Executive Functions in Children: The Invisible Skills That Organise Everything

Executive functions are a set of cognitive skills that allow a child to direct their own behaviour towards a goal. They include planning, mental flexibility, impulse inhibition, and working memory.

They develop primarily between the ages of 3 and 12 — with a maturation peak at the start of adolescence — and are a powerful predictor of academic success, social relationships, and long-term wellbeing.

The three pillars of executive functions

Inhibition

This is the ability to stop an automatic behaviour in order to adopt a more appropriate one. Waiting for one's turn, not answering before the question is finished, resisting the urge to play when work needs to be done — all situations that call on inhibition. An inhibition deficit produces impulsivity that can be mistaken for poor motivation.

Working memory

This is the ability to maintain and manipulate information in memory for a short period of time. It is constantly called upon in class: remembering instructions, doing mental arithmetic, understanding a long sentence. Fragile working memory can explain academic difficulties unrelated to intelligence.

Cognitive flexibility

This is the ability to change strategy when the first one doesn't work, to switch from one task to another, to adapt to changing rules. A child who is not very flexible may appear rigid or stubborn when they are simply struggling to make these cognitive transitions.

When executive functions are immature

A child who loses their belongings, forgets homework, changes subject mid-sentence, and gets swept away by emotions without being able to stop — all these behaviours may signal executive functions that are delayed in development, or ADHD which specifically affects these systems.

How to support them

Executive functions develop in a predictable environment, with stable routines, short and explicit instructions, and activities that require planning without overloading. Board games, team sports, martial arts, and even some well-chosen video games can effectively exercise them.

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