Rush Hour Ideal for Strengthening Executive Function

RDLeslie

I'm usually the one offering recommendations to the families I work with. I suggest routines and schedules and physical activities and games. I suggest organizational strategies and ways to build relationships and reinforce attachment. 

So I was happily caught off guard (and so, sooo excited) when one of the sweet families I work with introduced me to ThinkFun's Rush Hour a few years ago! They told me they thought it'd be right up my alley and they were absolutely right!

This game of logic hones in on a ton of executive functioning skills that we can all practice: 

• planning
• sequencing
• visual/spatial skills
• working memory
• focus
• reasoning

Basically, the cars are all in a traffic jam gridlock and the player must strategically plan a way for the red car to get out. There are 40 cards that incrementally increase in challenge - a great way to scaffold and build a child's capacity and skills! Without a time limit, there is no additional stress from the pressure to find solutions quickly so all the child's cognitive energy can go into creative problem-solving. Being able to build on past experience and slowly encounter more demanding tasks are perfect for kids to:

• move at their own pace
• learn from their mistakes
• endure tolerable (manageable) stress - essential for learning!
• tweak their approach to improve on the next try - building resilience!

All of these things are involved in building healthy, adaptive and sustainable self-regulation skills!

And that's probably the thing I love the absolute most about using ThinkFun Rush Hour with students and kids: there is so much room for sequential learning, practice, perseverance, and true growth! (...also, full disclosure: I lovvve playing too and I even like to up the challenge by timing myself...)

Happy learning!