.

Take a look at the image at the beginning of this post. You may have noticed that the pictures of animals do not have the right names.  If you first try to read the animal names and ignore the images, you may feel a bit of hesitancy as you focus on the words. If you try to name the animals and ignore the words, you will likely have more difficulty. In each instance, you are practicing inhibitory control – ignoring one thing to focus on another.

What skills does inhibitory control enable a child to learn? First, it helps their brains to keep unnecessary information (smells, noises, etc.) from cluttering up the learning workbench. This leaves more room (and brain energy) to be able to take in relevant information and to encode it for later use (i.e., learn.)

A second important skill is delayed gratification. When you delay gratification, you ignore your wants so you can focus on what needs to be done. Delayed gratification is an essential skill for success in life because it is what helps us plan and reach goals, both small and large.

Reduce screen time and send them outside to play instead.  When children are engrossed in a video or computer screen, the activity is focusing for them. These games and apps are designed to draw in and use manipulative tactics to keep attention focused. On the other hand, when children play outside there are lots of sounds, smells and sights giving children ample opportunity to learn to block some out, focus on others, and to integrate sensory processing.

Engage your child in conversation. When children engage in conversation, they have to learn how to pay attention to someone else and be ready to respond. Each conversation interaction reinforces not only attention but delayed gratification. Children need millions of these kinds of interactions to build strong inhibitory control. It is incredible to think that even when children are arguing with each other or with parents, they are learning something helpful.

Play games as a family. Playing games requires both attention and waiting your turn – need I say more?

Set up chores, homework, and practice to be done before free-choice activities.  This gives your children the opportunity to practice delayed gratification and to set up good habits later. Also, try to avoid overscheduling children to make sure there is free-choice time when work is done.

Playing for Brain Power

Credit: Gareth Wild via storyful.com

The clip above is of a toddler methodically disposing of important family items by shoving them through the pet door. While I am sure the family is happy to have solved the mystery of the disappearing TV remotes, this toddler’s fascination with the pet doors is its own mystery.

This lovely young scientist is conducting a series of experiments that not only inform her brain about three dimensional shapes fitting through holes, but also help to develop her thinking skills for future learning.

This is what play is all about. Play not only helps a child to understand the world, it also develops executive function skills that are necessary for problem solving. In this clip the toddler is practicing focused attention, she is remembering which sizes fit and which do not, called divided attention, and she is working on something called cognitive flexibility.

The PBS show NOVA: Bird Brains reported that scientists in one experiment found birds left to play with shapes and containers developed flexible thinking that allowed them to solve complex puzzles for peanuts. The birds that had not been allowed to play typically gave up on the puzzles and abandon the peanut reward. Here is a clip from that show:

PBS NOVA Bird Brain

The lesson for us as parents is to remember that God designed the brains of children to grow and learn while they are moving, playing and experiencing their world. We want to be careful to not stop this process. Children need to be up and about, inside or outside, playing, exploring, and practicing trial and error. If we stop them because we want to “teach” them a skill, keep them quiet with a screen, keep the house perfectly clean, or keep them a bit too safe, we will interrupt that process.

Children need to play. It is the single best thing for brain development, language development, and emotional development. It is also the best way to prepare your child for school or any other kind of learning.

So put away those screens. Send your children outside. Let them entertain themselves. They are developing brain skills.