What Are the Kids Doing? Children’s Time Use and Relations with Executive Function during the COVID-19 Pandemic

We test the preregistered hypothesis that less-structured time helps children acquire knowledge that supports executive control. In 93 three- to five-year-olds at home during the pandemic, less-structured time predicted executive function performance, controlling for a range of factors. Caregivers were more involved in less-structured activities, and temperament predicted time use.