Play Helps Children Gain Self-Control
Kids everywhere have played Simon Says for generations without the slightest inkling that such games may be preparing them for success in the classroom and the work world. … Improving working memory also could aid self-control, said Philip David Zelazo, a professor at the University of Minnesota’s Institute of Child Development. So reports the Chicago Tribune (Here) which looks at research by Adele Diamond (she is one of the world’s leading researchers on the development of the cognitive functions: self-regulation, cognitive control).
I love the tests researchers used with preschoolers to test if play HELPED their self-control responses. In one test, children were given a piece of paper with a heart or flower on one side, and they were told to press on the side that does not have an image. Because a natural tendency is to point at the image, having children go against that instinct is considered a good test of their ability to inhibit their first impulse.
The children who received the special play curriculum performed significantly better on such tests than children on an ordinary preschool curriculum, the researchers found.
Parents can help children develop many such executive function skills at home, Diamond said. She suggested reading to children without showing them the pictures, a technique that can make kids use working memory to follow along with the story rather than use the pictures as a crutch.
Games such as Simon Says and Red Light, Green Light also can go a long way toward helping children learn to be guided by their choices rather than their instincts, she said.
“Those are great games that kids used to play a lot more than they do now,” Diamond said. “And they played them for a very good reason.”
