We all know that without self-control, many other executive functioning skills are more challenging and social skills can suffer.  However, creating moments to hone in on how to think steps ahead and follow directions can be something more hands on and engaging than you might think!  There are so many ways to foster independence and autonomy in children’s lives that help the skills become more applicable and moldable.  This can start with simple and easy games and activities to do at home!  

Here are just three of some fun and effective ways to exercise these self-control skills at home:

1. Bubble Pop: all you need for this game is a bottle of bubbles and some space!

How it works: This game will have multiple rounds that increase the difficulty.  Round 1: Start a timer for your desired amount of time, the child has free reign to run around and pop all the bubbles you blow in the set time, stop when the timer goes off.  Round 2: Mark off a space where the child has to stay within (a hula hoop or mat/towel), start the timer, the child can only pop bubbles within that specific space, stop when the timer stops.  Round 3: Now the child is not allowed to move!  Start the timer, the child pops as many bubbles just from standing until the timer runs out. **You can add in more levels before reaching the final level. Final Round: The child is not allowed to pop any bubbles on purpose!  He/she needs to stand perfectly still until the timer runs out.

1. Red Light, Green Light:  you don’t need any materials for this game!

How it works:  This is a classic stop and go game to practice using self-control by listening to directions and commands.  You will stand on one end of the room, or far away outside.  When you say “Green Light!” the child can run towards you.  When you say, “Red Light!” the child must stop right away.  Continue this pattern until the child reaches you and then you can switch places.

Alternate Play: A fun way to spice it up is to create other commands rather than just Red Light and Green Light.  For example: Backwards, Sideways, Jump like a frog, Crawl like a turtle, etc.. Get creative and have fun with it!

1. Mazes: find some mazes online to print!

How it works: We are all familiar with what a maze is, and that is just the activity to practice self-control!  Start with easily solvable puzzles to practice the concept of a maze.  Then, as the difficulty increases, talk it through with the child to model how to practice looking ahead before making a move or decision.  You can even add in a stop watch and have a goal time that the child can do the maze in- making in a longer time than they think, like the opposite of a race!  The slowest and the one who gets in the first try from taking their time, wins!

These are all games or activities that you may have even played before.  Turning a fun game into a purposeful lesson can be the slight difference between it just being fun to also practicing a skill or creating a teachable moment.  Intentionality in activity planning can go a long way!