By Emma Ryan The Learning Garden
Let’s be honest.
You know your students need to work on executive functioning. You know the skills matter– planning, organizing, cognitive flexibility, impulse control, emotional regluation…these skills are essential for life both in and out of the classroom. You know what it looks like when these skills are weak, and you know how much of an impact it can have on learning. You know that you need to teach it.
But here’s the thing: that kid who can’t sit still, who struggles to remember to bring a pencil to class, who just can’t get started? That kid is NOT the type of student who will willingly sit down and complete a workbook on executive functioning skills. For a kid like that, quality learning happens only when the topic is worth learning AND when the activity designed to teach it is fun. (For more on responsive, choose-your-battle-type teaching, check out this article.)
The ideas for activities below (sorted by executive functioning area) are NOT worksheets. They are fun, engaging, and low prep activities designed for students who struggle with Executive Functioning skills, to maximize motivation and engagement.
Why Engagement Matters More Than You Think for Executive Functioning Practice
One of the most important things to remember is that executive functioning skills are incredibly difficult to practice in isolation. Students can’t learn them the way they might learn vocabulary words or math facts. Providing a student with a definition of cognitive flexibility won’t help them suddenly keep their cool when recess is cancelled, and describing task initiation won’t ensure that your students will get started with their classwork right away.
These skills develop through doing–through authentic, engaging experiences that draw on student interests and motivation. When a student is invested in the outcome of an activity, they naturally draw on planning, organization, and self-monitoring in ways that no worksheet can replicate. Students need to see a real-world connection to the skills they are learning (while it might be helpful for them to feel good about remembering to bring their pencil to class, they’ll be far more motivated to know that planning and preparation is required for their dream job.)
This is why real-world scenario-based activities are so powerful for Executive Functioning instruction. When a student is managing a pretend garden, planning a road trip, or organizing a holiday party for their friends, they’re not practicing executive functioning abstractly. They’re seeing that executive functioning skills are necessary for real life outside of school–and that’s when the skills actually stick.
Task Initiation: Getting Started Without the Battle
Task initiation — the ability to simply begin a task without excessive prompting — is one of the most struggles for students, especially those with ADHD, autism, or learning disabilities.
Teachers often complain that their students will waste valuable learning time procrastinating. They’re asking to go to the bathroom or get a drink. Then their pencil needs to be sharpened…the biggest part of this problem is that students are not excited about the work they have to do. So teaching this skill with their least favorite subject is not the place to start. Instead, begin with a game.
Try this: Scavenger Hunt
Helpful hint: You may want to promise your students some kind of prize at the end of this activity! Get students excited about completing a scavenger hunt. Present them with a BINGO card where each square is a different task of varying levels of difficulty. Have students read through the cards and then discuss: which task seems the most difficult?, which seems to be the easiest?, which do you think would take the most time?, which do you think would take the least amount of time?. Ask each student to identify their strategy of choice.
After students have completed the challenge and the prize has been awarded, ask students to reflect upon their decisions. Which strategy seemed to be the most effective?
Now is the time to introduce task initiation. Explain to students that there are several ways to make starting a task seem easier. Brainstorm with your students and post a list of the best strategies (bonus: see if you can create each strategy based on an agreed-upon theme! The more you can connect these ideas to the interests of the students, the better buy-in you’ll have!)
Planning and Organization: Making It Feel Like Problem-Solving
Planning activities fall flat when students don’t have a stake in the plan. Nobody gets excited about planning a fictional school day. But planning something they’d actually want to do? Completely different story.
Try this: Ask for help
You probably have some kind of problem in your life right now: figuring out how to fit in time to go to the gym in your busy schedule, planning the events for a birthday party, or choosing between different errands to do. Hand it over to your students! Presenting your students with a real-life problem (especially if you have a good rapport with your students and they genuinely care about you!) is the perfect way to teach planning and prioritizing.
