Want your toddler to become a college graduate? Play games! Research shows that games, not flashcards, are better predictors of student success. An Oregon State study found that a 4-year-old child’s ability to pay attention, skills learned in game play, are the greatest indicators of completing college by age 25. Games like ‘Red Light, Green Light’ develop children’s focus, self-control, memory and mental flexibility (to do the opposite.)
These are all skills of the executive function, a set of mental processes that connect past experience with present action. Our executive function is developed through practice, and a strong one supports both decision making and problem solving needed for academic success.
So what are you waiting for? Let’s go play! Try these five games to improve your children’s executive function:
- Hop’n Freeze is simple and fun. In a designated space, give kids two different signals (such as a word or a whistle). On the first signal, the children begin hopping around. On the second signal, they all must freeze and balance in place. And repeat! Once kids get this concept, add new signals or actions, such as skipping.
- Hungry Fox is a tag game played in a rectangular space. Have the children stand on a line together facing you in the middle. They all say Hungry Fox, Hungry Fox, what time is it? Whatever time you say, kids take that number of steps towards you. If you say it's lunch time, the kids run back to the line without getting tagged (gently like a butterfly). Kids who are tagged freeze until everyone is safe and you invite them to become taggers (remind the kids to use soft touches on the shoulder, arms or back).
- Simon Says is a fun and widely known listening game. Explain to the kids that you will give directions, but they should only follow along if you first say Simon says. If they follow the direction when you don’t say Simons says, they must do one jumping jack, touch the ground or another predetermined action.
- Up, Down, Stop, Go is a game of opposites. Tell the kids up, and they must kneel down. With the command of down, they reach up high on their toes. Say stop and all players run in place. Command them to go, and the children freeze with their arms straight out to their sides. Have fun mixing up commands, fast or slow.
- Sequence Touch introduces children to basic instructions to follow and sequencing. Give kids a magic word, such as banana, that you will say when it is time to begin. Then tell them two or more objects in your play space to run and touch in that order and the instruction to return to where they are standing when they are complete. Have the children repeat the magic word, the objects in order, and where they will return. Say the magic word to begin! Add more objects to increase the difficulty.
Bonus! Here are seven more fun games to try: Zoo, Clap and Move, Run if, Turtle Game, Grocery Store, Color Tag, or Dance Freeze.
What games do you like to play with kids?
We encourage all adults to try initiating games throughout the day; We also offer a bit of help. Playworks Training provides professional development programs for educators and parent volunteers who want to sharpen their group management and game facilitation skills and maximize the benefits of play for their kids.
