The 9 Skills That Run Everything Else
Focus. Emotional regulation. Follow-through. The ability to pause before reacting, adapt when plans change, and keep going when things get hard.
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These are executive functioning skills. They are the mental operating system behind every decision, relationship, and challenge your child or your team will ever face.
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Most people were never taught them deliberately. That is exactly what we are here to change.
Here are the 9 skills we build at Village of Play, and what each one actually does in real life.
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The 9 brain skills include:
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Self-Awareness and Self-Monitoring: Helps us to notice and reflect on our feelings, words and actions and the impact they have on ourselves and others.
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Emotional Regulation: Your ability to manage strong emotions when they feel overwhelming, frustrated or upset.​
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Impulse Control: The ability to pause and think before you act.​​​
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Working Memory: Helping us retain and use information to solve problems and make decisions.
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Cognitive Flexibility: Encouraging adaptability and the ability to switch between tasks or adjust to new situations, different truths and perspectives.​
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Task Initiation: Building confidence to start tasks independently and overcome procrastination.​​
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Planning and Prioritizing: Our guide to set clear goals, create actionable steps, and achieve success
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Organization: Teaching us how to keep track of our belongings, ideas, and responsibilities.
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Goal-Directed Persistence: Helps with pushing through adversity when things get hard in order to achieve our goals.
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These Executive Functions are the building blocks of childhood development, laying a rock-solid foundation for success in school, relationships, and everyday life that not every child, teen or adult has developed naturally. As we navigate the transitional waves of life, we sometimes need a bit of coaching to help fine-tune our EF skills, and that's where we're here to help.
By nurturing these skills, and practicing them as a life long skill, we develop the capacity and tools needed to:
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Solve problems creatively.
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Adapt to change with confidence.
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Thrive socially and emotionally with motivation and resilience in navigating the hurdles of life.
At Village of Play, we are committed to creating a future where every child, parent and adult has the opportunity to build, strengthen and nurture these critical skills in an environment that celebrates play, curiosity, and connection.
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Want to learn more about Executive Functioning and its impact, especially for those with ADHD? Check out this insightful video from Jessica McCabe’s channel, How To ADHD, or explore our handy EF skill-building pyramid steps to Emotional Intelligence mastery!
Ready to start building these skills?