Executive Functioning Through Play: How Superspace Supports ADHD Minds

Does your child struggle with following multi-step directions, organizing their belongings, or managing big emotions?

These challenges often stem from executive functioning deficits. These are the cognitive skills that help us plan, focus, remember, and self-regulate.

For children with ADHD, executive functioning difficulties are core components of the disorder that require targeted support.

The good news?

Research shows that play-based interventions, particularly those involving tactile, construction play, can significantly improve executive functioning in children with ADHD.

Superspace is a modular, magnetic building system designed for imaginative, life-sized construction. It provides the embodied, sensory-rich experiences that research shows are most effective for supporting attention, working memory, and self-regulation in children with ADHD.

Key Takeaways

• Executive functioning deficits are core components of ADHD, not developmental delays
• Play-based interventions significantly improve working memory, planning, and cognitive flexibility in children with ADHD
• Tactile, construction play engages multiple executive function domains simultaneously
• Research shows 89% positive engagement with sensory-rich, game-like interventions for ADHD
• Life-sized building systems like Superspace provide embodied learning experiences that support attention and self-regulation
• Cooperative play with magnetic building panels teaches inhibitory control, patience, and social problem-solving
• Screen-free, hands-on activities offer evidence-based alternatives to digital interventions

Understanding Executive Functioning in ADHD

What is Executive Functioning?

Executive functioning refers to the suite of cognitive skills that enable us to manage our thoughts, actions, and emotions. Think of it as the brain's command center—the infrastructure that allows children to follow directions, manage emotions, shift between tasks, and solve problems.

According to leading ADHD researcher Dr. Russell Barkley, executive function encompasses five core abilities: behavioral inhibition, nonverbal working memory, verbal working memory, emotional regulation, and planning and problem-solving [1].

These foundational abilities are what separate children who can independently navigate school and social situations from those who struggle despite having the intelligence and desire to succeed.

Executive function is the difference between knowing what to do and actually being able to do it.

How ADHD Impacts Executive Function Skills

Children with ADHD experience executive functioning difficulties that directly affect their ability to regulate behavior, maintain attention, and execute multi-step tasks.

According to Barkley, executive function deficits in ADHD are not simply delays in development but are core components of the disorder that require specific, targeted support [1]. 

These impairments often manifest in school settings as disorganization, impulsivity, forgetfulness, and difficulty transitioning between activities.

At home, parents see these challenges play out daily: the child who can't remember to grab their backpack despite multiple reminders, the one who melts down when asked to switch from playtime to dinner, or the child who starts three different activities without finishing any of them.

These aren't willful misbehaviors—they're neurologically-based executive functioning challenges that require interventions that are engaging, developmentally appropriate, and embedded in everyday activities to be effective and sustainable.

The Science Behind Play-Based Interventions

Research Evidence for Play Therapy and ADHD

Play-based approaches have garnered significant attention as viable interventions for supporting executive function development in children with ADHD.

A groundbreaking 2024 study by Shams and colleagues demonstrated that group-based, structured play therapy significantly enhanced working memory, self-regulation, and planning abilities in children with ADHD [2].

In this quasi-experimental study involving 40 children with a mean age of 9.7 years, those who participated in just 10 sessions of structured play therapy over five weeks showed substantial gains in executive functioning compared to a control group. The tactile, social, and imaginative nature of the play was key to these improvements.

Even more compelling is a 2023 systematic review that analyzed 35 studies involving 1,408 participants with ADHD [3].

The research found that 89% of children exhibited positive engagement with game-like, sensory-rich interventions.

Most importantly, these interventions produced consistent, significant gains in visuospatial working memory, attention control, cognitive flexibility, planning, and inhibitory control.

Although many of the reviewed interventions were digitally mediated, the most effective involved tactile elements and physical interaction—a clear parallel to the core design features of construction toys like Superspace.

The evidence is clear: play therapy for ADHD works, particularly when it incorporates hands-on, socially engaging, and cognitively challenging elements.

Why Tactile Play Supports Self-Regulation

The role of sensory integration in executive function development cannot be overstated, especially for children with ADHD, who often seek out rich sensory experiences to help regulate their attention and behavior.

A meta-analysis of sensory integration therapy found an effect size of 1.06 for children with ADHD, with particularly strong improvements in social skills, adaptive behavior, and sensory processing function [4].

A 2022 study on toy design innovation for children with ADHD highlighted how tactile, sensory-rich play materials—specifically those that invite movement, manipulation, and decision-making—can support self-regulation and executive functioning [5].

