Enhancing Executive Functioning: Fun and Effective Activities for Spring/Summer Break

Do you ever wonder how we manage to stay organized, switch between responsibilities, or regulate our emotions? These abilities fall under executive functioning—a set of cognitive skills that help us plan, focus, and manage our actions. Executive functioning plays a role in nearly everything we do, from completing daily routines to tackling complex problems. Challenges with executive functioning are relatively common and can be experienced by many individuals. For example, individuals with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), autism, learning disabilities, and even mental health conditions may experience challenges with executive functioning [1]. In this blog, we’ll explore what executive functioning is, why it matters, and fun activities your family can do to help strengthen it.

What is Executive Functioning?

Executive functioning is an umbrella term for a set of cognitive skills that help individuals plan, organize, and regulate their behaviour [2]. Often, these skills are used for complex problem-solving tasks, such as planning a work presentation or troubleshooting an unexpected challenge. However, they are equally important for everyday activities, like avoiding distractions while watching TV. While there is some debate about which specific cognitive skills make up executive functioning, three core abilities are widely recognized as fundamental in the current research [3]:

1. Inhibitory Control

Inhibitory control refers to our ability to control our thoughts, behaviours, and emotions. Usually, this involves inhibiting or overriding a dominant response or impulse in favour of a more appropriate or thoughtful action. For example, when you are in a work meeting and you feel your phone vibrate with a notification, your inhibitory control network is working to inhibit your initial reaction to check your phone. Similarly, inhibitory control is essential for emotional regulation. Have you ever been in a situation where you felt the urge to react, but paused and chose a more thoughtful response instead? That’s inhibitory control at work—helping you stay balanced when you're tempted to act on impulse!

Try it Out: Want to put your inhibitory control to the test? Try out this activity.

First, simply look at each word and say the colour of the ink the word is written in. For example, since red is written in the colour red, you would say the word red.

Blue Orange Green Red  Purple  Red Orange  Blue  Orange  Green  Red

Easy enough, right? Now try doing the same thing with the list below. Look at each word and say the colour of the ink the word is written in, not the actual word itself.

Blue Orange  Green  Red  Purple Red Orange Blue Orange  Green  Red

Did you find the second list a little harder than the first? This is known as the Stroop Effect, a classic example of inhibitory control in action. Your immediate impulse is to read the word itself. However, when the word is written in a different colour, you must inhibit that automatic response and focus on saying the colour of the ink instead. This challenge highlights how our brains manage conflicting information and demonstrates the power of inhibitory control!

2. Working Memory

Working memory is the ability to temporarily hold and manipulate information in your mind for a specific purpose. This essential cognitive function plays a role in nearly everything we do. Whether it's remembering a phone number long enough to dial it, solving a mental math problem, or visualizing how to rearrange furniture before actually moving it, working memory allows us to process and use information effectively.

However, working memory capacity is limited, and individuals differ in how much information they are able to hold and actively use in their mind. For example, consider following multi-step instructions. When you ask your child to 1) clean their room, 2) make their bed, 3) take out the garbage, and 4) empty the dishwasher, it may be difficult for them to remember all the working parts, due to the limited capacity of working memory. Therefore, it may help to deliver the list in smaller sections and have your child rehearse and repeat back what is needed to be done [4]. This allows the working memory to be maximized and  ensures that important details are actively held within the working memory system.

3. Cognitive Flexibility:

Cognitive flexibility refers to the ability to adapt to new information, switch between tasks or perspectives, and adjust behaviour in response to changing demands. The world is fast-paced, and we are constantly tested on our ability to switch between different tasks. Whether it's shifting strategies when a plan isn’t working, adjusting to a change in routine, or transitioning between different conversations, cognitive flexibility allows us to remain adaptable and resilient. Without it, we would experience rigid thinking patterns, which make it difficult to handle new situations, learn from mistakes, or plan and organize information.

Why Are Executive Functions So Important in Childhood?

As you can probably tell, executive functioning is essential to almost everything we do. Executive functioning impacts success in school, resisting temptations, and acting responsibly in social situations. Like any other skill, the more we practice, the better we get at it. It’s important to help kids develop these skills early on so they can continue to thrive in all areas of functioning [5]. While executive functions start showing up in infancy, the brain areas responsible for them continue developing well into our early twenties. Supporting executive functioning throughout childhood and even into adulthood is key!

This spring and summer, there are plenty of enjoyable activities for families to strengthen executive functioning skills together. Below, you'll find some fun ideas along with explanations of how they help enhance these important cognitive skills. You can access Onyx Assessments’ supplementary PDF, which includes detailed instructions and examples for different age ranges.

Activity #1: Scavenger Hunt

(Requires 2 people minimum, 5-30 minutes)

Access our nature scavenger hunt or create your own to search for specific items by following clues or instructions to complete the challenge. Choose whether to play solo or team up for a more cooperative adventure.

Engaging in a scavenger hunt can help children develop executive skills by:

• Helping practice turn taking when sharing who reads the clues

• Navigating difficult feelings (i.e., frustration) when clues aren’t found right away

• Encouraging planning a strategy for their search

• Supporting adaptable thinking by considering different places to look for items

• Staying engaged in the hunt by ignoring distractions, tracking what they have found, and noticing what they still need

Activity #2: “Simon Says” With a Twist

(Requires 2 people minimum, 5-15 minutes)

In this twist on "Simon Says," players must follow commands only when "Simon" says, but they also need to perform unexpected challenges and goofy actions to be the last player standing!

Playing “Simon Says” can help children develop executive skills by:

• Practicing impulse control by delaying movement until they hear “Simon Says”

• Strengthening working memory by following multi-step commands and deciding to act based on whether they heard “Simon Says”

• Exercising cognitive flexibility by constantly switching actions and handling the unpredictability of commands

Activity #3: Story Chain

(Requires 2 people minimum, 5-15 minutes)

Children (and their parents/guardians) take turns adding sentences to create a collaborative and evolving story, building on each other's ideas.

Creating stories together can help children develop executive skills by:

• Encouraging turn taking and actively listening to others

• Reinforcing working memory skills by remembering multiple details and maintaining the on-going meaning of the story

• Practicing cognitive flexibility as they shift between different ideas, characters, or settings

References

1. Clevland Clinic. (2022). Executive Dysfunction. Cleveland Clinic. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/symptoms/23224-executive-dysfunction

2. Barkley, R. A. (2012). Executive functions: What they are, how they work, and why they evolved. The Guilford Press.

3. Diamond, A. (2013). Executive functions. Annual Review of Psychology, 64, 135–168. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-113011-143750

4. Dunham, S., Lee, E., & Persky, A. M. (2020). The psychology of following instructions and its implications. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, 84(8), ajpe7779. https://doi.org/10.5688/ajpe7779

5. Diamond, A. (2016). Why improving and assessing executive functions early in life is critical. In J. A. Griffin, P. McCardle, & L. S. Freund (Eds.),Executive function in preschool-age children: Integrating measurement, neurodevelopment, and translational research(pp. 11–43). American Psychological Association.https://doi.org/10.1037/14797-002