Executive function (EF) for children in each age group

Choose the content to read

• How can we promote executive function?
• ACTIVITIES FOR CHILDREN AGED 6-18 MONTHS
• ACTIVITIES FOR CHILDREN AGED 18 MONTHS-3 YEARS
• ACTIVITIES FOR CHILDREN AGED 3-5 YEARS
• ACTIVITIES FOR CHILDREN AGED 5-12 YEARS
• ACTIVITIES FOR TEENAGERS

Executive function (EF) 

Executive function (EF) and Self-regulation (SR) are advanced frontal lobe skills that govern thoughts, emotions, and behaviors in order to achieve goals successfully. Executive Function (EF) and Self-Regulation (SR) are not innate, but children can practice and develop them from infancy through adolescence and early adulthood. They help children form good management skills, maintain focus on their work, and complete tasks successfully according to plans. Executive Function and Self-Regulation also help in learning other emotions, thoughts, and behaviors in order to live with others in society happily.

How many types of executive function (EF)? 

Executive functions, or EF, and self-regulation, or SR, consist of 3 important aspects:

1. Working Memory is the skill of remembering, collecting, and processing information and using the stored information from the brain in a short period of time for work, problem-solving, and daily life.
2. Cognitive or Mental Flexibility is the ability to maintain focus on what one does while being mentally flexible and adaptable to situations in order to solve problems with others. For example, if a teacher asks a child to draw a picture with circle elements, the child can remember the instructions and be able to draw a circle in a picture successfully. In addition, the child can draw circles in a variety of ways, such as using a pencil to draw circles with their hands, tracing a round object onto paper, drawing according to a pattern, or drawing a circle with a compass.
3. Inhibitory Control, or Self-Control, is the ability to keep one's thoughts and actions in check in response to tempting or distracting stimuli. This attribution helps one think carefully about the pros and cons before acting and speaking and helps inhibit inappropriate behavior towards oneself and others. For example, a child can continuously focus on his/her homework until completing the assignment, even though he/she longs to play with his/her pets or friends
   How can we promote executive function? 

Executive function (EF) and self-regulation (SR) can be promoted in 3 ways:

1. Good Relationships: Good relationships are the foundation of executive function and self-regulation. Good relationships start with close individuals in the child's social circle, such as fathers, mothers, guardians, teachers, friends, and other people in the child’s social circle. Children can develop good EF and SR effectively with their parents as role models. Therefore, parents should actively support the child’s activities, encouraging them in their efforts, building their confidence, helping them to become self-reliant, and protecting them from external dangers that may hinder the process of developing executive function and a child's abilities.
2. Promote Learning Activities: Young children in early childhood should have the opportunity to participate in activities that promote their development in physical, emotional, social, and cognitive aspects at the same time. The key principle of these activities is that they should not create excessive stress for the child or make it difficult to deal with. During the activities, help the child manage any stress that may arise. Encourage activities that promote physical movement, communication skills practice, and social interaction. Therefore, parents, guardians, and teachers may gradually increase the challenge of the activities step by step.
3. Good Environment: A supportive environment helps the child’s development skills go further. Therefore, fathers, mothers, guardians, or teachers should create activity spaces where children can use their creative thinking skills, explore, or exercise while focusing on safety and following the child's socioeconomic status.

Activities promote executive function in each age group

Executive Function (EF) and Self-regulation (SR) skills can be developed in infancy, adolescence, and adulthood, particularly in the first 3-5 years, which is a crucial period for building the foundation of brain and cognitive development. Therefore, parents and guardians should organize activities that promote the development of executive Function and Self-regulation skills so that children can practice memorization, following instructions, planning activities, practicing communication, problem-solving, and participating in activities with others through various age-appropriate activities. EF and SR activities in each age group are as follows:

ACTIVITIES FOR CHILDREN AGED 6-18 MONTHS

The core activities for children of this age range are the interaction between child and parents/guardians by choosing activities in which the child is interested and also having fun. The child should be the one to determine the duration of play, and if the child loses interest, they should have a chance to switch to other activities.

Example activities

• Playing peek-a-boo, pat-a-cake, or singing rhymed songs.
• Hide-and-seek, starting by hiding an object under one cloth, then increasing the difficulty by hiding the object in one of three shuffled-around overturned cups, and asking the child to identify which cup the object is under, etc.
• Play imitation, such as imitating the facial expressions and gestures of caregivers (e.g., happy or sad expressions) or imitating how to play with toys (e.g., placing one piece of wood on top of another, pretending to make the top block fall, and then having the child rebuild it). These activities are often ones that early childhood children like and enjoy. Another activity is to allow the child to imitate household activities of adults, such as putting away and collecting toys, picking up a broom and pretending to sweep, etc.
• Engaging in finger games with cheerful songs, like “Where is Thumbkin?” or “Finger Family Song,” encourages the child to sing along.
• Talking to the child is a way to practice communication skills, assess their needs, and foster interpersonal interactions. Adults can observe what the child is interested in and name that object. As the child grows a little older, adults can nurture his/her interests and encourage the child to pay attention and discuss the topic of interest together.

ACTIVITIES FOR CHILDREN AGED 18 MONTHS-3 YEARS

At this age, "Language" is a pivotal part of training executive function brain skills as a steppingstone to developing EF and SR because this is the age when children's language and communication development progress rapidly. The practices are achievable through playing games with simple rules and regulations through activities that promote physical development in order to develop various muscles, such as throwing and catching a ball or dancing to music with start and stop signals, etc.

