Social-Emotional Learning Begins with Play
When I first heard the words executive function, I wasn’t quite sure how they would tie into my role as a parent of young children. After all, the words sound fancy, complicated even, but the truth is executive function is a simple, fun, and important skill to add to daily routines in order to build numerous behavioral and emotional benefits in growing children.
To clarify, executive function is all about self-regulation and the skills that kids need in order to grow into healthy adults. These skills include:
⦁ inhibitory control
⦁ confidence building
⦁ cognitive flexibility
⦁ working memory
Encouraging healthy self-regulation in children can influence how they learn, how they interact socially, handle frustrations, and how they handle their emotions. It seems as though parents we are always concerned about our children’s social and emotional health, which is why learning more about executive function is so important!
So now you are probably wondering, what are some of the benefits of executive function? When children are just starting out on their academic journeys, they are expected to listen, follow directions, practice self-control, and interact socially on appropriate levels. Many times, these skills do not come naturally and need to be taught. That is where executive function comes into the picture.
And even though the term executive function sounds fancy, you should know that implementing it in your own home is actually quite simple and fun. Here are a few ways to put executive function into action right under your own roof!
Activities that Promote Executive Function:
– Sing silly, kid friendly songs.
Have you ever noticed how hard it is to remember facts about history, but how easy it is to remember every single word to a song you aren’t even that crazy about? Singing is a great way to improve memorization! When you sing together, you help children build their memorization skills that will come in handy later on.
– Invite kids to help with dinner preparations.
Dinner time is a wonderful time to put executive function to use, as chances are you enjoy dinner time as a family several times a week. When cooking dinner, let the kids help you read the recipe, measure ingredients, and set the cooking timer. They can even help you plan a menu, create shopping lists, and gather ingredients.
– Invite kids to help with simple household chores.
When cleaning, let the kids help you gather cleaning materials, sort items to be put away, match socks, and do other hands on cleaning and organizing tasks that will allow them to be active, problem solve, and develop responsibility.
– Have a family game night.
Playing board games on a regular basis help kids learn how to take turns, problem solve, share, and develop those important rule following skills. Board games allow children to practice these skills in a way that is fun and rewarding. If the weather is nice, you can always enjoy outdoor games and team building activities instead!
– Try some fun STEAM related activities.
STEAM related activities include science, literacy, and math related activities and experiments that allow children to explore these concepts in a hands on way. Making slime, trying simple water pouring experiments, building small structures out of everyday objects like toothpicks or straws are all fun STEAM related activities. Since these activities often require patience, turn taking, and offer delayed gratification, they line up nicely with the principles of executive function.
– Get outside!
Sitting still for long periods of time can be tiresome for small children. It is important to present plenty of time for outdoor play so kids can exercise their brains AND their bodies. Having time for outdoor free play can help children burn off extra energy so they can concentrate and sit still later when required. Nature walks, outdoor games, bubble blowing, chalk drawing, and even structured climbing are a great way to burn off energy.
– Find creative ways to conquer stress.
Stress and the inability to communicate their stressors can lead to a variety of issues in children. Try practicing yoga to help relax the mind and body. You can also practice daily journaling or meditative walks to help children unwind and express themselves in a productive way.
As you can see, executive function doesn’t have to be a scary concept, in fact it can be quite fun and enjoyable to practice as a family. By giving some of the above mentioned activities a try, you are building the foundations kids need to be better listeners, turn takers, problem solvers, and even better friends to others.
Want to know more? Executive function in action is quite evident at The Goddard School®, where they use the most current, academically endorsed methods to ensure that children have fun while learning the skills they need for long-term success in school and in life.
The Goddard School® is dedicated to:
– nurturing children into respectful, confident and joyful learners.
– preparing children for lifelong academic and social success.
– utilizing the most current and academically endorsed teaching methods and ensure children have fun while learning.
– nurturing children into respectful, confident and joyful learners.
To learn more about The Goddard School®, visit GoddardSchool.com.
Try these simple ways to incorporate executive function in your day to day life and see just how socio-emotional learning begins with play! See what a difference it can make to your child(ren).
Victoria says
These are great tips. I did a lot of these things when my boys were younger. Actually, we still do family game nights and outside activities now.