These findings validate the importance of design features like magnetic feedback, movement-based assembly, and the freedom to build, disassemble, and rebuild.

By engaging both the body and the brain, children can practice executive function skills in an embodied way, which research has shown to be particularly effective for learners with ADHD [6].

Superspace's design allows children to physically interact with abstract concepts, providing the kind of somatosensory input that supports attention and self-regulation. This isn't passive play; it's active, neurologically engaged learning.

How Construction Play Builds Executive Function

Working Memory and Spatial Reasoning

As children hold a design in mind and translate it into three-dimensional form, they are activating and reinforcing their working memory—one of the executive function skills most impaired in ADHD.

Construction play has been consistently shown to enhance spatial reasoning across multiple research studies.

Data from nationally representative studies demonstrate that children who play frequently with puzzles, blocks, and building sets tend to have better spatial reasoning ability [7].

This is particularly important for children with ADHD, who often face specific challenges with spatial working memory and tasks that involve organizing, manipulating, or remembering spatial information [8].

Life-sized construction play, like building with Superspace, provides embodied spatial learning that goes beyond what tabletop toys can offer. Researchers have identified that block play engages abstract reasoning, numeracy, representational thinking, and spatial ability—all cognitive mechanisms essential for academic success [7].

Moreover, the use of spatial language during building ("put that panel on top," "connect it to the side") enhances the cognitive benefits, helping children pay attention to and process spatial information more effectively.

Cognitive Flexibility Through Building Challenges

Unexpected construction challenges prompt children to shift strategies and try new approaches—the very definition of cognitive flexibility.

When a fort wall doesn't connect the way they imagined, or when they run out of certain panel shapes, children must adapt their plans and think creatively. This trial-and-error process builds flexible thinking in a low-stakes, playful context.

The freedom to build, disassemble, and rebuild that construction toys offer is particularly valuable. Children learn that mistakes aren't permanent failures; they're opportunities to try something new.

Multiple studies in the systematic review found improvements in cognitive flexibility when children engaged with tangible, manipulative interfaces [3].

These findings align perfectly with the iterative building process that Superspace encourages.

For children with ADHD, who often struggle with rigid thinking and difficulty shifting between tasks or strategies, this kind of playful practice is invaluable. It teaches them that there are multiple solutions to the same problem and that changing course isn't giving up, it's problem-solving.

Inhibitory Control in Cooperative Play

Cooperative play requires patience and turn-taking, essential skills that draw directly on inhibitory control.

When children build together with Superspace, they must regulate impulsive behaviors like grabbing panels, rushing ahead without a plan, or insisting on their own ideas without listening to others.

Research on social play interventions has shown large effect sizes (d = 1.5) for improving social play skills in children with ADHD [9].

Group play teaches conflict resolution through shared building goals. When two children want to use the last triangle panel, they must negotiate, compromise, and find creative solutions.

Peer modeling and collaborative problem-solving occur naturally in these contexts, providing the kind of real-world executive function practice that can't be replicated in worksheets or adult-directed tasks.

The 2024 study by Shams and colleagues specifically noted that the social and cooperative elements of group play therapy were critical to the executive functioning improvements they observed [2].

This makes Superspace particularly valuable for families with multiple children, classrooms, therapy groups, and playdate settings where cooperative building naturally occurs.

Superspace: A Research-Backed Tool for ADHD Support

Design Features That Support Executive Functioning

Superspace is not just a toy; it is a tool for cognitive development. The magnetic panels provide immediate tactile feedback that supports sensory integration, a key factor in attention regulation for children with ADHD.

The modular structure invites practice in planning and sequencing: children must decide which panels to use, in what order, and how to connect them to achieve their vision.

The open-ended design encourages cognitive flexibility and creativity. There's no single "right" way to build, which means children can experiment, iterate, and personalize their creations.

Unlike many ADHD toys that have prescribed uses, Superspace adapts to each child's developmental level and interests.

Perhaps most importantly, the life-sized scale provides full-body, embodied learning that tabletop toys simply can't match.

Children don't just manipulate small pieces with their fingers; they move their whole bodies, climb inside their creations, and experience their designs from the inside out. This aligns with embodied learning research showing that physical, whole-body engagement is neurologically optimal for children with ADHD [6].

The sturdy, stable construction also reduces frustration, a common trigger for children with emotional regulation challenges.

