New research suggests that old-fashioned games such as Simon Says can help children exert self-control and restrain their impulses, giving them a mental workout that exercises what psychologists call “executive control.” A recent review of the study found that preschoolers who spent most of their hours in school playing games designed to improve self-control “scored better than other kids on a range of tests that measure executive function.”

While IQ tests measure only a limited range of mental abilities, measures of executive control, according to other studies, can predict future school success at least as well as IQ tests do. Adele Diamond, a co-author of the study that appeared last November in the journal Science, says that improving executive function could help kids prepare for the real world.

"You need these kinds of skills in all facets of your life," said Diamond, a professor of psychiatry at the University of British Columbia.

Scientists believe that the pre-frontal cortex, the area of the brain that underlies our ability to make conscious, deliberate choices, is where executive control originates, and it is one of the last brain areas to mature in children. That lack of maturity manifests itself in the impulsive behavior of young children, while executive control includes the power to think twice and to avoid such impulsive behaviors as grabbing a toy from someone.

Working memory is another aspect of executive function – working memory is the small store of memory kept in mind during activities like spelling a word or solving a math problem. According to Philip David Zelazo, a professor at the University of Minnesota's Institute of Child Development, improving that working memory could also aid in self-control. "Working memory is important for executive function because you have to keep something in mind while ignoring various distractions in the environment," Zelazo said.

Diamond's team teaches low-income children, using a curriculum called “Tools of the Mind,” better executive control, and her work suggests that schools can teach young children better executive control. Part of the curriculum is having children do planned imaginative play, acting out specific roles for an extended period of time. The underlying theory is that such play forces the children to inhibit actions inconsistent with their roles and to take turns instead of having someone else tell them what to do.

To test whether this approach improved self-control, researchers administered several formal executive function tests. For instance, children were given a piece of paper with a heart or flower on one side, and told to press on the side that does not have the image. Children had to go against their natural instinct to point at the image, thus testing their ability to avert that impulse. Researchers found that the children who had received special play curriculum performed “significantly better” on such tests than children in an ordinary preschool curriculum.

Diamond says that parents can help children develop these skills at home. Her suggestions include reading to children without showing them pictures, which can make them use their working memory to follow along with the story. Simon Says and Red Light, Green Light can also help children learn to be guided by choices instead of instinct, says Diamond. "Those are great games that kids used to play a lot more than they do now," Diamond said. "And they played them for a very good reason.”