Sam, a child who has recently started pre-school, sometimes takes toys he is interested in from other children. Sam apologises quickly when the other children react. This is something his parents have taught him to do. They explain that he has not had many opportunities to play with other children before coming to pre-school.
Many young children typically have one or two ‘go to’ approaches to solving problems. Some children may default to pushing, snatching, crying or shouting. Until they are taught something different, their brains will ‘default’ to these strategies. This is a normal part of children’s development.
Leah, Sam’s key worker, knows a variety of tools that she could use to help Sam – scaffolded conflict resolution, for example, or implementing sand timers or waiting lists for popular resources. But how can she support the underlying skills needed for Sam to begin to use these strategies independently?
What’s in their toolbox?
Executive functioning skills help children to regulate their behaviour to achieve a goal. There are three main skills that underly executive functionCognitive skills that enable children to adapt their thinking and actions to achieve a goal. This might be a self-chosen goal (e.g. To build a tower) or set by an adult (e.g. to respond to a question about a story). and these begin to develop during the early years:
- Working memory (holding information, such as rules or goals, in mind);
- Cognitive flexibility (sustaining or shifting attention in response to different cues); and
- Impulse control (resisting initial reactions and responses).
Research suggests that, while we are born with the capacity to develop these skills, it is not an automatic process: executive functioning skills require practice.
Adults have had many years to practice these skills, through life experience. We know that resisting impulses can be more challenging if we are feeling tired, stressed or unwell – the same is true for the children in our settings.
In addition, the natural opportunities available to children to practice these skills have been reduced as a consequence of the pandemic. For example, fewer opportunities to play with other children means less practice taking turns, waiting and cooperation with peers.
Laying the foundations.
Let’s think about how Leah could support Sam’s executive functioning skills in practice.
In the sand pit, Sam is building a large sandcastle and wants a bigger spade. The biggest spade is currently in use by the child next to him, Rowan. Sam tells Leah he wants that one and begins to reach for it.
Leah helps Sam to inhibit his impulse to take the spade by:
1. shifting his attention from the spade by holding her hand out and using his name,
2. reminding him of their strategies for taking turns,
3. giving Sam two solutions to choose from that align with his goal.
Sam decides a large bucket is a good substitute tool to use to build the castle and selects one from the shelf.
The reality of working with young children means that this process may not always feel this straightforward.
However, with each attempt, we help to create and reinforce new pathways and connections in children’s brains. With practice and experience, some of these could become their new default.
Building the scaffolding
In addition to explicit teaching and careful scaffolding, research by the Centre for the Developing Child suggests that play can be a useful tool for helping children to practice and develop executive functioning skills.
Their researchers have collated information about a range of games, activities and experiences (suitable for children at different stages of development), that can make a positive contribution to developing executive functioning skills.
After reviewing their suggestions, consider the following:
- Are there any activities which may be more useful to focus on to target specific skills?
- Do children have opportunities to engage in a variety of these activities, to revisit or repeat them over time?
- What role do adults take? How might this help children to shift their attention, hold relevant information in mind and apply it to solve a problem?