Teaching the pause: 4 games that build impulse control

The pause is a muscle

Impulse control is the gap between the urge and the action, and it is built by practice, not by lectures. Children with ADHD have a shorter gap and a longer road to a longer one, so the practice has to be frequent, fun and low-stakes. Games are the best training there is, because the pause is rewarded and the failure costs nothing.

1. Statues with a twist

Music plays, everyone dances, music stops, everyone freezes. The twist: the stop comes at random and the freeze has to be held for a count that gets longer each round. The whole game is stopping a body that wants to keep going.

2. Simon says, the slow version

The classic, but with a long gap after each instruction before it can be acted on. "Simon says... touch your nose." Count of three. Then move. The gap is the point. Add instructions that must not be followed and the game becomes pure inhibition training.

3. The tapping game

You tap once, they tap twice. You tap twice, they tap once. The urge to copy is strong and must be overridden every turn. Speed it up as they improve. This is one of the tasks psychologists use to measure inhibition, dressed as a game.

4. The marshmallow that is not a test

Put a treat on the table. Set a visible timer for one minute. If it is still there when the timer ends, it becomes two treats. Start at thirty seconds if you need to. The child learns, in their body, that waiting can pay, and learns what waiting feels like from the inside.

Educational content, not medical advice. Concerned about your child? Speak to your GP.