How does play foster development? A new executive function perspective

Abstract

Around the world, children play. Does play support development? If so, how? One popular idea is that play fosters the development of higher-order cognitive abilities, such as executive functions. A contrasting view is that play fosters the development of cultural knowledge and skills rather than general capacities. We describe a third proposal: that play helps children acquire culture-specific executive function skills. We articulate three ideas of how this might work, synthesizing diverse literatures. We also discuss other activities children voluntarily engage in that overlap with play and may similarly help them acquire culture-specific executive function skills. We end by considering implications of these ideas and questions for future research. We suggest that play and related activities are most likely to support the development of culture-specific executive function skills if they are informed by cultural knowledge, values and practices.