Christy Hoover says
I love all of this! My youngest told me the other day he was bored and I was thinking this is a good time to unplug and do some executive functions. Thank you for sharing.
Kiwi says
Children playing in a natural environment will definitely help with their growth and even self esteem. Children a lot are left with smart devices which sometimes is not the best, natural play is always the best stimulator.
Ricci says
These sound like great ideas for people with kids! I will have to pass this post off to my mommy friends!
Terri Steffes says
I am in agreement with you about play. As a school principal, it destressed me when recess started getting removed fro our day. The kids needed the play so badly.
Swathi says
I will try to do these with kids, but whenever they are taking part in cooking or baking it is really mess. That requires lot of cleaning afterwards as they make mess. Yes I agree with you with play they learn more than conventional setting.
Tonya says
I’m glad to read that I did some things right with my kids when they were little. Family game nights have always been an important part of family time. We also spent a lot of time outside. So many great ideas here.
Amy H says
These are all great ideas! I love teaching through cooking and baking! That goes for both my 13 and my 5yr old!
Ice Cream n Sticky Fingers says
Playtime is one of the best ways to teach your kids about life. They learn so much just by playing and having someone spend time with them. I’m guilty and need to do this more often with my Lil man.
Kita Bryant says
Plenty of play time is great for little ones. They learn so much just from being around others.
Heather says
Great advice for parents of little ones. Playing is how they learn so you’ve gotta make it count!
Sarah Bailey says
These are some great ideas, it is amazing the difference being around others can make to play and development when you are younger.
Barbies Beauty Bits says
I’m sharing these with a friend of mine! She has a 4 year old and he is not around other children a lot which I think has imapcted his social skills. She needs to help and I think this will help.
Jeanette says
I have always try to do something to keep my kids engaged. You have a lot of great tips here and I think that more people should do this with their kids! What a great post!
Amber Myers says
I love these ideas! My daughter especially loves being outside and exploring. They help with chores as well.
Melissa Chapman says
These ideas are so great for parents of young children. It is so important to foster play early on and help gets socialize which is sometimes not so easy.
rika says
These are great tips! I think having play time is very important. My kids love outdoor activities and stem.
Amy H says
As I’m getting older I’m learning more tips on how to help our kiddos grow! These are all great tips!
Marysa says
These are all great experiences for kids to have. I remember when my kids were little, we tried to get them to be as creative and imaginative as possible. Love your ideas!
Rena says
These are all such great tips. Our twin grandkids just turned 5 and I love nothing more than getting down and playing with them. They learn so much these first years.
Lynndee says
I think those are great ideas. A family game night is always fun. And going outside to enjoy nature sure helps with stress a lot.
Beth says
My kids loved doing all of these things when they were little! I think each of these things helps with their cognitive development as well as helps builds a relationship between the child and caregiver.
Karen Morse says
Wonderful tips for learning especially for first time parents. It’s good to expose kids to chores and different activities. It also gives them that sense of responsibility that they need growing up.
Ruth I says
This says a lot how uneasy can it be raising kids. It requires a lot of patience and good values. This post says everything about it.
Denay DeGuzman says
Playing, singing, and interacting with other children is so important for a child’s development! When the kids were small they loved helping me make simple recipes in the kitchen and decorate holiday cookies.
Jamie H says
These are all things we do with our kids! My kids do love to help with chores and cooking. And they love playing outside– their imaginations go wild!
Terri Steffes says
This is so true! We are seeing the effects of children who have less time to play. They grow into aggressive children who cannot problem solve for themselves.
Lisa Favre says
Yes! I totally agree with all of these ideas – especially the silly kid-friendly songs. My kiddo loves these songs and it gets him pumped for playtime.
Tasheena says
Though my children are older. I could implement these tips when I have my nieces and nephews over.
cait says
these are great tips and def something that i need to work on this with my kids to help them cope with social emotional learning
robin rue says
These are all great things to do with the kiddos. I always liked getting them involved in the kitchen!
Jenn @ EngineerMommy says
These are really great tips and reminders on the best kinds of activities to do with little children. I always loved singing kids songs with my kids during car rides, and always felt like they loved how it helped pass the time and was a great bonding time.