Have students work through issues around time management, deciding between different events, and even thinking flexibly when things go wrong. This genuine experience will help students reflect upon the best ways to plan and prioritize. After the experience, discuss specific strategies with students that were helpful.
If time allows (I know, rare in the classroom!) invite other students to share their planning and prioritizing dilemmas with the class so that everyone is able to work through it together.
Cognitive flexibility: Staying Calm When Things Change
Cognitive Flexibility–the ability to adapt when plans change, rules shift, or situations don’t go as expected–is one of the hardest Executive Functioning skills to teach directly. You can’t just tell a student to take a deep breath and deal with it. They need time to reflect, plan, and practice this skill before they can use it in real-time.
Try this: Normalize “Plan B”
One of the best ways to teach students cognitive flexibility is to model it yourself. Choose a motto you can repeat every time something goes wrong (as teachers, we know we have lots of opportunities to practice cognitive flexibility.) Your computer isn’t working? “Let’s try Plan B!” Printer is broken? “That’s frustrating, but I can figure out something else!”. Involve your students in thinking of a Plan B, if appropriate.
When possible, prime students for possibilities when they may need to use cognitive flexibility. (“It might be rainy next week, so recess could be cancelled. This would be disappointing. How can we handle it?”)
Working Memory: Holding Information While Using It
Working memory refers to the ability to remember pieces of information while completing a task. Challenges with working memory very commonly affect individuals with ADHD and Autism. This does not mean that the student isn’t trying, however! Often, students don’t have the strategies to remember information. They may also be lacking the skills to advocate for tools that might help them.
Try this: Class memory challenges as brain breaks
Flash a visual for a few seconds, remove it, and ask students to recall specific details. This is a really easy way to provide students a short break from instruction (you can complete it in as little as 3-5 minutes!). Students will likely refer to it as a game, not realizing that their working memory is hard at work. Switch up the images to maintain motivation, and briefly discuss strategies students use for maximum benefit.
Time Management: Making the Abstract Concrete
Time blindness is real–especially for students with ADHD and autism. Telling a student to “manage their time better” without concrete tools is like telling someone to “be taller.” It doesn’t work because they genuinely experience time differently.
Try this: Time estimation challenges
Before starting an activity, ask students to estimate how long it will take. Set a timer, do the activity, and compare. Recognize the student who was the closest, and discuss the logic behind the guess. “What made you think it would take this long? What strategies did you use to make your guess?”
The Secret Weapon: Real-World Scenarios
So, the one thing that tends to keep students engaged in learning Executive Functioning skills? Real-world scenarios. They create genuine executive functioning practice in a way that worksheets never will.
When a student is playing games, engaging in competition, or helping their teacher solve a problem they’re not “doing an Executive Functioning activity.” They’re solving a problem that feels real and meaningful– and to do it well, they have to plan, organize, prioritize, adapt, and manage their time. The skills are inseparable from the task.
This is exactly the approach behind the Executive Functioning in Action resource line. Each activity in this series puts students in the middle of a real-world scenario — things like planning and managing a garden, planning a dream vacation, running a diner, or planning a trip to the waterpark. Each requires organizing, prioritizing, cognitive flexibility, and impulse control — all in a completely digital, no-prep format that’s ready to use the moment you open it.
There’s no printing, no laminating, no supplies to gather. Students engage directly with the scenario on their device, making real decisions and practicing real skills in a format that feels more like an engaging challenge than a worksheet.
If you’re looking for a starting point, the Working Memory Lemonade Stand is a great one — particularly well-timed for summer or early Back to School!
A Note on Buy-In
The activities in this post work not because they’re tricky or clever, but because they respect students enough to give them something worth engaging with. Students who have failed at worksheets, who have learned to associate “executive functioning practice” with frustration, are far more likely to engage with the material when provided with a chance to utilize their creativity and think in new ways.
That’s not magic. That’s just good instructional design — meeting students where their motivation already lives, and building skills from there.
Looking for ready-to-use executive functioning activities that require zero prep and work fully online? Browse the Executive Functioning in Action series in my TPT store →
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