Metacognitive strategy	Example
Meaningful engagement with the task	Forming a Plan A and Plan B (demonstrating and modeling an approach to the games that is deliberate and draws on metacognitive strategies). Plan B specifically models being flexible and having a backup plan. Examples of some Plan Bs are: Try a different order, skip around after playing 5 minutes of each game, etc. Use of homework sheets with four prompts: I stopped myself when…. I was flexible when…. I made a plan for…. I remembered the details when….. Teach a Family Member Activity – as the child becomes an EF “expert” they lead a family member in a discussion of the EF psychoeducation materials. Trainers ask: • “Who would you like to teach today? ” • “Can you tell__what kinds of things you need your problem solving skills for? ” • “Are there special skills that help you solve tricky problems? ” (Prompt with: Are you forgetting any?) • “Can you tell __ about one of the games and how you use these skills during the game? ” • “Why don’t you tell __ about some things you can do when you get frustrated. ”
Simplification of tasks to make them manageable	Introduction of the tasks to highlight key strategies: In this game you have to pick the bags that have the most treasure inside. Pay close attention to the rules. When you see GOLD coins, pick the bag with the BIGGER number. Pirates are sneaky, so they may put a bigger number of coins in a tiny bag. Don ’t let them trick you!
Support of sustained effort on the task	Normalization that sustained effort is challenging but will lead to positive change: Our brains are kind of like muscles that get stronger when they get exercise.
Emphasis of key EF skills needed	Basic psychoeducation at the beginning: One special skill is being able to stop ourselves from doing or saying things that we don’t want to do. If we have a good plan, we don’t want to do things that will mess up the plan. Like, when we are trying to clear a tricky level in a video game, we don’t want to push all the buttons at the same time. (Can modify examples to be relevant to child’s interests)
Provision of coping strategies to reduce frustration associated with challenging aspects of the task	Psychoeducation and use of strategies from cognitive behavioral therapy (e.g., awareness of feelings) and guided relaxation: Sometimes it’s hard to solve tricky problems and accomplish our goals when we are feeling emotional. Let’s use this meter as a tool to help keep track of where our emotions are so we know if we need to take a break to calm down!
Guided conversations to aid children with solving each task	Use of meta-cognitive questions throughout the training games: “Why do you think you missed that one?” “What can you do differently next time?” “What strategy are you using to beat this level?” “How does your strategy help you?” “Why was this level easier/harder for you?” Try to get the child thinking in terms of the 3 special skills (inhibition, set-shifting, working memory).