Example activities

• Activities involving physical movement, e.g., running, jumping, throwing objects, kicking a ball, or dancing. Learning simple rules in play will help children practice short-term memory in remembering rules and regulations, as well as developing self-control and inhibition to play according to the established rules and regulations set. Children will have the space to practice recognizing starting signals, learning to wait for their turn, and practicing communication according to the game rules. Furthermore, constantly changing the way of playing will also help develop cognitive flexibility in children.
• Matching Games: e.g., matching colors, shapes, shadows, or sizes.
• Storytelling: Stories are an activity that can attract children's attention and engage them with their parents, guardians, or teachers. Stories help children stay engaged, have fun, and have a good time. The storyteller can extend the child's thinking by asking them to predict what will happen next in the story and allowing them to tell stories in their own way. There can be discussions about the moods of the protagonists in the story so that children can express their opinions and learn about the emotions of the story's characters simultaneously.
• Role-playing: e.g., playing household roles (mother, father, child), teacher-student, different professions (doctor, nurse, teacher), or imaginative play such as playing shopkeeper, cooking, building a toy house, etc.

ACTIVITIES FOR CHILDREN AGED 3-5 YEARS

Preschool age, or 3-5 years old, is a golden period or a "Window of Opportunity" for training executive functions and self-regulation skills to their fullest potential. It is the age when the brain develops executive functions and self-regulation the fastest. Therefore, it is essential for parents, guardians, and teachers to vigilantly modify activities to suit the child's abilities, with the primary goal being for the child to be able to control themselves to follow the rules. As a result, when parents notice that their child is ready, they should gradually reduce their control, supervision, and assistance for their children, little by little.

Example activities

• Promoting Children's Imaginative Play to be more challenging by giving children the opportunity to learn about their surroundings through reading books or traveling to different places, increasing the variety of plays, including allowing children to create toys based on their imagination.
• Reading Storybooks: Once children have developed some reading skills, their activities should switch from being listeners to storytellers. Children can tell stories in their way. In addition to children reading stories with their father, mother, guardian, or teacher, parents or teachers can create group storytelling activities or role-playing based on the story, giving children the opportunity to practice communication with their peers of the same age.
• Movement Game with Music as a Medium to Create Enjoyment and Fun. There can be alternating slow and fast body movements to help children learn how to practice self-control to follow changing instructions.
• Silent or Concentration-based Games, such as matching/grouping games or jigsaw puzzles, gradually increase difficulty levels tailored to the child as the child's ability improves.

ACTIVITIES FOR CHILDREN AGED 5-12 YEARS

Training in executive function (EF) and self-regulation (SR) for children of this age should promote playing with clear rules and have more complex playing conditions to practice self-control. The playing rules should be neither too easy nor overly challenging for children to follow or become discouraged. The difficulty and challenges may increase step by step. This will be an important steppingstone in building the habit of developing problem-solving skills.

Example activities

• Playing Card or Board Games: These helps promote management skills and self-control to play according to the rules and regulations while also learning how to adapt and be flexible according to the situation. These help short-term memory, observation skills, quick wit, agility, problem-solving, and step-by-step planning. Board games suitable for children in this age range, such as Go or Chess, and so on.
• Playing or Doing Activities Requires Movement: This includes all kinds of sports that require focused concentration, decision-making, and body movement control over slow or fast body movements, alternating depending on the sport. Furthermore, children can practice self-control according to sporting rules that combine concentration with physical movement, such as taekwondo or yoga etc.
• Games or Activities Involving Physical Movement, such as singing in a group with clapping or performing complex gestures requiring memorization, practicing a musical instrument, dancing to different rhythms, singing, etc.
• Games or Activities that Promote Concentration, Reasoning, and Planning, e.g., maze games, crossword puzzles, Sudoku, 20 Questions, Rubik's Cube, etc.

ACTIVITIES FOR TEENAGERS

Adolescence is an age where executive function skills (EF) and self-control skills (SR) are not yet fully developed to the adult level. Creating activities to help teenagers practice executive function and self-regulation is, therefore, important and should be continuously promoted regularly to fully prepare them before entering adulthood. The principles of training skills are as follows:

Example activities

• Short-term and Long-term Planning: Teenagers should be trained in both short-term and long-term planning through the details of work plans step by step in order to achieve their goals successfully. Their follow-up tasks should be reviewed regularly to determine whether the children are adhering to their plans.
• Self-monitoring: Teenagers should be encouraged to self-monitor periodically. For example, 1.) Advise them to try writing down their daily experiences as regular self-reflection. 2.) If there are things they are not doing well, engage them in practicing positive self-talk to encourage them that they can do it or fix it. 3.) Teenagers are also encouraged to share their learning stories with others, etc.
• Learning from Mistakes and Success: When a task or activity is completed successfully, teenagers should have the opportunity to reflect on their own successes and failures in order to learn from the mistakes and apply the good aspects to improve their work even better in the future.

Executive Function for Age-appropriate Development

Executive Function, or EF, and Self-Regulation, or SR, developments should progress alongside other developmental areas, including physical, cognitive, intellectual, and emotional aspects. These are essential to help children succeed in learning, working, and living. Creating an environment conducive to developing these skills lays a good foundation for the future.

A lack of systematic processes in developing executive functions, whether a lack of a foundation in building good relationships, a lack of opportunities to engage in activities, or social and environmental limitations, will inevitably prevent children from fully developing their executive functions and self-regulation skills. Therefore, parents, guardians at home, and teachers at school should continuously prioritize the development of EF and SR so that children can fully develop their cognitive, emotional, and behavioral management skills according to their age. These will enable them to grow into adults with strong management abilities and the capacity to achieve their intended goals.