Planning Skills for Young Children: Building Executive Function Step by Step

Planning—the ability to think ahead, organize steps, and work toward a goal—is one of the core executive functions that develops throughout childhood. Children aren’t born knowing how to plan; they learn it gradually through experience, modeling, and support. Parents who understand this developmental process can nurture planning skills effectively.

What Is Planning?

Planning involves:

Goal setting: Identifying what you want to accomplish

Sequencing: Organizing steps in the right order

Resource identification: Figuring out what you’ll need

Time awareness: Understanding how long things take

Anticipating obstacles: Predicting what might go wrong

Self-monitoring: Checking progress along the way

Flexibility: Adjusting when things don’t go as expected

That’s a lot of cognitive work! No wonder young children struggle with it.

Developmental Progression

Ages 5-6

Children at this age:

• Can follow simple plans made by others
• Are beginning to think one or two steps ahead
• Need adult support for multi-step tasks
• Live primarily in the present—future planning is abstract

What to expect: Your child can follow a simple plan you create together but can’t independently plan complex activities.

Ages 7-8

Children at this age:

• Can create simple plans for familiar tasks
• Are beginning to anticipate what they’ll need
• Can think about the near future (today, tomorrow)
• Still struggle with longer-term planning

What to expect: With support, your child can plan a small project or organize their morning routine.

Ages 9+

Children at this age:

• Can plan multi-step projects with less support
• Can think further into the future
• Are beginning to anticipate obstacles
• Can adjust plans when things change

What to expect: Your child can take increasing responsibility for planning their own activities, with you as a consultant rather than director.

Building Planning Skills

Make Plans Visible

Abstract plans are hard to hold in mind. Make them concrete:

Written lists: Even for young children, a picture list of steps works.

Visual schedules: Morning routines, homework time, or project steps shown visually.

Counting steps: “There are three things we need to do. First… Second… Third…”

Drawing plans: Sketch out what you’ll do before doing it.

Visible plans reduce memory load and allow self-monitoring.

Plan Together

Model the planning process by thinking aloud:

“We want to bake cookies. What do we need to do first? Let me think… We need to check if we have all the ingredients. Then we need to preheat the oven. Then we mix the dough…”

“We’re going to the park. What do we need to bring? Let’s think about what we might do there…”

Your thought process becomes their mental model.

Start Small

Don’t begin with complex, long-term planning. Start with:

Immediate planning: “We have ten minutes. What could you build in that time?”

Simple sequences: “What are the three steps to get ready for bed?”

Routine planning: “Let’s plan what you’ll do when you get home from school.”

Build complexity gradually as skills develop.

Use Familiar Templates

Recurring activities benefit from reusable plans:

Morning routine: The same steps each day become automatic.

Homework time: A consistent structure (review what’s due, gather materials, work, check when done).

Project approach: Same basic steps for different projects.

Templates reduce planning load while building habits.

Practice Event Planning

Age-appropriate event planning builds skills:

Young children:

• “Let’s plan your birthday party. What should we do first? Then what?”
• “We’re having grandma over. What do we need to get ready?”

Older children:

• Planning a playdate
• Organizing a small room project
• Preparing for a trip

Work through the planning together, with increasing independence over time.

Connect Planning to Outcomes

Help children see the relationship between planning and success:

When plans work: “Remember how we planned that out? That’s why we had everything we needed.”

When plans fail: “We forgot to plan for that part. What could we remember next time?”

When there’s no plan: “We didn’t think about this ahead of time. That’s why we’re stuck now. Next time, let’s plan.”

Build Time Awareness

Planning requires understanding time, which develops gradually:

Visual timers: Make time visible.

Time estimation practice: “How long do you think that will take?” Then check.

Calendars: Use a family calendar to plan upcoming events.

Sequencing in time: “First we’ll have lunch, then quiet time, then the park.”

Planning Challenges

The Overwhelmed Child

Some children freeze when facing complex tasks. Help by:

• Breaking tasks into very small steps
• Writing down each step so they don’t have to hold all in memory
• Tackling just the first step, then the next
• Providing more scaffolding until confidence builds

The Impulsive Child

Some children want to jump into action without planning. Help by:

• Building in a mandatory “planning pause” before starting
• Making planning fun, not a barrier
• Showing the benefit: “Let’s plan first so we don’t waste time later”
• Keeping plans simple so they don’t feel burdensome

The Perfectionist Child

Some children get stuck planning and never act. Help by:

• Setting time limits on planning
• Emphasizing that plans can change
• “Let’s try it and see what happens”
• Modeling imperfect planning that still works

When Plans Don’t Work

Failed plans are learning opportunities:

Avoid blame: “We didn’t think of everything” rather than “You should have planned better.”

Extract learning: “What happened that we didn’t expect? What could we add to our plan next time?”

Celebrate adaptation: “The plan didn’t work, but you figured out what to do instead. That’s flexible thinking!”

Plans are guides, not guarantees. Learning to adjust is as important as learning to plan.

Everyday Planning Opportunities

Morning Routines

Even young children can participate in planning their mornings:

• Review what needs to happen
• Decide on order
• Anticipate challenges
• Check progress

Homework Time

Planning before starting:

• What’s due?
• What order?
• What materials are needed?
• How long for each task?

Projects

Any project becomes a planning opportunity:

• Art projects: What will you create? What materials? What order?
• Building: What are you making? What’s the first step?
• Cooking: What’s the recipe? What do we need?

Trips and Outings

Planning what to bring:

• Where are we going?
• What will we do?
• What should we bring?
• What might we need?

Future Events

Looking ahead:

• What’s happening tomorrow/this weekend?
• What do we need to prepare?
• What order should we do things?

The Long Game

Planning skills develop throughout childhood and adolescence. The 6-year-old who needs help planning each step becomes the 16-year-old who can plan a complex project independently—if the skill has been nurtured along the way.

Every time you plan together, think aloud about your own planning, or help your child break a big task into steps, you’re building the neural pathways that enable independent planning.

Be patient. Be consistent. Trust the process.

The ability to think ahead, organize steps, and work toward goals will serve your child throughout school and throughout life. The investment you make now in building planning skills pays dividends for decades to come.