“…Several studies report that self-regulation skills are often learned through high-quality pretend play (Berk and Meyers, 2013). Veraksa et al (2022), exploring the relationships between play and executive functions, point out that play is one of the child's main forms of activity, where he or she masters new forms of behavior, learns to interact with others, and develops imagination and self-regulation skills. A recent longitudinal study from Australia (Colliver et al, 2022) confirmed that the time spent in free, unstructured play at ages 2-3 and 4-5 years predicted self-regulation abilities 2 years later.…”