Incorporating BBT Games Into Family Routines
By Sara Harper, BEd
The Building Brain games have been developed and tested to help children build on their executive functioning skills. These skills are essential because they enable individuals to take in information, organize their thoughts, make a plan and change that plan if needed. Having strong executive functions is a predictor of later success and is often compared to an air traffic control system. An air traffic control system allows a busy airport to manage the arrivals and departures of hundreds of planes throughout a single day. Similarly, executive functions allow children to manage all of the incoming and outgoing stimulus. These skills can be enhanced in a fun evening with your children by playing the Building Brains games! However, they can also be integrated into your every day activities. I have outlined a few of the ways that these games can be used to strengthen executive functioning skills on a daily basis. However, the possibilities are endless! We would love to see how you have integrated our games into your lives!
Lips and Ears
o Pass around a lip visual during dinner as each family shares something about their day
o While reading a book, give your child a lip or ear visual and keep the other visual for yourself. Whoever is holding the lip visual tells the story. Switch up who is narrating the book part way through.
Right is Right
o While building blocks with your child, make a structure with the blocks and then ask them to replicate the structure.
o To add a level of complexity for older children ask the child to close their eyes or cover their eyes with a blind fold. Then verbally explain the structure that you have made.
Red light green light
o When going on a walk or bike ride start the adventure by saying “green light”. Then when it’s time to slow down say “yellow light” and finally, when it’s time to stop say “Red light”. You could also add in other coloured lights to make a walk more interesting. For example you could say that blue light means hop.
Simon says
o When getting ready to leave for the day use Simon Says to get your children ready to go. “Simon says put your coat on, Simon says zip up your coat, etc.”
Which of These Belong
o During clean up time, grab a few toys and then decide what you would like to clean up first. If you have decided to clean up the toy food, show your child the toy food bin and then ask them to decide what items belong and which don’t. Continue this until the area is all cleaned up.
References:
Blair, C. (2017). Educating executive function. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Cognitive Science, 8(1-2), e1403.
Coelho, L. A., Amatto, A. N., Gonzalez, C. L., & Gibb, R. L. (2020). Building executive function in pre-school children through play: a curriculum. International Journal of Play, 9(1), 128-142.
Gibb, R., Coelho, L., Van Rootselaar, N. A., Halliwell, C., MacKinnon, M., Plomp, I., & Gonzalez, C. L. (2021). Promoting Executive Function Skills in Preschoolers Using a Play-Based Program. Frontiers in Psychology, 5843.
Grafman, J., & Litvan, I. (1999). Importance of deficits in executive functions. The Lancet, 354(9194), 1921-1923.