Summer Skill Building

Summer, with its extended days and more relaxed schedule, can be an ideal time to guide the development of our children’s Executive Functioning (EF) skills—those critical abilities that enable us to plan, organize, stay focused, and manage responsibilities and emotions. Strengthening these skills now can increase independence and set our kids up for success in the upcoming school year and beyond.

Here are some practical strategies to intentionally build EF during the summer months:

1. Create a flexible routine
Establishing a routine provides structure without rigidity. Work with your child to plan their days, setting regular times for wake-up, meals, activities, and sleep. Collaborative activities like sports and camps can enhance attention, inhibition and flexibility.

2. Teach planning and organization
Use summer activities as opportunities to practice planning. For example, if you’re traveling, help your child create their packing list based on the length of trip, weather forecast, and activities that you’ll be participating in.

3. Incorporate chores to foster responsibility
Chores are excellent for developing task initiation and prioritizing. Assign age-appropriate tasks, and using checklists or charts to help your child track completed chores will encourage self-monitoring and a sense of accomplishment.

4. Practice time management
To build time sense, encourage your child to estimate how long tasks will take and then review actual times afterward. Use timers or clocks to help them stay aware of time, whether they’re doing chores, reading, playing, or completing other tasks.

5. Manage a budget
We can begin exposing our children to financial concepts starting at a young age, and the older they get the more control they can have over their spending, saving, and giving. In the process, they enhance their skills of analyzing, prioritizing, and balancing.

6. Promote goal setting
Help your child set achievable goals—like practicing a new hobby, reading a certain number of books, or volunteering with a local organization. Use visual goal trackers and celebrate milestones to boost self-monitoring skills and increase motivation.

7. Develop emotional regulation skills
Model and teach techniques for perception and attention, such as sensory exercises and mindfulness. Regularly discussing strategies for managing emotions can enhance your child's self-control and flexibility.

8. Use summer as a learning laboratory
Celebrate learning during everyday activities. For example, cooking together can highlight organizing and anticipating; planning a family outing can improve flexibility and decision-making.

EF skills develop over time and with consistent practice. Summer offers more relaxed opportunities to build these foundational skills in meaningful ways.

Here’s to celebrating growth during everyday moments together this summer.