Unlike blanket forts that collapse or cardboard boxes that crumple, Superspace structures stay standing, providing the kind of success experiences that build confidence and persistence.

Embodied Learning and Sensory Integration

Traditional interventions for ADHD often rely on adult-directed instruction or digital tools that lack hands-on engagement. Superspace meets children where they are: in movement, in imagination, and in collaboration.

It transforms the learning environment into a dynamic, engaging space where executive functions can be explored and exercised in meaningful, low-stakes contexts.

Full-body engagement activates multiple brain regions simultaneously. Movement-based assembly provides not just tactile input but also proprioceptive and vestibular feedback, sensory inputs that are crucial for attention regulation.

The sensory-rich experience of clicking magnetic panels together, arranging large structures, and physically entering the spaces they've created provides the kind of multisensory integration that research shows supports self-regulation in ADHD [4].

This screen-free alternative also addresses growing parent concerns about excessive digital media use.

While some digital interventions show promise, the 2023 systematic review found that the most effective interventions combined game-like elements with tangible, physical interaction [3].

Superspace provides exactly that combination: the engaging, success-driven experience of a game with the sensory richness of hands-on construction.

Real-World Applications: Home, School, and Therapy

The versatility of Superspace makes it valuable across multiple settings. In-home environments, it offers daily play opportunities that build executive function skills naturally, without feeling like "therapy" or "work."

Parents report that children engage with Superspace for extended periods—the kind of sustained attention that's often elusive for children with ADHD.

In school settings, Superspace can function as a center-based learning station, a small group intervention, or a choice-time activity that aligns with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs).

Teachers can use it to support specific executive function goals: following multi-step building directions for working memory, collaborating with peers for social skills, or completing cleanup routines for task initiation and organization.

For occupational therapists, play therapists, and social skills groups, Superspace offers a non-threatening, playful medium through which to guide children in goal-setting, sequencing, emotional regulation, and cooperative problem-solving.

The inherent motivation of building something impressive provides natural engagement that makes therapeutic goals more achievable.

Whether used at home, in educational settings, or in clinical contexts, Superspace provides the kind of deep, unstructured engagement that supports intrinsic motivation and meaningful cognitive development.

Building Better Brains Through Play

Executive functioning is not merely a set of abstract skills; it is the infrastructure of learning and living.

For children with ADHD, the development of these skills must be intentional, engaging, and neurologically aligned with how their brains work best. Play-based interventions offer a powerful, evidence-based approach that meets these criteria.

Superspace represents a convergence of thoughtful design and developmental science.

By leveraging structured, sensory-rich, cooperative play, it provides children with ADHD meaningful opportunities to practice working memory, cognitive flexibility, inhibitory control, and planning, all while having fun.

The emerging body of research underscores the efficacy of tactile, collaborative, construction-based play in supporting executive functioning.

This isn't simply a tool for play, it's a tool for growth.

Superspace empowers parents, educators, and therapists with a research-backed solution that helps children build not just castles and forts, but also the cognitive capacities they need to thrive.

References

1. Barkley, R. A. (1997). ADHD and the Nature of Self-Control. Guilford Press. https://www.amazon.com/ADHD-Nature-Self-Control-Russell-Barkley/dp/157230250X
2. Shams, M., Kharamin, S., & Rezaei, S. (2024). The Effect of a Group-Based Play Therapy on Executive Function, Working Memory, and Self-Efficacy in Children with ADHD. Physical Activity and Child. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/384452321
3. Systematic Review. (2023). Serious Games and Tangible Interfaces Improve ADHD Outcomes: A PRISMA-Based Systematic Review. MDPI. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40327858/
4. Effectiveness of sensory integration therapy in children, focusing on Korean children: A systematic review and meta-analysis. (2024). PMC. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10955541/
5. Toy Design Innovation. (2022). Sensory, Play-Based Features in Toy Design for Children with ADHD. Wiley Online Library. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1155/2022/1395265
6. Pfeifer, J. H., & Allen, N. B. (2021). Embodied Learning: The Neural Basis of Early Social-Emotional Development. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, 48, 100942. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1878929321000396
7. Spatial Skills Associated With Block-Building Complexity in Preschoolers. (2020). PMC. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7649809/
8. Nejati, V., Khoshroo, S., & Mirikaram, F. (2024). Review of spatial disability in individuals with attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder: Toward spatial cognition theory. SAGE Journals. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/13591045231176707
9. A play-based intervention for children with ADHD: a pilot study. (2011). Australian Occupational Therapy Journal. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21770958/