An Intervention Study Of Semi-structured Building Block Games On The Executive Function Of Older Children

Executive function refers to a high-level cognitive ability involved in goal-oriented behavior to regulate human consciousness and behavior,which has an important impact on individual cognition,emotion and physical and mental health development.The development of better executive function at an early age helps children plan,learn,and solve problems effectively.It is also a good predictor of future academic achievement,health,marital status,and quality of life.At present,the research on executive function mainly focuses on school-age children,while there are relatively few intervention studies on executive function of preschool children.In addition,the research on the development characteristics of individual executive function shows that the preschool stage is an important period for the rapid development of children's executive function.Therefore,this study takes 5-6 years old children as the research object and uses "semi-structured block play" to intervene in children's executive function,in order to give better practical guidance and suggestions to teachers in the development of the executive function of preschool children.The study selected 60 children aged 5-6 from the whole class of Qingdao S-kindergarten.All subjects were divided into experimental group(n=30)and control group(n=30).The experimental group was given an 8-week semi-structured block play intervention course for about 30 minutes each time.To explore the semi-structured block play,whether can still play the role of improving children's executive function.This study used a pretest-posttest design for the experimental and control groups.The results of data analysis and interviews with parents and teachers were used to examine the effects intervention of the semi-structured block game on executive function.In addition,interviews with teachers and parents of the study participants revealed that there was a better improvement in behaviors related to executive functioning of young children.Research results: After 8 weeks of semi-structured block play intervention,there were significant differences in the overall level of cognitive flexibility and executive function between the pretest and posttest results of the experimental group of children,but there was no significant difference in inhibitory control and working memory.There was no difference in all aspects of executive function in the control group before and after the test.In addition,according to the survey of interviewees,it is known that behaviors related to children's executive functions in life areas have also been significantly improved.Research conclusions:Semi-structured block can effectively promote the overall level of executive function and cognitive flexibility of 5-6 years old children.According to the results,the researchers put forward several suggestions.Firstly,we should pay attention to the role of building blocks games.When developing building blocks games,we can give children some goals or instructions;Secondly,we effectively carry out block play according to children's building level;Thirdly,we create a game situation for children with peer cooperation;Fourthly,we can flexibly use different instructions according to different tasks.