I live near a small, local toy store where I often stop in to see what interesting tabletop games they have to offer. By “tabletop” I mean physical games that may or may not involve a board and/or cards. Some of the simplest games are also the best. They involve strategy and communication along with many of the executive functioning (EF) and social-emotional (SEL) skills that are challenging for our kids. Games can also help us to see EF skills, as Dr. Nancy Sulla contextualizes them, as the foundation of SEL and academic mastery (see the list at the end of this post).
There’s a game called Quarto that I recently discovered. It is a two-person competitive game that involves placing wooden pieces on a round wooden board. The goal is to place four pieces in a row that share a common “feature.” The features are color (dark/light), shape (round/square), filling (filled/hollow), and height (short/tall). I bought Quarto for my family and we gave it a try. We discovered that there are quite a few nuances to the game and players needed to access various EF and SEL skills to be able to keep up and not “lose” the game instantly.
When I introduced the game to Lang students during our warm-up time in the middle school math classes, they were intrigued and jumped right in. It was clear from the start that students were entering the game – in terms of interest, ability, curiosity, and understanding – at varying levels. After interviewing some students about their experiences playing the game once, here are some quotes in their own words:
It’s good because you can use both colors (dark and light wood) as opposed to Connect Four that requires you get four in a row of only your color.
You give the other player the piece and they choose the spot - this makes it harder because you have to think ahead.
More brain power than Connect Four because there’s more than just “four in a row.”
It’s ‘boring’ because it takes ten minutes for other people to choose the piece for you.
You need to get four in a row that all have the same feature.
It’s frustrating when my opponent changes their mind about what piece they chose for me and then they put it back and choose a new piece.
Below are some of my own observations of what the students were experiencing while playing the game in the classroom. As you consider these observations, think about what this might look like at home if you and your student played the game. Would they be able to teach you how to play? Maybe they could help you get through the frustration of learning something new. Think about how you as an adult could model getting through any frustration, even if you feel they are explaining it unclearly. If you are both getting frustrated, how could you co-regulate to acknowledge the difficulty of the situation but still move forward?
Turn-taking. This is not traditional turn-taking because the person who goes first chooses the piece that the next person will play. When the player is invested in the game and strategizing their moves, it is important for them to pay attention to their current move and to the possible moves their opponent might make. They begin to anticipate their next moves and it causes them to remind their opponent to hand them the piece. Think about our students with ADHD. Does it ever seem like they are able to pay attention sometimes and not others? Students can pay attention when it is a preferred task and/or has an authentic purpose. Or they might want grace and understanding when they don’t pay attention but they have less tolerance for others who aren’t paying attention.
Anticipating outcomes. Before handing your opponent the next piece, you need to consider all the ways they might “win” on that turn or a future turn. The decision-making skill of choosing the piece for your opponent’s next turn requires numerous EF skills as outlined below.
Think about various aspects of life that require planning and decision making. In order to complete many everyday tasks we need many of the following skills:
making hypotheses, deductions, and inferences
applying former approaches to new situations
considering future consequences in light of current action
thinking about multiple concepts simultaneously
thinking before acting
analyzing
generating possible solutions
predicting outcomes
evaluating
holding on to information while considering other information.
Games serve as a useful opening activity in the math classroom as they provide a low stakes way for students to not only engage in problem solving activities, but to prime students for the SEL and EF skills that drive academic mastery. The above skills are also used in social situations, test-taking, note-taking, problem solving, etc. Students at Lang are able to build up these skills in authentic and novel ways rather than when they are presented as requirements or compliance tasks. I encourage you to think about ways that you can more intentionally use games at home to build these skills while having a good time together as a family.
Building on Dr. Sulla’s framework, here are some of the ways executive functioning skills map onto the social emotional skills that we are building through the content areas, advisory program, learning skills, therapy/support and informal interactions at Lang.
Key SEL Skill: Self-Awareness -
Know your strengths and limitations, with a well-grounded sense of confidence, optimism, and a “growth mindset.”
Foundational EF Skills: Self-assessing ● Focusing
● Concentrating ● Categorizing information ● Managing conflicting thoughts ● Reflecting on goals
Key SEL Skill: Self-Management - Effectively manage stress, control impulses, and motivate yourself to set and achieve goals
Foundational EF Skills: Overcoming temptation ● Setting goals ● Initiating a task ● Managing time ● Persisting in a task ● Working toward a goal ● Following multiple steps ● Monitoring performance ● Organizing actions and thoughts
Key SEL Skill: Relationship Skills - Communicate clearly, listen well, cooperate with others, resist inappropriate social pressure, negotiate conflict constructively, and seek and offer help when needed.
Foundational EF Skills: Attending to a person or activity ● Maintaining social appropriateness ● Identifying cause-and-effect relationships
Key SEL Skill: Responsible Decision Making - Make constructive choices about personal behavior and social interactions based on ethical standards, safety, and social norms.
Foundational EF Skills: Making hypotheses, deductions, and inferences ● Applying former approaches to new situations ● Considering future consequences in light of current action ● Thinking about multiple concepts simultaneously ● Thinking before acting ● Defining a problem ● Analyzing ● Creating mental images ● Generating possible solutions ● Anticipating ● Predicting outcomes ● Evaluating ● Holding on to information while considering other information
Key SEL Skill: Social Awareness - Understand the perspectives of others and empathize with them, including those from diverse backgrounds and cultures.
Foundational EF Skills: Changing perspective ● Seeing multiple sides to a situation ● Being open to others’ points of view ● Identifying same and different
Reference: IDE Corp and EdQuiddity Inc.
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